J- Code GT/CS Raven Black on E bay

[franklinair]

It is a rubber gasket, part of the pedestal kit. I ordered mine from 'highcountrybob' Teets, a member of this site. It's a first class kit. I had the pleasure of meeting him last summer at Mike & Robinette's gathering in Grass Valley.
Neil Hoppe

 

[BroadwayBlue]

When the Marchal lights were recalled and replaced with the Lucas lights it is possible that many dealers incorrectly used the 1" chrome bases instead of the proper GT/CS posts so some original-owner cars may have the 1" pedestals just because the dealer made a mistake.

Are the 1" pedestals correct? Technically, no, since the cars didn't come from the factory that way but due to the dealer influence in this whole mess it's probably not fair to say they are incorrect.

Interestingly enough ... I know we always said we believe the dealers often during the recall fix used the square base instead of the posts.

My GT/CS has the square base (in the process of changing to posts) and I assumed it was done as part of the restore.

Well, I just got a hold of a picture of my GT/CS as it looked from the original owner and it had the square "Shelby" posts when she sold it.

I'm assuming this was from the dealer fix since it was not restored at the time this picture was taken. It was given a basic repaint in the wrong color but not restored yet.

Attached is a picture of how it looked when the original owner got rid of it (grainy but viewable and when I got it (clearer)).

 

[case12]

Rich - but the picture also doesnt show the car with stripes, and has non-stock wheels. Looks like anything could have happened before this picture was taken. BUT, I am not discounting your theory that dealers installed the lights (and maybe yours) with just the square pedestals. Frankly, If I were a dealer, the square pedestal looks a lot easier, and they were off the shelf Shelby parts easy to get at.

A short story in point - I just got my 97 Taurus back from the shop and it needed one new spark plug and wire. I opened the hood and saw a spark plug wire unhooked on one end in the harness. I wondered why the heck the car is even running with one wire loose. It turns out they just decided to leave the bad wire in the harness rather than take 2 minutes to pull it out and throw it away. So I have a 7 wire / 6 cylinder Taurus from the dealer :scared: . Anything is possible for a dealer change-out.

I bet there are more than a few "original" GT/CS with the dealer installed square pedestals out there.
Casey

 

[BroadwayBlue]

Rich - but the picture also doesnt show the car with stripes, and has non-stock wheels. Looks like anything could have happened before this picture was taken. BUT, I am not discounting your theory that dealers installed the lights (and maybe yours) with just the square pedestals. Frankly, If I were a dealer, the square pedestal looks a lot easier, and they were off the shelf Shelby parts easy to get at.

A short story in point - I just got my 97 Taurus back from the shop and it needed one new spark plug and wire. I opened the hood and saw a spark plug wire unhooked on one end in the harness. I wondered why the heck the car is even running with one wire loose. It turns out they just decided to leave the bad wire in the harness rather than take 2 minutes to pull it out and throw it away. So I have a 7 wire / 6 cylinder Taurus from the dealer :scared: . Anything is possible for a dealer change-out.

I bet there are more than a few "original" GT/CS with the dealer installed square pedestals out there.
Casey

I hear you loud and clear Casey!
I know it's not written in stone and anything could've happened.
I've been in contact with the 2nd owner and he's been filling me in on a lot of info. And I'm making some assumptions on my part.

From what I've been told, the original owner had it from 1968 to 2002 (the old picture below). She drove it for a lot of miles (139,000) and it sat in her backyard for 10 years before she decided to donate it to her church.

That's around the time of this picture below and when he took ownership.
The 2nd owner indicated the car was rust free when he got it but in need of a restore and had a teal paint job - not a high quality one at that - I assume this is where the stripes were lost. I'm trying to figure out if those are aftermarket wheels or just the covers are removed. I can't tell. The other pics from the ad are too small to tell.
There is also a lot of paint peeling from the top as you can see - confirmed by the 2nd owner as well.

Like I said - I'm not saying this is any concrete proof but could help support the dealer theory. I was never clear if that was assumption or fact that we knew the dealer did that with the square posts.

I just know there wasn't a recent restore in that 2002 picture so if it was part of a restore it was 10 years or more before that.

 

[franklinair]

Kinda makes you think that the square base lights might be a RARE, and original (dealer) installation.??
Neil

 

[Mustanger]

Kinda makes you think that the square base lights might be a RARE, and original (dealer) installation.??
Neil

... all kidding aside, sometimes what someone may call a "mistake" can actually be worth more ... if you don't believe me, then I'll gladly take any 1943 "mistake" copper pennies that you may have :wink: ...

 

[HappyHour]

I hear you loud and clear Casey!
I know it's not written in stone and anything could've happened.
I've been in contact with the 2nd owner and he's been filling me in on a lot of info. And I'm making some assumptions on my part.

From what I've been told, the original owner had it from 1968 to 2002 (the old picture below). She drove it for a lot of miles (139,000) and it sat in her backyard for 10 years before she decided to donate it to her church.

That's around the time of this picture below and when he took ownership.
The 2nd owner indicated the car was rust free when he got it but in need of a restore and had a teal paint job - not a high quality one at that - I assume this is where the stripes were lost. I'm trying to figure out if those are aftermarket wheels or just the covers are removed. I can't tell. The other pics from the ad are too small to tell.
There is also a lot of paint peeling from the top as you can see - confirmed by the 2nd owner as well.

Like I said - I'm not saying this is any concrete proof but could help support the dealer theory. I was never clear if that was assumption or fact that we knew the dealer did that with the square posts.

I just know there wasn't a recent restore in that 2002 picture so if it was part of a restore it was 10 years or more before that.

So your car was donated to the church?? Gives new meaning that "jesus is my copilot". :cheesy:

 

[BroadwayBlue]

So your car was donated to the church?? Gives new meaning that "jesus is my copilot". :cheesy:

LOL! I didn't think of that!

From what I've learned the original owner drove the car for many miles and then she parked it in her backyard for 10 years and then decided to donate it to her church. A used car dealer sold it through the eBay auction that the picture came from in 2002.

 

[classicsguy]

It did not meet reserve again,This time went for $12,600.00 less than last time that the bidding went up to $13,500.00 The GT/CS prices are not going up in the majority of cases.. There are most sold without meeting reserve except for some project cars.

 

[HappyHour]

Looks like a car broker so Im sure we will see it again. Probably keep resetting "reserve" or until he sells it locally. :wink:

 

[classicsguy]

Looks like a car broker so Im sure we will see it again. Probably keep resetting "reserve" or until he sells it locally. :wink:

I agree....well see it again if the seller is a car broker...