Shelby aka the 2003 Ford Mustang's journey from GT to GT350

[Greasemonkey2000]

02-18-17, 92,559 miles: Went ahead and ordered the two idler pulley(s), auto tensioner, radiator fan motor and belt from Rock Auto earlier this week. Received them a few days later and after realizing the radiator fan assembly was only $20 more than the fan motor alone, I went ahead and sent the fan motor back and ordered the whole radiator fan assembly(02-16-18).

Received the radiator fan assembly today, thanks Rock Auto! As usual I had looked up a few YouTube videos on replacing these parts and as I figured there wasn't anything to it...maybe an hour or less.

New parts are always nice even when just maintenance parts...


The old fan was out and the new fan assembly was back in within 15 minutes...literally five nuts to remove the coolant expansion tank and fan, unplug the fan, drop in the new one and reverse.

The idler pulley(s) and auto tensioner was equally easy to do but before too long I realized the smooth idler pulley was the wrong size. I had a 76mm(3") and the new ones was 90mm(3.5'')...my fault.

Before heading to the auto parts store to get the correct one I decided to turn my attention to the bolts that had seen some corrosion from over the years...


...with some careful use of the angle grinder with wire wheel and cut off wheel for the washer(s) they looked much better.


Checked online to see which auto parts store had the correct smooth pulley and while none had the Gates piece I wanted, one had a Dayco idler pulley for my application. Upon arriving at the parts store and getting it in my hands I saw it was a different design from the oem one or the Gates I had but that was all they had, so after measuring it and confirming it was the correct 76mm...I paid for it and was headed back home with hope it was the correct one.

Here is the Dayco unit on the left, the old one in the middle and the Gates unit(90mm) on the right...


....the Dayco unit was plastic where as the other two where metal with a flat face and open cavity on the back side. Where as the Dayco unit was ribbed wit the ribs starting from the center and extending to the outer edges on both sides. Thankfully it worked.

Not much to see but here is what the old, probably the same parts as it rolled off the assembly line with, tired parts looked like....


...and the new parts installed.


Pulled Shelby out of the garage and let it run for ten minutes or so per the instructions for the belt and check for proper belt alignment and make sure worked as it should.Thankfully no more noise from the radiator fan!! It was REALLY annoying!!

Everything was fine but the battery light is still coming on!! I put in my OBDII bluetooth dongle in the obdII port and turned on the Torque app and found the voltage to still be in the 13.7v-14.3v range with an occasional dip to 13.5v with the ac, headlights, etc. on...so at this point the only thing I can figure is the alternators internal voltage regulator is going or a bad ground some where in that circuit...I dunno. Will continue to monitor.

[— Agent☣Orange —]

That's a proper charge from any alternator. Is it supposed to be 14.4V or else fault?

[Greasemonkey2000]

@AgentOrange: Alex, my understanding is it should be above 14v with no load , while running and between 13.7v-14v with a load. So it seems to be with in that range but the occasional dip to 13.5v and battery light has me thinking the voltage regulator is on its way out.

[NCGreasemonkey]

Is the Alt. a OEM or a aftermarket? Fords don't like aftermarket.

Peace.

[Greasemonkey2000]

I believe it is the oem alternator, Rick, but haven't confirmed.

[NCGreasemonkey]

Hope those storms and winds were no where close to you fellow nut!

We get any updates?

[Greasemonkey2000]

@NcGreasemonkey: No storms in my area. Thanks for your concern, Rick. Update coming in 5, 4, 3, 2....

[Greasemonkey2000]

02-23-16: Since removing the "GT" fender badges from Shelby I have been looking at options to cover the two alignment pin holes left behind. My first choice would be to fill/weld them but not planning on repainting the fenders anytime soon for something this trivial.

I even considered finding a side marker light but decided to give the 1968 Shelby GT350 fender emblems a try which is a vertical emblem with "SHELBY" on top with a gold background and the cobra below then "GT 350" at the bottom.

Asked my wife to buy them for me for my wedding anniversary present. She did so and they showed up and looked great but were larger than I expected at approx. 3.75'' tall and 1.75" wide. I 'mocked' one up and it just wasn't going to work in my opinion. Being that my lovely wife bought it for my anniversary present I didn't want to decide to not use them w/o he opinion. Thankfully she agreed they didn't look right.

Next I decided to give the newer "GT 350" fender emblems(used on the 2015+ GT350) a try and being that they could be bought on eBay for less than $10/pair, I figured it was worth a try for the 'knock off' pieces, which looked identical to me eyes. Ordered a pair and they arrived pretty quick considering they came from Asia.

Here is what they look like as received...



...then I test fitted...


....ya that isn't going to work. I guess I should have measured better as they are approx. 1.6'' tall and it would need to be 1.8''+ to cover. So I decided to try something....busted out the angle grinder with a cut off wheel and ended up with this end result...








....honestly...at first I didn't really like it but after my wife told me 'they don't look bad' and looking at the pics more and the end result 'in the flesh'...I am content for now. I can't say if they will stay...Adam aka Revlimiter may be called upon to make a custom badge but not sure how I will feel about a round badge in that location, as silly as that sounds. Adam will definitely be getting my business again for some custom wheel caps, door sill inserts and key chains...that will be later though.

For less than $10 and 30 minutes of my time I am happy with the results but they definitely looked better as they came but the whole point was to cover the holes so they are serving their purpose and may just become a permanent part of Shelby....time will tell.

[NCGreasemonkey]

Hey Chad,

Glad you didn't get blown-over in those storms.

And the mod to the emblem looks spot on. I would not change it. This is the OCD You and I share. You could batch sell that I bet!

Peace fellow nut that will come back to the fold!

[RustRat]

I like the emblems as they are now. I can understand looking for something that will fit your plan and general theme, but these do look good. If it doesn't bother you too much, let them be.


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[turboedpickup]

Always wanted your model year's cobra when I saw one in the same color scheme, with a black racing stripe burbling down the highway. Going to enjoy keeping up with this.

[Greasemonkey2000]

Hey Chad,

Glad you didn't get blown-over in those storms.

And the mod to the emblem looks spot on. I would not change it. This is the OCD You and I share. You could batch sell that I bet!

Peace fellow nut that will come back to the fold!

Thanks Rick!

I like the emblems as they are now. I can understand looking for something that will fit your plan and general theme, but these do look good. If it doesn't bother you too much, let them be.

Appreciate it, Peter! They are growing on me and can/will go with my plan, so they will probably stay.

Always wanted your model year's cobra when I saw one in the same color scheme, with a black racing stripe burbling down the highway. Going to enjoy keeping up with this.

Terminator's are incredible! My friend who is a big time mustang enthusiast had a black 03 Cobra, even stock it is FAST! I'd love one but they are really holding their value and i rarely see them below $15k with decently low miles and in good condition. Thanks for reading!

[Greasemonkey2000]

03-26-17:Decided to give Shelby some attention and install the Perihelion Design nickel plated switch guards I had purchased last month.

Now this might seem pretty straight forward....drill some holes and install right? More or less but getting the spacing even in measurement/visually and making sure they are as vertically straight as possible isn't as easy as you might think even when measuring, marking, etc.

Maybe I am over complicating it but even after doing this on Warbird....it was still not perfect, imo, but visually they look fine...well see for yourself.

Before....



After...




I was going to install the push button start I had also bought but decided to do that another day since I still need to get the leads for the switch figured out, aka look on the eBay listing , since it can be used in more than one configuration and has back lighting.

[RustRat]

Love updates in this thread. They look okay-ish. Just my honest opinion, don't want to disappoint you. Maybe it's the photos, the far right one looks crooked.

Where did you get the switch guards from? Want to make a switch panel that will match Adam's switches.


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[Greasemonkey2000]

Love updates in this thread. They look okay-ish. Just my honest opinion, don't want to disappoint you. Maybe it's the photos, the far right one looks crooked.


Where did you get the switch guards from? Want to make a switch panel that will match Adam's switches.

Maybe I am over complicating it but even after doing this on Warbird....it was still not perfect, imo, but visually they look fine...well see for yourself.

Peter it is the angle that is making it look crooked although it isn't perfectly vertical it is much better than originally but i could only open the holes up so much w/o the hole being seen and or too big. I plan on getting another radio surround, in time, and redoing as there was already some pre-existing damage. I appreciate the support and honesty though.

The guards are made by Perihelion Design and i bought them off eBay from a seller named southbrigde_massachusetts as they were a good deal cheaper than buying from Perihelion Design's website.