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Sep 16, 2011

1966 GT350 Shelby Mustang Restoration Project

Jeremy at Maple Hill Restoration glass beading the underside of our 66 GT350 Shelby.  Yeah, this shot was set up.  If that thing was really running, we would just see a bunch of dust!!!
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

We have received a ton of response from our Blog Posts about our 65 Mustang HiPo Convertible Restoration.  The Convertible has been completed, and we are starting on our next restoration project.

Again, Jeremy Turner at Maple Hill Restoration and I will be (and have been) doing a ton of research as Jeremy works to transform the GT350 into a super nice car again.  The early GT350 cars are definitely my favorites, and I've got some history with this one.

The 1966 GT350 Shelby on the rotisserie being glass beaded.
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Just to briefly recap, I first saw the car around 1978 when the then-owner started purchasing some parts from us.  Around 1985, he mentioned that he may consider selling the Shelby, so I looked at it closely.  Since it is a early carryover car (6S033) with the package tray, I was even more interested.  After bothering him for quite a while, I just told him to call me when it became available.  That did not happen until 1999.  It has been stored since that time.

Check out some of my previous posts about the Shelby by clicking the links below:

Vintage Photo Post

Background Post

Disassembly Post

What we plan to do here is just document much of the restoration project now that the restoration has really started.

After the total disassembly of the car, we just kind of evaluated the condition and got it up on the rotisserie.  The undercoating and sealer was then scraped from the car, and we started checking out the original primer/sealer colors and the order in which they were originally applied.  It seems like I could write pages about that alone, but I'll try to keep it brief.  Very basically, the underside of the car was painting with a pink or salmon colored sealer, while the front section/frame rails, trunk and interior were coated with a much darker color red.  Keep in mind this is a late June of 1965 production San Jose built Mustang, and other plants and production times will probably be different.

Here you can kind of get an idea of the original pink or salmon colored primer / sealer .
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I like this image from the inside the car.  This is the top of the transmission tunnel.  It shows the area glass beaded, the dark red sealer, the gray sealer over this and then the Wimbledon White Body Color.
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Watch right here for more and frequent updates.  Better yet, subscribe to our Blog by entering your email in the box on the top RH side of this page and then looking for and responding to the verification pop up message and then responding to a verification email that you will receive.  You will then receive an email update when a new post is made.  I've got lots more pictures and information to post.

The glass beading process takes about two days while getting to every little nook and cranny like under the shock tower area where the lower control arm bolts in.
www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com

The 66 Shelbys had Plexiglas Quarter Windows installed at Shelby American.  Take a  look at the crude modification and cutting that was original done to install these.
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