Restoring 65 GT350 Emblem

I would like to see if I can put this thread back on course..trying to figure out the rear deck GT350 emblem... So were there actually a few 65 shelbys that came with the rear deck emblem or was it truly a 66 add on.. If so is the emblem for the 65 shelby different from the 66 emblem? Were the 66 emblems painted as well or not....How can you tell the diffrence from a 66 and a 65 emblem and even versus a service replacement?

THanks
Jimmy

 

To answer what I know - The first batch of 65's did not get the emblem, but the rest did - a cut-off point I do not have. I will try to remember to ask Howard next time we chat.
I do not know if there is a difference from 65 to 66, I believe all the ones I have seen (original, that is) are identical - but I never put them side by side.

Mike

 

I have the original (6S1431) and a Scott Drake replacement, I'll take pictures in a week or so and send them

 

Great info..thanks so much guys..I look forward to those pics also...I am realy interested to see what some of the judges say on whether or not they are supposed to be painted originaly as some have posted or if there is a diffrence between the original and service replacement..I have had an NOS service replacement before and it was some sort of brushed metal..I was lucky to find out that the service replacement gas cap was the same as the factory installed one...I am realy hoping that this is the same for the emblem....

JImmy

 

Hi Dave..could you post some pics maybe and some measurements for us..thanks so much..also can you give some details as how you restored yours..Thanks!!

Jimmy

 

just wanted to post this info that Howard Pardee posted on the saac site

Yes, most 1965's also came with the same rear plate. The reason I say "most" is that I've seen several cars over the years that don't have the plate and there is no evidence that one was ever installed. I've also seen one '65 that had the plate on the driver side. The assumption over the years is that they were all Shelby American installed and they missed some cars, but a case could be made for dealer installation and that would account for some cars not having one and the one on the opposite side. I personally believe that they were supposed to be factory installed and someone just didn't do it on a few cars. Hey, some cars had to be made on Monday or Friday and if the surf was up ...

The plate is very lightly brushed aluminum (not painted) with the "GT350" being black. This part was one of the first parts to be reproduced in the early to mid '70s.

A stranger case of assembly was that of 5S282 where the passenger side A-arms were never lowered by the factory and the driver’s side was. No holes, no nothing. This was recently discovered by the owner and he drilled the holes and lowered it. I wonder how the handling was before he discovered it!

Howard Pardee

 

Here is a picture of the orginal rear emblem on 6S1431 and a Scott Drake Repo. Also a picture pf the orginal cleaned up. Found no evidence of any kind of paint on it, one of the original retainer clips is also on the stud.

 

nice pics..what is the exact length and width of your original emblem...thanks

JImmy

 

The original emblem is 4 1/2 inches long, it is about a 1/32 of an inch wider then the Scott Drake repo, I did not measure the actual width, just compared the two next to each other. I also inclosed a shot of the car in 1973 at the Bonneville Speed Trails, several cross country trips in the early 70'2 and stops at Bonneville helped create the rust problem

 

Of course, currently, there is no way to determine if the "coating" is original or something someone else did.

Thanks for the picture.

Wonder how many of these are early reproductions (even placed in Ford boxes) and or how many different versions Shelby used from different batches?

 

Hi again,
Attaching two pictures:
The first shows the emblem that came out of the
Ford Box with S1MS-16229-A Plate and mounted on my car.
It's exacly the same as the one that was on my car when I bought
it. 4 1/4" wide and 7/8" high.
The second shows the box with a repo plate 4 1/2" wide and 15/16"
high. As you can see the box is too small to fit this plate. Actually
it's a tight fit for the original plate 4 1/4" wide.
Texas Swede

 

You mean everybody is the first owner, and nothing has been changed is not true!

 

I have owned my car since 1971 and I know the history from 1967. The guy I bought it from did not change much (Crane valve springs being the biggest change). The tach was stolen but pretty much everyhgting else was as purchased from Hertz. I have been told over the years that the valve covers were wrong, it has the wrong master cylinder, Shelby never made an automatic GT350?? etc. I also have talked to several orginal owners of Cobras and GT350's and we can agree on one thing, consistency and quality control were pretty much non exisitent at both Ford and Shelby during this era. When aligning the trunk lid on my car, we found that one side was almost touching and one side has a 1/4" gap. Since the stripes lined up we can only assume that that was the way it was made. I also have some pictures of the "fine craftsmenship" used to install the side windows, it looks like someone cut them out with an air chisel and then beat the edges with a hammer. It seems that they (Shelby) put on the car whatever they had laying around that day, suppliers changed, supplies may have short ( this could lead to missing emblems, etc). If the car car is perfect then you may may not want to every drive it, but I suggest use the car as it was designed, to drive hard, drive fast and enjoy it to the maximiun level you can stand