Hey yall, how ya doin? Im new here and i just bought a partial gt350 R clone (65) and i've decided i wanna make as accurate of a clone as possible, so i hope yall dont get mad by me asking and creating a clone, but where can i find information about what the R's had on them from the factory? Does anyone make reproduction parts for them? Ive heard of the "cobra' intakes being repo'd aswell as the crabs, but icant find them, can anyone direct me where to go? Thanks - Roger
Tony Branda Shelby and Mustang Parts will have the intake and carburator (reproduction). Getting Tony's catalog will be a great resource for your endevor to improve your car. Hope this helps. Engineer (Rick)
If you ask specific questions... like what does the oil pressure line look like... and how does it get from the motor to the dash pod.....you can get lots of help. Read as much as you can.. look at old photos. and be prepared to shell out some bucks ....65's are more expensive to re-create than 66's good luck. jimbo
thanks, yeah i had a branda catalog....but somehow i lost it. i need to get another one at carlisle. Did the R's still have dash pods? I thaught they had the tach and all guages in one cluster infront of the wheel? Ok here are some specific questions, what made the R intake different? and does any1 have any pics (close up detail) pics of the steel valve covers and breather assemblies? I have a feeling im gonna have to make those..... Thanks - Roger
There are plenty of good photos at: NVSAAC - Nevada Shelby American Automobile Club - NVSAAC Look up the 65's, point & click.
if you remove the vinyl pad from your dash you will find a "falcon" dashboard with an extra metal piece welded to the center of it. Gently hack of the metal piece and you are good to go..There is a book called "Mustang does it" by Ray Miller, It has a few pages of pictures of 1965 R model pictures that will help you. There is no hole for a crankcase vent system (PCV) drilled and tapped into it... other than that it is just your basic small letter cobra intake.. (1-2 grand when they show up for sale) You should be able to find these all over the web.. They are just standard early steel valve covers with tubes welded where the oil fill cap and pcv valve would have been. They were extended to keep hot oil from splashing out of them and getting everywhere. Here is some general advice from somebody who traveled down the road you are about to embark on. The R-model was a clapped out full on race car. Rattle and clunk and whine... It is not much fun to drive unless you are escaping the police (catch 22).... or in a race with similar cars (which also don't exist).. It would be a great project to do.. but when you are done with it you may find you have created a monster that you can't take anywhere. Here are some specific things.. No carpet or any sound deadening anything Your car cannot be locked. You have plastic windows that have no wind wings, there is a 4 foot wide hole in the plastic rear window. If you want to make any kind of serious H.P. your valve train stuff won't fit underneath those old valve covers..The police will stop you everytime they see you. Girls won't ride in the car willingly. Go For IT !!! jimbo
Thanks for the info man...... well after hearing that maybe i'll do a semi- true R clone. I wanna keep carpet, but plexi glass windows arent a big deal, nor are the sail windows. Im gonna keep the original rear window ( not the plexi R window) Basically i wanna do the dash, suspension, motor and trans. I already have a t-10 which i bought and a very nice set of heads. I wanna do a correct intake, valve covers, ignition, carb, plenum for carb, exhuast, and body panels. I plan to keep the locks for the doors, but prolly not for the trunk. This car is gonna be a show/weekend car only. I dunno I'd like to keep it a gt350 street clone, but my car already has the R bumper and wheels, and it looks so damn good. I'd like to stay one side or the other, and not venture inbetween........ ya know what i mean? - Roger
Roger, Do what you want with your car. I wouldn't worry about the exact specs of the date year model thing.. Even true Shelbys have mods on them.. The beauty of a clone is there are no rules. The poor guys chained to powder-puff real cars are stuck... There is no original gas left.. If you have BF 32 Autolite plugs in the car you don't dare drive the car around... Red dot tires are now 40 year old dried figs..Bias ply pretend tire are fakes.. don't go that way.. Make a great looking car that is fun to drive.. And remember... When somebody asks you if it is real tell them the truth.. ......."I bought it from this farmer.. it was in a barn... I gave him a hundred bucks for it... The farmer was hiding it for some woman who's boyfriend was named Sheldon or something." works for me. jimbo
ha ha, well put, thanks man. just an update, i found lot of info by talking to Jim Cowles through email from shelbyparts.com...... I ordered a R spec manifold today, and also hes rebuilding a original 65 date coded 780 cfm Holley which was on the R models for me as well. They also have the valve covers and many other parts I'm looking for. So far i am very pleased with Jim and Jesse just from my communications with them, they are supposed to be very,very good. and from talking to them, they don't let anything go by thats not correct. - Roger
