65 / 66 Shelby Hood Details??

[gbart14]

I am looking for detail photos of the underside of 65 / 66 Shelby steel framed hood especially around the area where the date code is stamped. Reason - The hood on my 65 Shelby 5S243 is fiberglass with a steel frame. It may not be original to the car but it may be an original Shelby supplied hood based on other history I have. Date code is shown in the photo could be 65 or 66 but I wonder if Shelby was making / supplying steel framed hoods that early in production in 65. Note the round hole in the steel frame next to the date code. I am looking for information about the purpose of the round hole as I have not seen them on other cars. The junk on the full hood photo is from my undercoat stripping efforts. Thanks 

[CharlesTurner]

The steel frame structure is the later '66 style.  A regular production Mustang '65 hood wouldn't have had those 4 indented ribs at the top.

Your car should have had an all fiberglass hood.

[gbart14]

Thanks for your reply. FYI, according to Howard Pardee, his records show three different hoods supplied on 65 Shelby's around the date mine was finished. Most had plenum type all fiberglass hoods but there was also an all fiberglass hood non-plenum and a steel framed hood supplied within a couple numbers of mine. So, it is possible I have the original hood. But most likely, mine was a replacement based on other info I have of the car's history. I would like to confirm if this hood is an authentic Shelby hood or if it might have been supplied by others making copies?

[CharlesTurner]

Thanks for your reply. FYI, according to Howard Pardee, his records show three different hoods supplied on 65 Shelby's around the date mine was finished. Most had plenum type all fiberglass hoods but there was also an all fiberglass hood non-plenum and a steel framed hood supplied within a couple numbers of mine. So, it is possible I have the original hood. But most likely, mine was a replacement based on other info I have of the car's history. I would like to confirm if this hood is an authentic Shelby hood or if it might have been supplied by others making copies?

It might be a later '66 hood, but the steel frame details are not correct for a '65.

[TJinSA]

I replied to this in another forum, I believe the holes were put there because the Monte Carlo bar upper hardware was hitting the hood frame (too tall)

[gbart14]

Could be. I will measure the hole location vs the monte-carlo bar bolts. I wonder if this was supplied this way or altered after purchase. They look factory. Will revert later with details. Tks.

[gt350hr]

   5S272 is an all glass round hole wire mesh version. One owner for all 55 years.

[CharlesTurner]

Ribbed area outlined in red is what I am referring to on the underside frame.  That detail was introduced during the '66 model year.  A regular Mustang hood for '65 doesn't have those, there are small divots instead.

[Bob Gaines]

I hope that gbart14 is looking for more then validation only of what is found on his car is original . Some owners feel strongly that just because a part is found on their car in the present 55 years after the fact that it must be original to their car even though they were not present for all of the goings on.  The evidence presented confirms that it is a 66 style hood because of the innerstructure and not a 65 style hood. There are all kinds of problems if trying to make the case that a 66 style hood was put on a 65 GT350 at Shelby American.  The most logical conclusion is that the hood was replaced sometime in the cars life after it left SA. 

[JD]

Ribbed area outlined in red is what I am referring to on the underside frame.  That detail was introduced during the '66 model year.  A regular Mustang hood for '65 doesn't have those, there are small divots instead.

like these?  See attached...

[mygt350]

5S228 had the all glass porthohe hood with the wire mesh.

[CharlesTurner]

like these?  See attached...

Yep!

[camp upshur]

I hope that gbart14 is looking for more then validation only of what is found on his car is original . Some owners feel strongly that just because a part is found on their car in the present 55 years after the fact that it must be original to their car even though they were not present for all of the goings on.   

^^THIS^^
The curse of owning a 1965 Shelby, hey how about these 15 x 5.5 KH wheels?

[Greg]

I hope that gbart14 is looking for more then validation only of what is found on his car is original . Some owners feel strongly that just because a part is found on their car in the present 55 years after the fact that it must be original to their car even though they were not present for all of the goings on.   

^^THIS^^
The curse of owning a 1965 Shelby, hey how about these 15 x 5.5 KH wheels?

Not sure what you mean by curse, anyone owning any Shelby is blessed .  If you mean "curse" because someone is trying to hold a standard and not allow deviations from what is known, then you should rethink your position. 

[gbart14]

Well I think it is all summed up on this topic. 1st, the hood is a 66, no doubt thanks to all of you. 2nd, 5S243 had sheet metal repair because of an accident sometime maybe in the 1966 range. I believe that because the sheet metal was new Ford and not cut out of a donor car. So, it makes sense they would have obtained a new hood rather than try to repair the fiberglass.

I had two goals here. First, was to establish if it were possible that this was a 65 hood? As we have seen, it is not. It is a 66. Second was to try to determine if the hood was just as supplied on other 66's by Shelby? If so, it could be of use for trading stock to someone who needs one. If not, I do not want to misrepresent it.

Thanks, everyone for contributing.