1970 Mustang Mach 1 Trunk Letter Set

We have exact reproductions of the original '70 Mustang Mach 1 Trunk Letter Sets.  These letters are pressure die cast zinc and made just like the originals.  They feature beautiful chrome plating with the correct black painted details and have a 3M™ adhesive backing.  Equally important, they also have the correct contour for the proper fit on the trunk lid.  This is a feature missing from other reproductions.

Our part number is ER-233.  It is another great part made by Scott Drake Mustang Parts.

Vintage Photo of 1966 Shelby

1966 GT350 Shelby Mustang

I love old photos of cars, and I thought that I would share one that was recently sent to me.  There are a  few 66 GT350 Mustangs listed in the SAAC Shelby Registry as being originally leased by James McLean, Vice President and General Manager of Shelby American.


I stay in contact with one of James' sons, Bill.   Bill was the first "driver" of a car I have-6S033.   Bill worked at Shelby American for a time also. After he turned in that car, he drove 6S296. His sister, Sue got 6S298. This car is unique in that it was originally blue with a blue interior.  Yes, a blue interior!  Bill tells me that this photo was taken in front of their house in Palm Springs. The two kids are Bill's nephews-check out that kid's sized Shelby American shirt!! The car was drag raced by his sister and her boyfriend quite often.

Carroll Shelby Passes Away

LEGENDARY ENTREPRENEUR CARROLL SHELBY PASSES AWAY

LOS ANGELES– May 11,2012 – Carroll Shelby International, Inc., (OTC: CSBI.PK) announced today that Carroll Hall Shelby, a man whose vision for performance transformed the automobile industry, has died at age 89.   Mr. Shelby passed away yesterday at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. The cause of death was not disclosed. 

Born on Jan. 11, 1923, Carroll Shelby was one of America’s greatest success stories.  Championship-winning racecar driver, “flying sergeant” wartime pilot, philanthropist, entrepreneur, car manufacturer and racing team owner, he embodied the ingenuity, tenacity and grit to overcome any obstacle.  He is perhaps the only person to have worked at a visible level with all three major American automobile manufacturers.  

 Carroll Shelby founded Carroll Shelby International, a publicly held corporation involved in many industries.  His licensing arm has agreements with industry giants, such as Mattel, Sony, Ford Motor Company and Electronic Arts.  His car company, Shelby American, has a thriving parts business as well as a line of muscle cars including the Shelby GT500 Super Snake, Shelby GT350 and Shelby GTS.  The Las Vegas-based company also manufactures a limited number of the 1960s Shelby 289 “street,” 289 FIA, 427 S/C and Daytona Coupe Cobras.

Shelby considered his greatest achievement to be the establishment of the Carroll Shelby Foundation™.  Createdin 1992 while Shelby was waiting for a heart transplant, the charity is dedicated to providing medical assistance for those in need, including children, educational opportunities for young people through automotive and other training programsandbenefitting the Carroll Shelby Automotive Foundation.

Shelby remained active in the management of each of his companies and the Foundation until his death, even though he endured both heart and kidney transplants in the last two decades of his life.  

“We are all deeply saddened, and feel a tremendous sense of loss for Carroll’s family, ourselves and the entire automotive industry,” said Joe Conway, president of Carroll Shelby International, Inc. and board member.  “There has been no one like Carroll Shelby and never will be.  However, we promised Carroll we would carry on, and he put the team, the products and the vision in place to do just that.”

Shelby is survived by his three children Patrick, Michael and Sharon, his sister Anne Shelby Ellison of Fort Worth and his wife Cleo.  Funeral plans are not currently available.  Donations to the Carroll Shelby Foundation are encouraged in lieu of flowers.  Information about the Carroll Shelby Foundation is available at www.carrollshelbyfoundation.org. 

Just the Details...1965 GT350 Mustang Shelby

289 HiPo Engine detailed for installation in a 65 GT350 Shelby Mustang
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Jeremy at Maple Hill Restoration has just finished up the painting and assembly of the 289 High Performance Engine to go back in our 1965 GT350 Mustang.  We decided to put all of the parts on it for a little photo shoot.

Some of our readers here may know, but for those who do not, the engine in the 65-66 GT350's was the 289 K HiPo Engine.  Additional items were added when the car was modified at Shelby American.  These items included a High Rise "Cobra" Intake Manifold, a 715 cfm Holley Carb., "open letter" Buddy Bar Cobra Aluminum Valve Covers, Tri-Y Headers, and the Cobra Cast Aluminum Oil Pan.

715 cfm Holley Carb.  List 3259.  This one is dated 513 - 3rd week of January 1965
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 The Holley Carburetor was List # 3259.  The "513" number on this particular carb. is the date of 3rd week of January 1965.

289 HiPo Harmonic Balancer.
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 The 289 HiPo engine came with the wide style harmonic balancer as pictured.  This one is dated "A5" - January 1965.

289 HiPo Fan Blade.
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 The fan blade was also unique to the 289 HiPo Engine.  These were date stamped also.  This particular fan is stamped "A65" for January 1965.

289 HiPo Fan Mounting Bolts.
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All of the original HiPo fan mounting bolts that I have seen have had this "flag" headmarking.

Original PCV Valve Grommet in Cobra Valve Covers.
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PCV Valve Hose for 65 GT350 Shelby.
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PCV Valve Hose for 65 GT350 Shelby.
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 The GT350 Mustang had a unique PCV Valve hose.  The metal hex style PCV Valve was the style used on all of those model 65-66 Mustangs.

289 HiPo Engine detailed for installation in a 65 GT350 Shelby Mustang

1969-73 Mustang Parking Brake Return Spring Cup

1969-73 Mustang Parking Brake Cable Return Spring Cup

Here is a new item that just became available.  It is a little part, but when you are looking for one, it is extremely difficult to find.  It is the cup washer that fits at the end of the front parking brake cable at the spring for a 1969-73 Mustang.

This cup washer was reproduced from the original Ford Blue Prints and is just like the original.  It features nice clear zinc (silver) plating.

Our part number is BK-2332.

Just the Details...1965 GT350 Mustang Shelby with Trunk Mounted Battery

The front to rear battery cable on a '65 GT350 Mustang Shelby is routed through the RH front fender apron.  A rubber grommet, as shown, was used where the cable comes through the apron.
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The original clamps for the front to rear battery cable on a '65 GT350 Mustang Shelby were mounted with 1/8" pop rivets.  The clamps were vinyl dipped coated.
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I received lots of feedback from Friday's post on the '65 GT350 images.  A few of the questions centered around the trunk mounted battery and the cable routing from front to rear.  I thought I would share the pictures of the routing.  Click on any of the images to see larger versions and the slideshow of all of the pictures.

'65 GT350 Mustang front to rear battery cable routing along the RH inner floor frame support.
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'65 GT350 Mustang front to rear battery cable routing along the RH floor pan.  Please disregard the parking brake cable and spring locations.  Those are temporarily mounted while the car is partially disassembled.
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'65 GT350 Mustang front to rear battery cable routing along the RH rear floor and frame rail.
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'65 GT350 Mustang front to rear battery cable routing along the RH rear frame rail.
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'65 GT350 Mustang front to rear battery cable routing along the RH rear frame rail.
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'65 GT350 Mustang front to rear battery cable routing into the bottom of the RH trunk floor.
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'65 GT350 Mustang front to rear battery cable routing into trunk.
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For our readers that are not as familiar with these Shelbys, I should mention that the first 300 or so '65 GT350's had the battery located to the trunk.

This particular car still has the original front to rear cable along with the associated mounted clamps as shown.

This image shows the holes in the trunk floor drilled to mount the battery tray and the associated hardware.
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The red arrows in the image show the location of the 1/8" pop rivets to hold the original plastic battery tray.  The blue arrow is the centering tip in the battery tray.  The white arrows show the mounting holes for the carriage bolts for the battery holddown.  Please note that I have seen slight variations on these hole locations even on cars produced very close to 5S162.  The black out paint was originally applied here on this particular GT350.  I have seen other Shelbys with this black out treatment.

Just the Details...1965 GT350 Mustang Shelby

1965 GT350 Mustang Shelby.
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It's not really a project car, but we are still "tweaking" a '65 GT350 Mustang in Jeremy Turner's Maple Hill Restoration shop.  This Shelby has been restored since 1985.  It was an extremely original car before restoration, and most all of its original parts were retained and re-installed during the restoration.  We first did some detailing before SAAC-36 at VIR this past summer, but we still had/have a list of things that we would like to do.


We got a little carried away with our list and ended up freshening the engine also.  Anyway, Jeremy is now on track to have it finished for SAAC-37 at Watkins Glen in June.

Rear Bumper is ready for installation.
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Rear Bumper Bracket has been detailed with the correct zinc plated nuts.
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Rear License Plate Light installed on rear bumper.
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Close up look at date stamping on the rear license light assembly.  This one is dated 5B for February 1965.
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The original 289 HiPo engine was just painted.  Please note that the cast iron intake was installed only for painting.  We will post some pictures of the engine with the Shelby aluminum parts when it is completely assembled.
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Shot of 9 inch rear on the Shelby.
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C4ZF Fuel Sending Unit.
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Clips for fuel sending unit wire on tail light wiring harness.
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Gas Line Clip at Gas Tank.
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Rear Brake Area and Rear Leaf Spring.
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Brake hose and bracket for dual exhaust Mustang.  Studs for muffler hanger remained in place even though the muffler hangers were removed for the installation of the side exiting exhaust on the '65 GT350's.
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Shelby American modified and moved the rear frame rail rubber bumper mount and installed this bumper.  This was done due to the installation of the override traction bars.
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Markings on the rear leaf springs were duplicated.
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Here you can see the routing on the battery cable for the rear mounted battery.
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Floor Pan Drain Hole Cover.
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Sealer along the floor pan/rocker area.
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The original Koni Shocks are dated 3-65 (March 1965).  We repainted them by matching some original paint Koni's from 1965.  They are a orange/red, tomato color.  This image does not really show the true color.
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