Building A 289 R-code

4-spd

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Nov 5, 2014
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I'd like to rebuild my 1965 289 to GT350R specs. I've seen these original Shelby engines referred to as a "289/293 c.i.". Were the Shelby R-codes stroked for more displacement? Is this one of the things I have to do to replicate an R-code? What kind of HP did the R-codes make? Would appreciate any light being shed on this subject. Thanks.
 
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They were not stroked ,they had a bigger solid lift cam than stock . They used the Hipo heads and a cobra intake ,and i believe it was a 735 Holley . They had 4 speed transmissions
They had tri y headers and exhaust that ran straight out behind the doors . The Shelby 350 R was 306 HP i believe where as the stock Hipo was 271 HP. They were non power steering with a special pitman and idler arm that you can still buy new .They had a 9 inch rear end with over rider traction bars and a heavier front sway bar .
The rear window was plexi glass with an opening across the top of the window to allow air to escape the cockpit .
The dash pad was trimmed off along with the pad mounting .The rear seat was deleted along with the trap door and replaced with a fiberglass shelf that mounted the spare tire inside the car . The rear quarter vents were removed and replaced with covers that blocked them off.
There was no carpet in the car or headliner and the interior was painted black .The door glass along with the wind wings was removed and replaced with an aluminum frame that held a plexi glass window .A srap inside the door was used to raise and lower the door windows and they had aluminum door panels . The hood came in more than one configuration of fiberglass and fiberglass and steel ,i believe the more common hood was the port hole hood with a round opening cut below the hood scoop . The early 350 did not have side scoops and the brake ducting was below the floor . The front R model valance had a large open in front the radiator with brake ducts on each side of the grill opening that cooled the front brakes .There were two styles of duct openings in the front valance ,an oblong opening and a round opening .
It has been a while since i built one ,i have built four of them ,one went to France where it won second place in the first vintage race it was entered in . The last one i started to build was the 66 coupe to fast back conversion in the sticky post in the classic talk forum ,i was trying for the 66 version ,I may still finish it ...Who knows :shrug:
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