Mustang GT350 Restomod Part 3

As mentioned in our initial installment, the Shelby GT350 wasn't known for its engine size, as is typical for many cars. Instead, back in 1965, Carroll Shelby had grown weary in a lengthy meeting about naming the car, so on a whim he abruptly decided to base it on the number of steps between two of his shops.


The engine used in the GT350 was a 289 cubic inch Ford V-8, the 271 Hi-Po version. Its output was upped on the Shelby GT350 to 306 hp with a Holley 715cfm carburetor bolted on an aluminum Cobra hi-rise manifold. Nothing else on the 271 Hi-Po was touched.

Ponying Up
By today's standards, those were relatively limited modifications. Thanks to advancements in automotive technology, it's not so difficult to pull a lot more ponies out of a 289 cubic inch V-8, even without modifying the bottom end with a stroker crankshaft or the use of forced induction from a turbo or supercharger. A good rule of thumb for a streetable high-performance engine, however, is about 1.1 hp per cubic inch of displacement. On a 289ci V-8, that would calculate out to 318 hp, not all that much more than the original '65 GT350.


What's more important than a high horsepower number is balancing and integrating the performance components with each other, both on the engine and the vehicle as a whole. We've already touched on the improvements made to the chassis and driveline to handle the increased output, so now we'll cover some aspects of the Edelbrock engine mods used here.

Total Package
To get great performance out of any engine, the components must work together. Since the early 1980's, the Edelbrock Total Power Package System has helped to match performance parts for many street performance enthusiasts. Matching the intake manifold, camshaft, cylinder heads and carburetor are the core of the Power Package concept.