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1968 Instrument cluster - wood grain or black?

Tequila

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Messages
347
l was hoping someone would be able confirm whether or not the CS comes with same instrument bezel as the Shelby mustang? I recently ran into someone selling an NOS instrument bezel and he said California Specials came with the wood grain Shelby instrument bezel. My steering wheel has the wood grain center piece, but the instrument bezel and the rest of the trim is black.

I am tempted to buy it but don't want to waste money if I don't have to.

Thanks.
 

robert campbell

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,321
My experience with 1968 Shelby's is they all came with what we refer to as a deluxe interior décor group. wood grain dash and wood grain inserts in the door panels to make this conversation easy.

The GT/CS could come with either the deluxe interior décor group or a standard interior that would have black "camera case" finish. the steering wheel is a bit of an oddity to me. To the best of my knowledge some cars had the wood grain steering wheel insert and some did not, irregardless of the standard interior or deluxe interior.

My guess is your car came with a standard interior. If your door data plate is still intact it will provide a code of what your car interior came with. The first two digits on the door data plate would be 65 under body style code for a coupe model. The third digit is either A, B, C, or D. A "B" code is deluxe interior with bucket seats. A "D" code is deluxe interior with a bench seat.

If your car is 65A or 65C the black dash would be correct.

Rob
 
OP
OP
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Tequila

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 29, 2013
Messages
347
Rob, thank you so much for the explanation. That makes sense now, especially about the steering wheel inset. My code is a 65A there the black trim is appropriate.

Thanks again...
 

x-codegtcs

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2002
Messages
549
Location
Kaysville, UT
My j-code is a standard blue interior, but has a deluxe steering wheel and deluxe seat belts. So, it happened every once in a while...
 

sam

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
494
I've wrestled with this myself. My car has the camera case bezels; but I've installed a woodgrain steering wheel. I love the woodgrained dash bezel, but would not mess with an applique/ stick on. Tell me, are the "woodgrain" dash bezel available either NOS or through someone like Tony Branda? If so, I would seriously get it to put in my Cal Spec.
My car is a keeper, so I'm not too fanatical about being period / serial no. correct.
Enjoy the day.
Sam
 

Ruppstang

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
3,032
There were three ways you could have had the deluxe wheel in 68. The first as Rob said with the Décor interior. Second with the Sports trim group. That one went away in the second half of the year so not likely to be found in GT-CS or HCS. Lastly there was a stand alone option for the deluxe wheel.

The insert is not reproduced to my knowledge. Could possibly found NOS all though I have not seen one. I may have a used one or two. The Mustang one differed from the Shelby as it still had the 6 bezels and the Shelby was flat.
Marty
 

cool68

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 3, 2013
Messages
213
Location
adelanto California
hello

I,m going with the wood in my J code and I,m adding the interior décor group..i,m also going to add the repro factory tach... I,m still thinking about adding the A/C.....my car is a keeper so I don,t have to be numbers correct
 

x-codegtcs

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2002
Messages
549
Location
Kaysville, UT
Try to get the NOS bezel if you can...I am on my third POS reproduction part and supposedly it is the "best" repro that I just got today. The tooling obviously crashed (probably aluminum to save $) and it is pretty clear that they fixed it, but only substandard, but this is all that is available...so I either keep the $50 POS or $70 POS...get the ford one if you can.
 

Ruppstang

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
3,032
Try to get the NOS bezel if you can...I am on my third POS reproduction part and supposedly it is the "best" repro that I just got today. The tooling obviously crashed (probably aluminum to save $) and it is pretty clear that they fixed it, but only substandard, but this is all that is available...so I either keep the $50 POS or $70 POS...get the ford one if you can.

You are now beginning to understand how frustrating and expensive it is to build a high end concours car where very high standards of authenticity are expected. I have some Ford originals but they would require replating and that costs more than your most expensive POS reproduction not to mention the shipping back and forth.
This is why most elect to just get them close and drive them and there is nothing wrong with that. I used to say that I would never own a trailer but after nine years of restoration on our GTA convertible and too many $$$$ it rides in a trailer to most shows.
Marty
 

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franklinair

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
4,740
I like the Deluxe interior & woodgrain panels, and have done a couple of cars in that manner. Maybe I'm not critical enough (or my cataract eyeballs don't see the discrepancies). :embarass:
I purchased the dash panels thru Virginia Mustang, and Marty clued me in about painting the A/C control panel. The end results were satisfying to me. But of course I don't necessarily go to the concourse level.

Neil
 

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