Author Topic: 4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings  (Read 1729 times)

Offline Johnnydarkgt350

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 16
4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings
« on: June 03, 2019, 04:17:43 PM »
New To the forum; Putting finishing touches on my rear chassis restoration and wondered if anyone out there knows what markings should go on the rear axle housing I have seen the D S O ; and I’ve seen white “ x” any suggestions or knowledge on this would help! I want to do it once; right! Thanks

Offline Johnnydarkgt350

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: 4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2019, 06:04:41 PM »
I failed to mention it’s 1966 Shelby GT 350 for a number S FM 6S 1680

Offline J_Speegle

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24620
Re: 4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2019, 06:10:15 PM »
First welcome to the site - hope you find the support and information provided here helpful in your concours related endeavors

You will find in most discussions and threads here on the site that the general option is to not copy other examples since there is no way of determining if your car originally had that mark or daub.  We have found that over the years owners and builders have felt the pressure to add or place markings on their car because everyone else was doing it and they would apply marks from other cars, plants, years and so on, leading to a fair amount of less than reliable out there - and it got worst once the pictures started showing up on the internet.

Because of the "borrowing" and migrating these details have done in the past I tend to hold back and not share allot of paint mark details publically (have over 8000 picture examples currently labeled) and don't share them until I can get a number of them that agree with one another from the same plant and application. The others might have only been applied on a single part so this helps not create more.

Of course the first place to find this information would be the car in question - if it has been been redone some point in the past. Unfortunately for Shelbys - after 50 years or so that has become less and less likely

From this we get typical markings and placement so lets see if we can help with those for your application.

For the housing of a spring 66 GT350

- You have already seen the DSO handwriting on the rear of the center section.  Depending on who applied the writing at the Sterling plant it could have been applied vertically from the drivers or passenger side and in white or yellow paint. Yellow so far seems to have been the more common of the two colors. One worker like to add a period after the "D" and "S" on those examples.

- Locator mark at the brake junction attachment hole  on the top drivers side of the housing.  Brush mark from about the hole down the back side of the housing for 3 or so inches, a drip or a longer past could produce a longer final look. A light blue  or a green colored paint has been seen used for this marking

- Would not recommend an X. That IMHO is something you saw allot 20 years ago on restored cars but in my experience has not held up to research and documentation in years since from original unrestored examples and period pictures. 

There are a couple of other markings that have shown up on some original examples but not enough information is identical so haven't included those this time



Related to the housing

- Rear end housing vent hose typically has a yellow daub on the hose where the clamp holds it to the under body of the car. Make sure you use a paint that will not react with the rubber hose as some does :(

- The U shaped axle housing to rear spring hardware is often found with a small (approx 3/8" dia) pink daub on each of them at or sort of near the top surface visible once mounted.


For others viewing this tread remember that these details apply ONLY to the car in question. Do not use or apply them please on other applications without first doing your homework


Hope this helps and again welcome
« Last Edit: June 03, 2019, 06:13:57 PM by J_Speegle »
Jeff Speegle

Anything worth doing is worth doing concours ;)

Offline Johnnydarkgt350

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: 4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2019, 06:18:28 PM »
Jeff thank you so much you’re awesome as I have read your previous posts and this does help thank you so much and number 1680 thanks you as well

Offline J_Speegle

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24620
Re: 4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2019, 06:21:16 PM »
Two examples  of the DSO
One from the drivers side one from the passenger.
One from one worker with the periods and one from another worker without.

Upper left from a car approx 250 Shelby numbers before and the lower right about 250 Shelby numbers after 6S1680 since we don't have your Ford VIN and possibly the example's either.


Jeff Speegle

Anything worth doing is worth doing concours ;)

Offline Johnnydarkgt350

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 16
Re: 4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings
« Reply #5 on: June 03, 2019, 06:58:10 PM »
Jeff I also I’m trying to finish the pumpkin correctly I’ve done the red oxide correctly and the bare metal parts correctly but what markings are usually found on the pumpkin I’ve seen eights and other numbers etc. ! Thanks Jim   Ps I found some stencil numbers on my driveshaft in yellow!!

Offline J_Speegle

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24620
Re: 4/66 San jose Shelby axle housing markings
« Reply #6 on: June 03, 2019, 07:24:57 PM »
Jeff I also I’m trying to finish the pumpkin correctly I’ve done the red oxide correctly and the bare metal parts correctly but what markings are usually found on the pumpkin I’ve seen eights and other numbers etc. ! Thanks Jim   

Sounds like you've seen markings on other styles/types of early rearends and not specially 9" ones



Ps I found some stencil numbers on my driveshaft in yellow!!

There are a number of threads discussion those details that can be found using the search feature.

One is

http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=3190.msg17105#msg17105

Unfortunately some are older and the posters of pictures didn't store the pictures on site so they are long gone :(

Something for all to consider
Jeff Speegle

Anything worth doing is worth doing concours ;)