Hi everyone, Shelby GT-350 owner here, 1965, car #293 Just stumbled upon this forum, glad to see there are so many shelby enthusiasts. See you around, Mike
Hi to Mike! and welcome to a great group.please post some pictures of your 65 if you can.We all like to see new stuff.Glad you found this forum!
thanks! Well, here's a hi-rez pdf with a bunch of pics the day of "the find." ..Saturday I start the cleaning process. It's dirty, but it roars like a lion. I'm quite aware of all non original and original items BTW http://www.fulltone.com/DealerDownloadables/GT350 hi rez smaller.pdf it's a big file..3+ mb's, choose "save as' if you want to speed up the process
Hey thanks for the pics and welcome to the forums! How did you find the car? Whats your story? Looks like a great project to me! Best Regards, Vern
Hi Mike, Thanks for posting those pictures. It was great fun to go through them. Whatever you do to that thing try to keep it a fun process.. It is better for it to be roaring on the road than snoring in the stable. good luck! jimbo
agreed....I'm not doing a Yuppie shop Resto on it, rather just going to do it all myself, one little item at a time, one bolt at a time. The story is that a friend of mine mentioned his dad had a shelby 20 years ago and Iexpressed interest at that time. Dad died in December 07, and I was the first guy he texted. My jaw dropped when I looked at the phone, and he honored his word not to tell anyone else until i figured out what it was exactly. I shot photos, looked at vin#'s, etc and quickly realized it was worth more than they were asking, but not much more...they were smart. But I've wanted one ver since I was 15, when another buddy of mine borrowed his friend's '65 shelby and took me out for a ride...the next day he totalled it, rolled it on the hiway, and my "perfect summer" was runied.
Cool car! It doesnt look like it needs much. And with the rain stopping here in SoCal it should be perfect for cruising. Hope to see you around.
Welcome! Very cool find. The registry shows that 293 was raced in B prod. @ Riverside. Have you contacted SAAC with your info? Mike
Yes, Howard @ SAAC has been such a great help with my car. It was VERY hard talking the previous owner into letting me drill out the Shelby Vin rivets to see the Ford vin underneath...it's something I insisted on because it's just too easy to rivet a salvaged shelby vin plate and matching serial motor into a '65 Mustang. I was thrilled to find all serials matched! The plates have been expired for years, the battery was obviously dead, but with a new battery she fired right up. And after 5 minutes of smoke billowing out of her the smoke suddenly cleared up and she started purring like a 2000 lb Mountain lion....like the race cars that I grew up watching every race in the Pit and paddock area of Laguna seca (my dad was involved in Security there) Question: GT-350 owners thoughts on which oil to run? I'm thinking 10W-30 synthetic?
That story sounds a little familiar. Did you find it in Huntington Beach or Newport by any chance? If it is what I am thinking, a friend of mine was trying to get it. Great find though
Congradulations on your stroke of luck!! If you're really serious about perserving the car and enjoying it avoid immediate usage and take the actions necessary to prevent damage from long term storage. I don't know how long it's been sitting but from the way your post read it appears that it may have been awhile since it was out of the stable regularly. I cringed when you mentioned starting it up. While it's good to know it runs did you ever stop to think that oil varnish on the main bearings along with hardened valve guide seals could break, crumble up and end up in the oil galleys and ultimately at the oil pump pick up screen or etching the main bearing surfaces? Not good I have seen many engines sitting run for a short time and wind up with crank and bearing damage. Not good for any HIPO especially if you have a numbers matching engine. Another thing is the other mechanicals - brake system, trans and rearend. I think you're crazy if get the notion to drive it down to the local car show as it is...Kelsey Hayes calipers have a problem - they rust inside and then just when you need the brakes they fail you. Not a nice situation for you and the 200+K car you're driving. It is NOT safe - period. As far as electrical - wires are tricky they may look nice but if they're brittle in the engine compartment from heat or a certain rodent may have found its way into the car chewing one of the wires you can't see under the dash; you run the risk of turning the ignition key at some point and getting a fire. We've all seen GT350s in the melted state from fires and it'll make you cry to even think of it. My point is this...the body on the car looks awesome and it appears to have the Shelby components intact, and while it doesn't need a full restoration - it'll more than likely needs a mechanical restoration. Do yourself and the car a favor - push it into your garage and strip it of the engine and all wiring. Go through harnesses to verify they're good while checking your engine inside by pulling the oil pan and rotating the crank by hand. Re-assemble the car and then shake it down for assembly adjustments - now you're set to cruise!!!
All good advice. I did not even attempt to start 17 as it had sat for 28 years. Take your time now that's it's yours. Mike
#293's been regularly run up until mid 2007, so i wasn't too worried about the oil..... but I appreciate the wire warning and will take a good look around in it and take my time for sure.
