New guy needs help ( 1987 Shelby Lancer )

[homelessduck]

Hey guys !

I just aquired a 1987 Shelby Lancer and I am having trouble figuring out exactly what I have. From what I have read the automatics had leather interior while the manuals had cloth. Mine is an automatic with cloth interior. According to the Shelby Registry only 5 of these were made..? It also has factory cruise and AC. It does NOT have the trademark Shelby steering wheel or the CS emblem on thw hatch. Instead it has a Chrysler steering wheel and black Chrysler emblem. It has the factory Cd player and amplifier under the passenger seat. The engine has had the following done :

Bored .20 over.
Forged internals.
Rebuilt intercooled turbo.
Stage 1 Forwardmotion Inc. ported head w/ high rpm valve train.
Stage 1 cam.
Total seal piston rings.
Light weight connecting rods.
MSD ignition.
Magnecor plug wires.
Aluminum underdrive crank pulley.
Ported exhaust manifold

I am hoping someone here will know more about this car and why it isn't numbered.

Thanks,

-Dallas


Pictures : http://s8.photobucket.com/user/Homel...library/Lancer

[minigts]

Well first off, welcome to the board. I think you posted about the car on Facebook maybe? The pics look familiar with the faded paint, but that could be just about any of these cars. Stephen Swayney (sp?) may know more about the options, but if it's a true Shelby Lancer it is numbered, just missing the dash plaque. Mine was under the center console where the shifter is, so thoroughly search the car just in case.

I noticed the rear emblem, but I would guess that the factory hatch had the holes already stamped, so when the Shelby emblem went missing, it wouldn't be much to replace with a stock pentastar. I'd say the same for the steering wheel. It was a foam/padded wheel that doesn't hold up too well, so probably either wore out or someone pulled it and sold it. The seats were probably worn and replaced with some of the cloth ones, so again probably just someone trying to maintain the car with what was available unless cloth with the auto was actually an option.

From the pics it looks like Shelby and has the motor, so either someone was working to clone a stock Lancer or was slowly picking away at a real one. For the cruise, are you sure it has it or are you looking at the kick down cable for the auto trans? Alan and I were looking at mine and thought the same thing. Unless you can see the vacuum canister to regulate the cruise, that's what I would think that extra cable is.

[sdac guy]

If you post up the last 6 digits of the VIN, I can look it up to see which number it is, and to see if the car indeed was one of the auto/cloth optioned cars.

If the hatch was replaced at some time that may explain the badging. The Shelby medallions were adhesive backed so no holes were drilled to fit them, however the original hatch may have been drilled for the pentastar emblem prior to the installation of the Shelby medallion.

Barry

[homelessduck]

Minigts : Thanks ! I did not post it on Facebook. I just picked the car up yesterday. According to the Shelby Registry there were 5 automatic/ cloth cars produced. Hopefully it is one of them ! Also, thanks for the PM !

Sdac guy : That would be extremely appreciated! The last 6 are : 441918

The vin's match throughout the car , I do not think it is a clone. Also, I am sure it has cruise , it has all of the controls for it.

Thanks guys !

-Dallas

[sdac guy]

It left the Shelby factory with dash plaque # 662. The notations in the listing show it as "Unassigned" which means it was not shipped to a dealer as part of the regular distribution. Many "left over" Shelby's have this designation in the listing. The car was most likely shipped back to a Chrysler storage lot where it was then sold to a dealer from inventory.

The listing does show 5 AC (auto/cloth) cars. All of those last 6 digits start with 384...
Are the door panels cloth covered or leather covered? If leather covered, then just the seats were switched out.

Barry

[homelessduck]

That explains why there are 3 leather pamels in the back.. too bad they missed one ! Lol. It currently has all cloth panels and cloth front and rear seats. I'm sure finding the right panels,seats and that driver side rear window trim will be near impossible. That's so cool though, now I know it is a true Shelby car and I even know what number it is ! I was going to run a carfax on it but when I saw they want $40 for a single one ... that will have to wait.

Thanks !!

-Dallas

[homelessduck]

So was the steering wheel switched out too ? I read somewhere that some of these shelby lancers actually had a black pentastar emblem instead of the cs. Is that true ?

Couple more pictures :
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...ps76642cb6.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...ps50392e36.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...psf4a35f4a.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...ps7d5a5772.jpg

[homelessduck]

Sdac , If you get the chance would you please look up :385857 ?

Thanks and sorry for all of the posts

-Dallas

[minigts]

It left the Shelby factory with dash plaque # 662. The notations in the listing show it as "Unassigned" which means it was not shipped to a dealer as part of the regular distribution. Many "left over" Shelby's have this designation in the listing. The car was most likely shipped back to a Chrysler storage lot where it was then sold to a dealer from inventory.

The listing does show 5 AC (auto/cloth) cars. All of those last 6 digits start with 384...
Are the door panels cloth covered or leather covered? If leather covered, then just the seats were switched out.

Barry

That's good to know Barry about the VIN number for the cloth auto cars and even more so about the history of the ones that were listed as Unassigned!

So was the steering wheel switched out too ? I read somewhere that some of these shelby lancers actually had a black pentastar emblem instead of the cs. Is that true ?

Couple more pictures :
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...ps76642cb6.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...ps50392e36.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...psf4a35f4a.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34...ps7d5a5772.jpg

Hmm, well the steering wheel should look like this:



It's a foam or some sort of padded stuff, seems like it was injected around the wheel. It says leather wrapped in the caption, but if it is, it's waffer thin around some foam padding of some sort. If you find one that looks remotely close to this one in condition, you should buy it. I don't know of anyone who can restore them, but I haven't really looked yet.

The radio is not correct, but the amp and equalizer are. The radio looks like this:



Like I mentioned, someone told me to check around the car and I found my plaque, you may get lucky. If you ever go to the yards and find a Lancer, be sure to grab the screws that hold the dash fascia on. They are a hex screw and I've not seen them on other vehicles. Basically just start grabbing any good interior pieces you can find from Lancers or H bodies, I think there are a good number of interchangeable pieces for the interior.

[homelessduck]

I don't know how I missed the radio part haha. Bummer. I thought they were one unit and I saw the equalizer and didn't even notice the large JVC . I know where a steering wheel is but I don't think my brother would be too happy if I stole it haha.

[sdac guy]

Sdac , If you get the chance would you please look up :385857 ?

Thanks and sorry for all of the posts

-Dallas

385857 is not on the Shelby Lancer VIN list.

Barry

[sdac guy]

This place re-does steering wheels. http://www.american-stitches.com/
I have seen their work in person, a CSX wheel redone in glove leather. It was so nice that I didn't want to let go of it, a really great job.

With that in mind, even if you can find a Shelby wheel that is in bad shape, it can be given a new life, and look & feel better than the original.

Barry

[minigts]

This place re-does steering wheels. http://www.american-stitches.com/
I have seen their work in person, a CSX wheel redone in glove leather. It was so nice that I didn't want to let go of it, a really great job.

With that in mind, even if you can find a Shelby wheel that is in bad shape, it can be given a new life, and look & feel better than the original.

Barry

This is the guy that did my GLHS wheel, but there is something different about the Lancer. It says leather wrapped, but there is more to it and really doesn't feel like a wrap at all. Mine is coming apart in chunks, not sections like skin. When I have the extra cash, I plan to contact this guy and send it off.

[homelessduck]

Hmm , weird. They made the regular lancer in 87 too right ? When I bought the car the owner gave me the wrong title. It has the 385 vin. But it comes back as an 87 lancer as well , just not a shelby I guess ? I called the dmv and verified the actual car is in his name , but the title vin brought up no records.

-Dallas

[sdac guy]

I only have listings for the vehicles Shelby modified. I don't have any access to normal Dodge vehicle production data.

Barry

[homelessduck]

Thanks Barry !

-Dallas

[glhs0075]

Looks like I'm late to the party and don't have anything else to add. SDAC guy and Minigts covered it better than I could. All I can say is; it's my understanding that none of the Whittier cars came with cruise (something to do with 'ol Shel believing in experiencing the drive). My guess is somebody went to a lot of trouble to switch an entire factory system in. This looks like Spycker's (Edgar) car, did you pick it up in Oakland area?

[homelessduck]

In the Shelby registry i saw one other lancer that had cruise , but it could have been added later, as could mine I guess. I bought it from Gazelle,CA.

[glhs0075]

In the Shelby registry i saw one other lancer that had cruise , but it could have been added later, as could mine I guess. I bought it from Gazelle,CA.

I would be curious if the cruise is on the build sheet or not. I know the dealers had a hard time selling all of the S/L's (and it sounds like yours is one of the later ones), cruise control might have been added to make the car more appealing to potential buyers, but would it have been added by the dealer, or at the factory, or possibly by a previous owner?

[supercrackerbox]

Lots of turbo cars got dealer-added cruise kits. My old Omni GLHT had one.