1984 Mustang G.T. 350 - Building It His Way

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It would be fair to say that JB Oller likes his '84 G.T. 350 rather a lot. "I've had lots of nice Mustangs and Fords over the years, including a 1966 289 Mustang Fastback, a 428 CJ car and a 1971 Boss 351 four-speed. I regretted selling just about every one of them; so for me this car is one that will stay." And as we got chatting more with JB, it became clear why he won't be parting with this one anytime soon. "It's a special car, it's an anniversary edition and they only made a small number of them." So that's good reason enough to keep it, but that wouldn't be telling the whole story about why he's become so attached to it.

"One of my favorite cars of all time is the 1965 Shelby G.T. 350. I could never afford one back in the day, but I've always lusted after them." When Oller first heard about this '84, he saw an opportunity. Now quite a few of us know there's been much mulling over the '84 G.T. 350, particularly surrounding the legal issue of the name; but it can't be denied that it is still a fun car and has great potential. When JB got his hands on it however, this particular specimen wasn't looking its finest. "I got it via a colleague at work. He used to drive it really, really hard. He really beat on it. The body had hail damage from a storm, but he didn't care. He used to drive it and push it to the max." One day all that pounding finally took a toll. "He broke it. He downshifted into second one time and broke the crank, right at the front by the timing cover and harmonic balancer - it was cut right in half. It was a case of the straw that broke the camel's back - I knew it was coming, it was only a matter of time." Faced with a beat up Mustang that now didn't even run, Oller's work chum was no doubt eager to get rid of the car. So JB snapped it up without hesitation. "It was basically a rolling shell when I got it," he says. The 'opportunity' referred to JB's plan for his new acquisition. "Since I always wanted a real Shelby G.T. 350, I decided to use this car as a foundation for building my own '80s interpretation of the original - how it would have been had Mr. Shelby been officially involved with Ford at that point in time." And so it began. The whole process from clapped out wreck to corner-carving, show-winning modified took about 18 months. And it wasn't that easy. "I really have to credit a young guy by the name of Patrick Kelley who helped me build this car into what it is today. He's just been incredible. I met him at a dealership that was putting on a Ford show one day. I was looking for anybody who knew how to work on these Fox cars - bodywork and somebody to help me with the brakes.

He was a fan of these cars and I later found out that his wife owned an '84 G.T. 350 convertible and the VIN was just two digits removed from my car." Destiny no doubt.

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Now with an ally, JB's plan sprung into action. The rough looking body needed a considerable amount of love. "Patrick did all the body work, on my '84. I went out and sourced as many pieces of body trim as I could, but being an early Fox car, stuff was very thin on the ground - I had to try swap meets and that kind of thing. It was tough, but in the end we got all the stuff we needed." When it came to mechanical upgrades, Oller figured he might as well have a bit of fun. "Because it was a mandate to keep everything Ford as much as possible went through the Ford Racing Performance Parts catalog and got just about everything in it." Under the hood of JB's '84 is a 302 block, punched out .030" to 306 cubes. It retains a stock Ford crank and rods, but Oller added ARP rod bolts to help keep things together and it has Speed Pro forged pistons and rings. Nestling in the top of the block, one finds a Crane 449601 hydraulic roller camshaft with 286/294 degrees duration and .542/.563" lift. There's a pair of World Products Windsor Jr. cast iron heads sitting on each side of the block, with Manley 1.94/1.60 intake exhaust valves in 'em. The cam controls them via Crane roller rockers, springs and retainers. Oller decided to install bronze valve guides in the heads for added durability. Nestling on top of the lifter valley is a Weiand Stealth intake and bolted to the top of that is a Holley/Shelby 0-4118S four-barrel carburetter that flows 725 cfm worth of air. A K&N air cleaner maximizes air grabbing potential for the carb. Supplying the fuel feed from the stock 15.3 gallon gas tank, is a Holley 110 gph mechanical pump and once both the air and fuel had been funnelled down into the combustion chambers, what's left over gets spat out of the exhaust valves and down some jet coated MAC 1 5/8" shorty headers, and on to a Bassani X-pipe (with high-flow cats) and then out through a gorgeous sounding Flowmaster Delta 50 catback.

Giving the engine spark in order to make combustion, is the job of a MSD 6AL control box; coil and distributor. An Optima red top battery stores the electricity. The coil and distributor are linked to the eight Autolite DBL platinum tipped spark plugs, via a set of Ford Racing 9mm wires. JB fills his 306 with Valvoline 10W30 and uses Motorcraft oil filters. A Griffin aluminium radiator helps keep the motor running cool. Driveline upgrades run to a Tremec T3550 five-speed manual, with a Ford Racing King Cobra clutch and a Hurst shifter. There's a Ford Racing aluminum driveshaft at the tail of the gearbox, that connects to an 8.8 inch Ford Racing differential housing a 3.55:1 final drive. Suspension and chassis upgrades, perhaps not surprisingly are largely of Ford or Ford related componentry. There are Ford Racing control arms, C- coil springs front and back, caster camber plates up front and a strut tower brace. Because the car now sports five lug Bullitt 17 x 8 wheels, it boasts SN95 front spindles and five lug axles in the 8.8, plus 94 Cobra front and rear brakes - so that means 13" front and 11.65" rear rotors. A set of Koni adjustable shocks at all four corners aid handling, stopping and ride control. We've already talked about the wheels, but maybe we should mention what's wrapped around them - Goodyear Eagle 245/40ZR17s. Because JB's goal was to make this car appear as much as possible like an '80s version of the original G.T. 350 he put a lot of thought into the exterior and interior mods. "It's got a wood-rimmed Shelby steering wheel and I added a Ford Racing 140 mph speedometer - that 85 mph unit had to go!" The rest of the cabin retains the original Canyon Red color but looks far better now than it did a couple of years ago. As for the body, JB wanted to maintain the heritage of the '84 anniversary cars, but added a few extra things. "We went with a 2004 Mach 1 front chin spoiler, I sourced a hoodscoop from an '82 GT - I like that one and we made it functional, plus in the spirit of the '65 Shelby I just had to add tie down hood pins." But of course.

So in the 22 years this car has been in existence, it has gone from sitting in an Atlanta area dealership, to a school graduation gift, to then falling into a state of disrepair via two hamfisted careless owners and now back to glory once more, though this time as a restified Pony. "I'm really happy with the way it turned out," remarks Oller, and as I've said before-I can't thank Patrick enough for all his help." And although it does do well at shows-Oller bagged a second place award at the MCA show in Pensacola this past March-JB does drive it every chance he gets. "I've had it on the dyno and it makes good power - it made 396 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 406 lb/ft of torque at 4500. It's a nice cruising car, but one thing I'd like to do and I'm working on is getting it out on the road course - maybe I'll get it out running against a few vintage Shelbys - now that would be fun."

Acknowledgments:

Special thanks to Patrick Kelley of Kelley's Restorations, Powder Spring, GA

Interior / Exterior

JB Oller's 1984 Mustang G.T. 350

Engine

Ford 306 V8

Engine Modifications

Ford block bored .030" over, ARP rod bolts, Speed Pro 8.0:1 Pistons, Speed Pro rings, Crane Cams 449601 hydraulic roller camshaft with .542/.563" lift; 286/294 duration; Felpro composite gaskets; World Products Cast-iron Windsor Jr heads; Manley 1.94/1.60" intake/exhaust valves; Crane 1.6 roller rockers; Crane retainers; Crane double valve springs; aluminum Ford Racing valve covers; Weiand Stealth Intake, Holley/Shelby 0-4118S four-barrel 725 cfm carburetor; Holley 110 gph mechanical fuel pump; K&N air filter assembly; MAC 1 5/8" shorty jet coated headers; Bassani 2 1/2" X-pipe with high-flow catalytic converters; Flowmaster Delta 50 catback exhaust and mufflers; Ford Racing 9mm ignition wires; MSD 6AL ignition control box; MSD coil, MSD distributor; Autolite DBL platinum tipped spark plugs; Griffin aluminum radiator

Driveline

Tremec 3650 five-speed manual gearboxHurst shifter; Ford Racing aluminum driveshaftFord Racing 8.8 rear assembly with 3.55:1 final drive

Numbers

396 rwhp, 406 rwtq

Exterior

1982 Mustang GT functional hoodscoop; hood tie down pins; 2004 Mustang Mach 1 front chin spoiler; repainted original color of Oxford White by Patrick Kelley of Kelley's Restorations; Powder Springs, GA

Interior

Grant Shelby style wood rimmed three-spoke steering wheel with Mustang tri-bar center; Ford Racing 140 mphspeedometer

Wheels And Tires

Ford 17 x 9" 'Bullitt' aluminum rimswith Goodyear Eagle P245/40ZR17 radials

Chassis

Ford Racing Strut Tower Brace;

Subframe connectors

Earl's SS brake lines Optima Red Top battery

Suspension

SN95 Mustang front spindles; Ford Racing 'C' Springs; Ford Racing Caster/camber plates; Ford Racing rear control arms; 'C' Springs; Rear air-lift bags Koni front struts and adjustable rear shocks 1994 Mustang Cobra brakes - 13" front discs; 11.65: rear discs