66's that did not have thick beehive washers.

[Karguy]

6S281 has the washers and the original correct long bolts. i'm positive they are original to the car, I remember them from 1972 when it was purchased from the original owner.

[Bob Gaines]

There are some GT350's that got short changed by mistake from the factory and did not get the reinforced upper shock brackets. There are many more that got their upper brackets replaced since new with non reinforced ones to replace stripped out threads . It is hard to say for sure at this late date which are which. The only certainty is what we know was supposed to be engineered to be on the cars. In concours the cars are expected to have the reinforced brackets unless some reasonable proof is provided that they came with the mistake from the factory.

[Jbarela]

It's been about 5 years since I have been on the forum..could not figure out why I had to register again and I remember when this topic came up so for history sake 6s1902 has been in the family since 68 and it did not have the washers and came with the ford adjustable blue shocks that we have on a shelf restored. As Bob stated, we put the washers on and konis on as that is whats expected ..it was a tough sell to get my father to do it but hey we got an extra pair without the washers and the original correct shocks for the next owner..by the way we are preparing to sell her. Her rotisery restoration is done and she is a beauty literally a nut and bolt restoration.

[TJinSA]

A number of years ago, someone noticed the striking similarity between the washers used to reinforce the shock towers and the washers used on the FE rocker arm shafts...  It was a great save.

[s2ms]

It's been about 5 years since I have been on the forum..could not figure out why I had to register again and I remember when this topic came up so for history sake 6s1902 has been in the family since 68 and it did not have the washers and came with the ford adjustable blue shocks that we have on a shelf restored. As Bob stated, we put the washers on and konis on as that is whats expected ..it was a tough sell to get my father to do it but hey we got an extra pair without the washers and the original correct shocks for the next owner..by the way we are preparing to sell her. Her rotisery restoration is done and she is a beauty literally a nut and bolt restoration.

How about some photos? 

[Bob Gaines]

It's been about 5 years since I have been on the forum..could not figure out why I had to register again and I remember when this topic came up so for history sake 6s1902 has been in the family since 68 and it did not have the washers and came with the ford adjustable blue shocks that we have on a shelf restored. As Bob stated, we put the washers on and konis on as that is whats expected ..it was a tough sell to get my father to do it but hey we got an extra pair without the washers and the original correct shocks for the next owner..by the way we are preparing to sell her. Her rotisery restoration is done and she is a beauty literally a nut and bolt restoration.

Maybe you misinterpreted some information because Koni shocks are only expected on cars around or below SA VIN 900 . On your car SA VIN 1902 Ford adjustable shocks painted the lighter Ford engine blue (very late production would be black) is what would be expected. 

[Bob Gaines]

I thought I would mention that putting Konis shocks on any year Shelby is probably the most common modification. With that said many cars had the koni shocks installed without regard to the longer wider head bolt needed that was typically used on factory Koni equipped cars. Without the use of the proper bolts can and has resulted in pulled out or stripped threads in the upper shock bracket. The easiest fix for a stripped out upper shock bracket with the washers is to replace it with a common regular Mustang version without washers. I am not saying this is what happened in every case since we have substantiated evidence that some cars were given the upper brackets without the reinforcement by mistake at the factory (for whatever reason). This repair replacement scenario because of Koni's is certainly a viable explanation for many cars that now don't have the factory engineered reinforced brackets.   

[rraceme]

Bob- I was always under the impression these shock tower mounts w\washers were installed at SA but after reading your post it looks like ford did it in San Jose for cars being sent to SA for their GT-350 conversion. Is this correct? Been a long week,  I might be interpreting your message incorrectly. On a side note - is there any vintage video or YouTube video available to watch which displays the cars being built at SA in 1965 or 66? I've seen pictures but video would be cool to watch too.  thank you for your time, Fred

[J_Speegle]

Bob- I was always under the impression these shock tower mounts w\washers were installed at SA but after reading your post it looks like ford did it in San Jose for cars being sent to SA for their GT-350 conversion. Is this correct?

Like the export brace and firewall support bracket, the front shock mount (beehive) modification was part of the Export Mustang modifications and parts typically installed on export Mustangs and what was part of the Shelby build process in 66

I'm not aware of any films taken during the 66 production year at Shelby. There are a few videos I've seen but they were assembled from photos and adding a little background music

Just wasn't important to document back in the day and cost money and lots of time.

Different time - different focus and priorities

In general businesses didn't car or want to share how things were done for many reasons

[rraceme]

J_Speegle - Thanks for the response. yes I'm familiar with the mustang T5 program and previously thought only the export brace was the only suspension upgrade for mustangs being exported. Thanks for sharing that bird cage fact nugget. So was the evenly spaced holes for the export brace part of the T5 program or was that a unique to GT-350's? Were all 65 - 66 GT-350's equipped with the evenly spaced brace? Incredible information found on this forum- Fred

[J_Speegle]

J_Speegle - Thanks for the response. yes I'm familiar with the mustang T5 program and previously thought only the export brace was the only suspension upgrade for mustangs being exported.

You had the export brace, firewall bracket, shock front upper mounts and for approx mid 66 production on the adjustable shocks

Thanks for sharing that bird cage fact nugget. So was the evenly spaced holes for the export brace part of the T5 program or was that a unique to GT-350's?

Share with both. Made it cheaper and easier for Shelby to use something that was already being made and supplied for some Mustangs

Were all 65 - 66 GT-350's equipped with the evenly spaced brace?

Yes that was the design at the time from production export and Shelbys

[csxsfm]

2nd owner of 6S290 since 1967.  Konis but no washers either side.

[Jbarela]

Thank you for that correction bob..my memory on this subject has faltered. Sorry for that.

[rraceme]

Just so I understand this correctly. The export brace, firewall brace, washer modified bird cage, over sized head bolts for koni's and adjustable Koni shocks were install at San Jose prior to SA? I loaded a couple pics of a shock and bird cage off my 2227 car. The koni shock dated 7\66. (if you can see it). My shocks were installed after SA conversion? yes? dealer or individual installed? Someone wrote previously on this thread Konis were a very popular upgrade. Is this the correct koni shock installed on GT-350's? thank you, Fred

[rraceme]

koni