1969 Shelby GT350H Build

[RPM 1,190]

Regarding your speedometer cable being close to your exhaust, I used a spark plug thermal sleeve on mine to keep it from melting the cover. Works like a charm for me.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Got all the liquids in and wanted to prime the fuel pump and fill the carb. 6 gallons of REC 90 in the tank but after several attempts, no fuel was flowing. Several checks reveal that the fuel hard fuel line is plugged someplace and there is no damage to the line. I ordered a new SS 3/8 line and just got it installed. 

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

It wants to start, but not quite. 

http://redshost.com/gt350/video/GT350-1.mp4

The starter is not always engaging, going to have to replace it. Got it running, forgot to start the camera to catch it but it fired right up and ran.

http://redshost.com/gt350/video/GT350-2.mp4

It smoked white smoke out the exhaust for a bit, but eventually quit.

http://redshost.com/gt350/video/GT350-3.mp4

It got a little rough, looked down and saw a wire came off the cap. Shut it down and it did not want to spin fast enough to start again. Change the battery and had the same issue. Guessing my pre 1990 started has had it.

http://redshost.com/gt350/video/GT350-4.mp4 

 

Sorry, the date on the camera is a little off.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Here are all 4 videos combined and on a page with a streaming (embedded) player. http://redshost.com/gt350/video/startup/

Permanent Magnet High Torque mini starter arrived today. It's small and light. Before I installed it, I wanted to get the heat shield in place. I picked up a 12 x 24 sheet of 22ga sheet metal from Home Depot. I transferred my template to it and cut it out with my cutoff tool. Bent it, curved it, beat a curved edge into it, and did a few test fits. Turns out I need to trim a few areas where the bolts go through as the shield is hitting the block and trans cooler lines.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Mods on the shield made and painted with high temp sating black ceramic engine paint. Got it bolted in place and it looks pretty good. Its not touching anything other than the 2 mounting bolt holes/bolts. Hooked the starter wires up and w/o the ignition turned on it cranked the engine right over. Hooked up the coil and it fired right up. Ran it for another 25 min to finish the cam break-in. I did stall it at one point when I had slowed it down to check the idle timing, and it did fire right back up. No slow spin at all.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

New starter works great. It started right up and I was able to finish the 30 minute cam break-in. At one point, some white smoke came out of the exhaust, and then quit. I changed the oil and filter. Cut open the filter and did not find any shiny objects.

More recently, a friend stopped by and I ran the engine again, for the 3rd time for him. Once again, white smoke came out of the exhaust for a little bit. You can see it in the following video. Otherwise it seems to be running great.

 

http://redshost.com/media/GT350R3rdRun/

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

What would make the power steering fluid get so hot that it would melt the plastic pieces in the power steering control valve? The power steering pump is the one that I got with the car back in 1981. It's not making any noise, not leaking, and topped off with fluid. The Control Valve is a new rebuilt I purchased about a year ago and put on the car recently. I did not know I had a problem as when I was breaking in the cam I never tried to steer the car. I started it up today and wanted to test the steering. It moved a little stiffly from lock to lock at first, then got better after a few turns. But when I got out of the car, I found it had squirted fluid out of the end of the control valve end cap all over the ground. When things cooled down I pulled the cap and found this:

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

But before the Power Steering issue, I finished up the battery install, you can see the radiator overflow in front of the battery as well:

Installed the steering column and adjusted the steering box:

Changed the break-in oil, cut open the filter and looked at the element and debris that got left in the filter:

And started cleaning my rims. The one on the right has been cleaned, the one on the left, not yet:

[bigmal 225]

Looking good. No idea about the pump though.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

I rebuilt the power steering control valve, but the system still got pretty hot. Took the power steering pump apart and found evidence of rust in the reservoir. Guessing some rust must have gotten into the pump I got a reman pump and changed it out. The power steering is now leaking all over the place, but it worked great while it was hooked up. Had to take the belt off so I would not run it dry. 

So it's been almost 4 years since I rebuilt the FMX using Ken BadShoe's rebuild video. Today I finally felt it was time to test it and see if it really does more than just go in and out of gear. Sorry for the small size of the video, it's from a friends iPhone. I keep telling him he needs an Android...

http://redshost.com/media/firstdrive/

Yep, very little throttle as the video starts, the tires are just sitting there spinning. Can you say, torque monster?

Edited August 4, 2018 by 69ShelbyGT350H
Spelling errors!

[barnett468 418]

5 hours ago, 69ShelbyGT350H said:

 

Yep, very little throttle as the video starts, the tires are just sitting there spinning. Can you say, torque monster?

Actually a stock 302 engine can spin those tires although it would take a bit more throttle. If you have never driven a car with those tires you need to be extremely careful as they are in fact dangerous.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Yep, drove it back in the 80's and 90's on those tires. It did take a lot more throttle to spin them like that and I can now break them loose on a roll, something I could not do before. The car is not meant for everyday driving, and I have a set of 17" Legendary GT9's with Nitto 555 G2's on the way for when I do want to drive it. The original Shelby rims and Polyglass tires will be reserved for show purposes only.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

1st place in my 1st show. Next stop, PITS!  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/poniesinthesmokies/

https://poniesinthesmokies.com/

[RPM 1,190]

Very nice. Dude, you're a young buck! Heck, I figured you to be an old fart like me :)

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

21 minutes ago, RPM said:

Very nice. Dude, you're a young buck! Heck, I figured you to be an old fart like me :)

I'll be 58 this year. Bought the car in 1980 when I was 19, drove it for a couple of years and put it away after Hurricane Andrew. Got back to work on it in 2015 and just got it back on the road.

[RPM 1,190]

58??? I'd have lost that bet. 

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

A non judged non trophy show

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

I just Noticed I did not post anything about my PITS / Sevierville Tn trip. I had a great time and the car performed well. Did the poker run, a little drag racing and then 2 days of car show. I was outside both days, it was cool even with the sun out. Its mostly newer cars with only a handfull of 1st gens scattered about. Seems I did not have 2nd gear the entire trip (I trailerd up from Miami) so did not try a Dyno run. But, as I was driving it all over Sevierville/Pigeon Forge, I was noticed by the NPD rep (Holy crap, there is a 69 Shelby driving on the Poker Run!) who decided I deserved the 1st gen NPD Sponsor award. 100 awards were given out and mine was in the top 20. 

So here I am at the drag strip. It had been a misty rain all morning so the track was a little wet. Nobody, even the big tire guys were hooking up on this 1/8 mile track. My trans was auto-shifting from 1st directly to 3rd, but then wanting to downshift to the non existant 2nd gear. So in my last run, you see me get ahead, but then fall back as I am peddling to try to keep it in 3rd.

https://www.redshost.com/media/2019PITS/Video/English_Mountian_Raceway.html

Here is my photo gallery followed by just a few other writeups of the event.

https://www.redshost.com/show/2019PITS/index.html

http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/1903-npd-ponies-in-smokies-brought-mustangs-to-mountains/

https://www.fordmuscle.com/event-coverage/ponies-in-the-smokies-2019/

http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/1904-ssp-mustangs-wow-the-crowd-at-ponies-in-the-smokies-2019/

http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/1904-ponies-smokies-2019-awesome-engine-gallery/

https://www.fordmuscle.com/event-coverage/top-ten-fox-bodies-ponies-in-the-smokies-2019/

https://performance.ford.com/enthusiasts/newsroom/2019/04/ponies-in-the-smokies.html

Edited January 13, 2020 by 69ShelbyGT350H
Links

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Its been a while, so here are some photos from events and shows.

[69ShelbyGT350H 61]

Its been a while, and COVID has slowed things down a little, but I keep taking her out. The 2020 Ponies in the Smokies event was canceled, as was Mustang Week, but there were still about 1000 of us that ended up at Myrtle Beach. I even had a little fun at Darlington Dragway. And yes, there is a new (07 GT500) Snake in the Pit.