I recently bought a motor that my buddy had layin around, and tore it down for a rebuild. The intake manifold says "SHELBY" on the front of it w/ the firing order and another ford part number I'm assuming on the back. How do I know if this is a real Shelby intake manifold and is this worth something? I'll post some pics and the part number tomorrow...Thanks...
Shelby 302/289 Intake Manifold?
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ratio411
Founding Member
I have never seen a Shelby with the big label cast into the intake.
All intakes with the big letters cast into the passenger front were over the counter parts.
The true intakes that actually came on the cars just have a part number beginning with "SMS".
I could be wrong, but I am old enough to have seen plenty of unmodded Shelbys and had neighbors that used them as daily drivers when they weren't worth anything.
I have never seen the big letters on any of them.
My .02
Dave
Edit:
Want to confirm the 'Buddy Bar' comment posted earlier...
I have owned a 70 GT 350 intake (351w) and was present on the teardown of a 69 GT 350 engine, (351w).
Both intakes had:
Marked "Buddy Bar" on bottom.
Had casting date on the thermostat housing.
DID NOT have any "Shelby" or "Cobra" names cast into them.
Had SMS part numbers.
Had W firing order cast into.
All intakes with the big letters cast into the passenger front were over the counter parts.
The true intakes that actually came on the cars just have a part number beginning with "SMS".
I could be wrong, but I am old enough to have seen plenty of unmodded Shelbys and had neighbors that used them as daily drivers when they weren't worth anything.
I have never seen the big letters on any of them.
My .02
Dave
Edit:
Want to confirm the 'Buddy Bar' comment posted earlier...
I have owned a 70 GT 350 intake (351w) and was present on the teardown of a 69 GT 350 engine, (351w).
Both intakes had:
Marked "Buddy Bar" on bottom.
Had casting date on the thermostat housing.
DID NOT have any "Shelby" or "Cobra" names cast into them.
Had SMS part numbers.
Had W firing order cast into.
And it seems there are so many variations on this intake that, that comes into play in price as well. Seems to me like I've seen small letter, large letter and hollow (or open?) letter variations in both the "Shelby" and "Cobra" intakes. But then again, I've never taken the time to study these, this was casual observation. The only truly valuable "SHELBY" Intake I've come across was a guy down here in New Orleans that had an FE Shelby intake he'd had fallen in his lap. One like it sold for something like $700 on ebay.
ratio411
Founding Member
I don't know about the casting number, but those intakes were made from the 60s all the way up to today they are still cast.
I have found a good way to find the time period of the casting:
4 holes on the carb pad: 60s
2 holes, with a 3150/3160 notch in the seperator: Late 60s- all 70s
2 holes, no notch: Latest versions
What is yours?
YellowMach69
Founding Member
zookeeper
Founding Member
Just about everything. Seriously, the Shelby stuff was sold over the counter and still is. Is it valuable? Well, it's worth more than a similar manifold without the lettering, but you won't get rich off it. As for the cast iron 4bbl manifold, they're very plentiful, regardless of year.
I have an original, bought new by me in 1967, over the counter Cobra intake. On the back of the manifold is a cast-in number with the 2nd digit a '7'. According to Tony Branda this is the number that repesents the year built which would correspond to my purchase of the manifold. On the front of the manifold it says 'COBRA' in cast-in letters.
At the Charlotte AutoFair a few years back ther was a TON of '1967 Cobra' (take-offs from GT-350's no less) manifolds that looked VERY new..not the 1st mark on them. When I asked Tony about them he just laughed and said he knew of more manifolds in existance from GT-350's than there were GT-350's!!
But he did say an original (I guess the wear and tear on it proves it's original) is worth around $500.00.
zookeeper
Founding Member
I don't have a single 4bbl Shelby intake, but my 2x4 Shelby intake does have the heat sheild as well, while my F4B does not, just as you said.
