1967 Running Production Changes

The Registry is a reliable source and I doubt that there will ever be another publication that can compete with it.
The rim information came from what the cars had on them "as shipped" to the dealer. Prior to that, who knows. I stated my theory about what the SVO sheets may be telling us and Shelby American's involvement with optional wheels. I'm also open to hear other suggestions.
Dave

 

You hit the nail on the head or in this case shaft. It was 5/1/67 when that change was made so the real late built cars had the rag joint or seperate steering box and steering column shaft.

 

Rod, I reread my previous post and I wanted to clarify that the there is a rag joint used on tilt columns that is different then a rag joint used on a non tilt columns after 5/1/67.On a Mustang based 1967 Shelby car after 5/1/67 you would use the Non Tilt rag joint .

 

Hi Bob, do you have any pic's of the different rag joint used ?

 

Hey to all! Just read all this again and wow have we added a ton of info.And to Kenny and Eric, thanks for pointing out the G.T.500 with hubcaps.My point is still valid because these are the exceptions....most pictures show cars with deluxe wheels,and nobody has put a date on any of these pictures.If we figure that cars up to the Feb.22 date were all deluxe wheel equipped,we would have only an approximate date as Dave points out..The Ford date AND the Shelby vin and Production date need to fit this puzzle.And if we are to give credit to someone for documentation of correct wheels I think it should be based on the invoice from the selling dealer.We know that Shelby did not give things away,and the selling dealer is the last stop prior to the customer.We are lucky...the 68 guys all had hubcaps!!

 

Patty:

I don't think it's realistic to be able to nail down an exact date on most original photos, but based on a magazines month of issue, we can approximate. For example, the Lime 67-500 with hubcaps which appeared in the January '67 issue of R&T, also appeared in the December '66 issue of Popular Science as Eric mentioned. If you take into consideration the lead time for the photos to be developed, processed and printed in a magazine, you can probably be within a month or two at the most. So the photos of the Lime 67-500 were "probably" taken sometime between September and November of '66?

In addition, since the wheels and tires on the '67s were installed at Ford, and not S-A The Ford build date would be more pertainent on the topic of this discussion.
Of course, as 67's go, there were probably exceptions or changes to "the rule"

Kenny

 

Kenny,
I am not sure that your assumption that wheels and tires were supplied
by Ford is correct. The product specification sheets from San Jose
would have an added part line and not deleted only on wheels and tires,
correct? Maybe Shelby provided them to San Jose which is the reason
they don't show up on the Ford Production Specs.
Texas Swede

 

I will post some pics tomorrow night after taking pictures of examples tomorrow day unless Jeff S. beats me to the punch . Jeff has the mega zillion picture data base. Ha Ha.

 

As a related note... Ford often makes a note on the add/delete sheets something like "as provided by" if the item was provided to the Ford assembly plant by the end user.

As for using magazine cars IMHO to set any milestone I think caution should be used

 

My Production Spec 84-2555 says Customer Supplied
for both wheels and tires.
Teaxs Swede

 

Swede:

I refer you to the portion of my previous post above. As you can see, I didn't say the wheels and tires were "supplied", I said that they were "installed", there's a difference. I'm sure you would be surprised to learn, that quite a few Shelby parts that most people assume were installed at S-A, were actually installed at Ford, mainly engine parts. I have many photos of cars delivered to S-A from Ford that show this.

Kenny

 

I understand that Ford installed many Shelby parts but I am very confused
as regards the time lines and where 67 wheels were installed.
According to the letter from SA, all 67's cars shipped from Shelby prior to
Feb.22, 1967 were equipped with Magstars. This means that all cars
delivered from Ford in the proximity of that date must have been
equipped with Magstars already at San Jose as no 15" steel wheels were available and the 14" wheels were on the deleted list. Cars must have wheels to get off the assembly line and getting transported from San Jose to LAX.
Of course, we don't know the exact date when the 15x6" steel wheels became available, only that it must have been prior to Feb.22, 1967.
My car, #1317 was ready at Ford in San Jose on Jan.31, 1967 and the question is what wheel type did it have when leaving the assembly line.
I know it had steel wheels when ready at Shelby on May 25, 1967.
As said above, it's very confusing to me but that's what makes it so
interesting. We find out stuff about these cars all the time.
Texas Swede

 

That statement means that the wheels and tires were supplied by SA(customer) to the Ford assembly line. I think it is more of a clerical issue because there wasn't a SA truck taking the wheels and tires to the San Jose plant. They were being delivered direct from the OEM Vendor to the plant just like every other part . If I remember right A similar "Customer Supplied" statement is on 68 and 69 build sheets at the bottom were they address the tires.

here are some pics of the two types of rag joint the one that is on the steering box is used on 67,68,69,70 Shelby with out tilt. It connects by bolting a flat flange from the steering column to the rag joint.The separate one with splines on both ends is for tilt . It attaches to a tilt column which has a splined end on the steering shaft. The tilt joint was used on 68,69/70 Shelby's with tilt. I hope this helps.

 

Swede:

I understand your confusion, but I would say that the wheels and tires your car came delivered to the dealership with, were the wheels and tires that it left Ford with, regardless of what the letter might state?
There has already been a discrepancy with regards to original letters drafted (the Speedway tire one comes to mind again). I cannot see your car coming from Ford with Magstars, then being changed to steel wheels and hub caps at S-A?
Any other opinions on this?

Kenny

 

Thanks Bob, i have both in different cars. I always thought it might have been a running change at Ford, so thanks for that info.

 

Wow, I didn't know Robert Redford was a SAAC Head Concours Judge?? LOL

 

Kenny,
I agree with you. I don't see that either. Probably the 6" steel wheels
were already available for cars shipped from Ford at San Jose at that
time, end of Jan-beginning of Feb.
Texas Swede

 

Hi everybody on this thread.Just had a look for pictures and if you have the book Shelby's Wildlife by Wally Wise check out page 169.It shows an LAX lot full of cars in all different colors waiting to be converted into Shelbys and all the visible wheels are Magstars..one more clue to our puzzle!! This is not a magazine dressed up/set up photo,as Snakepit warns,and I agree magazine photos are not the best source of accuracy.Has anybody seen any 67 pictures from inside the hangers during assembly?Thanks for looking

 

Patty:

Here you go.............

1967 GT500 #00231 which is pictured in this photo of the 1967 production line at the West Imperial Highway
plant Los Angeles, CA." Photo-author unknown.