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Bill Collins and I remember CJ's when they were operating out of a shed and a barn just outside of Harrisburg back in the late '80's early '90's. These were the days before AMK so I used to go out and pick through nuts, bolts and small hardware to clean up and refinish. Ah, "the good old days".

Indeed. CJ Pony Parts was originally not far from their present location on a farmette owned, as I recall, by Jay Zeigler's family. They had a small Mustang salvage yard behind the main house. When they built the first modern building in 1999 along US Route 22 east of Harrisburg, there was a substantial salvage yard out back. They eventually stopped selling used parts and the yard was closed and cleared out.

Shelby autographing 6S936 at the Atlantic City Classic Car Event on February 23, 2003. I am set up with the white KR next to the CJ Pony booth in the last photo.

Does any one know the shelby#?

6S936. Local car from new, sold at Francis For Fords. I originally encountered it in the driveway of a house next to a truck stop just north of Harrisburg in Clarks Ferry, PA, probably in the 1980's or 90's. Repeated attempts to contact the owner were unsuccessful and the car eventually disappeared.

Fast forward to around 2001, when I received a call from Crede Stammel, the "C" in CJ Pony, inquiring about a value for a rough '66 GT350. From his description, I deduced it was the same car. A farmer in the area had acquired it and installed a 6 cylinder engine / automatic transmission and was using it as a field car. When he decided to sell it, he contacted CJ's as they were a known entity in the area for Mustang parts.

CJ's bought it and I expressed interest in purchasing it from them, but they decided to remove the 6 automatic and put the body "as found" into their showroom as an attraction. I saw it there in 2002 and took the attached photos. I recall Creed telling me the original aluminum T10 was still with it but the engine was long gone.

In February of 2003, Carroll Shelby made a personal appearance at the Atlantic City Classic Car Event in New Jersey. CJ's was a vendor there at the time, as was I and we were set up adjacent to each other. They took 6S936 to the event to show it to Shelby and have him autograph it. He got quite a hoot out of the fact that it had survived in such a condition. I have photos of him signing the roof, which I will attach to another post.

The back story on 936 as I recall is that it was a drag car for a while, hence the "Midnite Confession" lettering. The name likely comes from a 1968 hit song by the Grass Roots. At some point the owner reportedly became entangled in a three way love affair. The jilted party shotgunned the car and set fire to it. It was in this condition that I first saw it, sitting in that driveway with the windows blown out and the interior full of leaves.

You can't make this stuff up....

When should you Unzip it: 01) Before you Unlatch the Top.  02) Unlatch the Top and then Unzip it or, 03) Unlatch the Top, raise it about a Foot and then Unzip it?

My experience is that option 3 is the best practice. This method relieves the tension on the zipper, making it easier to detach. Moreover, it greatly facilitates reattaching and closing the zipper when putting the top up, which is more difficult than detaching it.

I strongly recommend unzipping the window. Although it will fold sufficiently to allow putting the top down with it in place, the severity of the fold eventually causes the silicone hinge strip to detach from the edges of the glass. I have seen this many times on convertibles that I have sold over the years.

This is especially so now that the material may be decades old. Bear in mind the Ford / Shelby did not engineer these cars to last fifty plus years. Unzipping the window allows it to rest in the top well at a gentle angle, which prolongs the bond of the strip to the glass.

I sent you a PM.
Bill Collins

[automatic]

Why didn't this car go higher than $141k?

It's a Lime automatic with incorrect wheels (originally a MagStar car) carbs are continuation editions, etc.

These factors don't play well with the higher level BAT crowd.

There are two words I have disciplined myself over the years to not use when discussing most things Shelby: "Always" and "Never".

When what is offered is anecdotal, the vagaries of one's personal recollections are always a factor.

My understanding is SMC is a product used after AO Smith developed FRP - fiberglas reinforced plastic.

I havent heard the connection with the Armstrong company

http://www.thecoralsnake.com/FRP.html

Pete,
Many years ago I purchased some '69 Shelby fiberglass from Ron Charney. Included were some side scoops and unfinished components such as underhood reinforcements. He told me he found them at the Detroit area Armstrong plant. From that, I surmised that they did the '68 parts as well, but that may not be the case.
Bill

My experience is that they are different. I have confirmed this by examination of various '68 Shelbys that I have sold. See photos attached. These are both original, formed from sheet moldable compound (smooth back side), as opposed to hand laid up fiberglass (chop glass back) reproductions. Sheet moldable compound was produced by Armstrong Industries for AO Smith. They used it to achieve more uniform tolerances, resulting in improved panel fit. See the photo for an illustration of this process.

Ford often combined part applications to streamline things in service, especially on lower volume items - e.g. Cobra Jet carbs C9AF-M (manual) and C9AF-N (automatic) were both serviced by C9AF-U (Universal).

The variation may have been present only in original production, and the styles were consolidated in service from the beginning. Thus, it is plausible to suspect that both styles were always serviced by one surviving part number.

Ford published OSI (Obsolete, superseded, interchanged) manuals in part to advise of such consolidations. Affected numbers were often noted "m/w" (mixed with) "r/b" (replaced by), etc.

I am looking for a header/side exhaust system for a 427 Cobra. Must be painted style; no chrome or ceramic finishes. Can be used with patina and even some minor damage.

So, if you have "De-SC'd" your car, be it original or reproduction and have that old system laying around, contact me.

Please no replies with sources of new systems - that's not what I am looking for.

Bill Collins
Harrisburg,PA

bill@bcfords.com
717-648-6600

[Can't help but notice the obvious: Mecum has really cornered the Shelby-American market.]

Brian,

Thanks for all of your efforts (including the hyperlinks).
It is such a help to so many of us.

Can't help but notice the obvious: Mecum has really cornered the Shelby-American market.

-Steve A

Consignors of Shelby products appear to be finally eschewing BJ's no reserve policy - about time!

Here is a long established carburetor shop in Baltimore, Maryland. They have done several for the shop that performs my mechanical work. They are knowledgeable, have reasonable pricing and have produced good results for us, including a Rochester Quadrajet on a 71 429 Mustang. I am certain they can handle the oft troublesome Autolite 4300.

Abel Automotive Service
7403 Eastern Ave, Baltimore, MD 21224
(410) 288-9400

https://www.carburetorsrus.com/storepage2552156.aspx

I sent you an email at mkeller131@yahoo.com

The Mustang deluxe steering wheel center cap is similar but has "Ford Mustang" debossed around the perimeter and the tribar Mustang emblem on the center plastic insert.

The '66 GT350 used a similar cap from the Fairlane deluxe wheel, hence the C6OA engineering number. This cap is not debossed. The plastic center insert is changed for the Shelby application to a Cobra snake logo reading "GT350" rather than "Cobra".

The OEM cap is cast metal while some previous reproductions were plastic.