Tearing Down Our Shelby

Aug 16, 2011 update to the Shelby GT 350 project car

Our initial inspection revealed that most of our 1967 Shelby GT 350 is original, and our recent driveline teardown backs up that fact. While the engine was swapped at some point, the car still came with something desirable under the hood: a 1966 Ford 289 block topped with 1970 Ford 302 heads.

Tool marks indicate that the engine has been both rebuilt and balanced. Orlando Mustang’s Peter Geisler figures that that it has a mild performance cam.

The car came with a date-coded block that matches the chassis, so at some point we’ll have to decide what to do: either rebuild the engine that came in the car, source enough parts to build up our 1967 block, or start flipping through the Ford Racing catalog.

The teardown revealed more good news, though: The transmission, differential, power steering pump and radiator also have the correct date codes. Plus, our car came with factory-installed air, and the components are still original. When dealing with rare cars like this Shelby, having all of the factory-installed bits is simply a godsend.