Shelby Intake SJFD 9425 F

    Hello all

    I was recently given a "Shelby" intake manifold with the casting number SJFD 9425 F on the rear runner. There are no manufacturer's markings underneath. In what timeframe was this manifold available? Who was the manufacturer? I took it to the media blaster guy befor taking any pictures, sorry!

    It has four individual throats from the carb surface, not two large ovals. I've seen both configurations but I'm not quite clear on the advantages/disadvantages of the different configurations. What kind of carb plate should I use for a Holley 4150 vacuum secondary type carb?


    Thanks - Jim

    Edited once, last by cobrapatrol (May 14, 2026 at 5:53 PM).

    The earliest reference I have found was in the 1967½ Honest Charley catalog with special "Shelby" section. "SHELBY" lettered parts were aftermarket parts sold retail through about early 1972. There was an accessory company marketing these items sometimes called Shelby-Autosports or Autosports Products. Carroll Shelby Enterprises also advertised them.

    Design wise it is like the circa 1967 version of over-the-counter COBRA lettered intake manifold sold with three extra screw bosses to mount ancillaries to.

    Shelby Auto Sport Parts Catalogs & "How to Order Shelby American Parts" Salesman Binder Insert
    This item is part of the online auction: Celebrating 100 Years of Carroll Shelby: Performance Parts & Memorabilia Collection. Bidding starts Mar 21 and ends…
    ontime.mecum.com


    No adapter plate is required for Holley® 4150/4160 type carburetors. If you use a Ford 4100-A series carburetor from the 1960s something is required to be able to seal the underside of the carburetor. Personally, I like to use a 1969-70 Boss 302 PCV spacer plate to connect a PCV system to instead of putting crankcase venting into the last two runners in back.

    Dan

    Edited 2 times, last by Dan Case: add detail (May 22, 2026 at 5:04 PM).

    There were earlier Ford thin PCV adapter plates with PCV hose bib but they are extremely rare and very costly when located usually. The 1969-70 Boss 302 piece either original or reproduction are readily available most of the time.

    Dan

    Dan

    I know you've done a lot of research into the evolution of these manifolds, yes? I was wondering if anything can be inferred about the generation of my manifold based on the lack of the extra stud bosses on the #7 runner? My understanding was that those bosses came later in the series to attach additional equipment but I'm not sure whether productions couldn't have been carried out on both versions. And, do you know who cast these series of manifolds? Some sources have said Spearco?

    Thanks - Jim

    Decades ago, Jim Cowles and I started cataloging different castings and different ways they were machined. We stopped counting at 17 each COBRA lettered different GT350 castings. Different castings means made from different wooden masters and or features added or replaced like replacing COBRA text with SHELBY text. In more recent years some 1965-67 GT350 owners doing research have come up with more variations. Sometimes, different versions mean just machined differently as there were

    1. Models for stock engines.
    2. Models for engines with milled heads.
    3. Race only models without all the water ports drilled and threaded.
    4. A semi-finished model that racers could machine any way they wanted.
    5. Race only models made from most if not all the casting versions 1964-1968. I held a circa 1968 made race only model in new old condition in my hands once in 2008.

    Shelby American was no help documents wise because they listed 5 each versions in the May 31, 1965 service and race accessories book made by at least two different foundries and machined by at least two different companies. Offenhauser made countless 4V, 2-4V, and 4V intakes, but Buddy Barksdale Casting made intake castings for Holman-Moody, Shelby, and Ford too.

    Legacy wise:

    Holman-Moody created an aluminum copy of a Ford experimental 4V iron intake for 260 c.i.d. Ford engines designed with 1961 thinking of what high performance and rally racing required in a 260 c.i.d. engine family. Holman-Moody raced rally prepared Ford Falcons and used 260 engines in marine applications also. Dean Moon sold a MOON lettered version.

    Shelby American adopted the Holman-Moody 260 4V intake for its new Cobras with 260 c.i.d. engine as a factory regular production option circa early 1963. The Holman-Moody bird logo was replaced with COBRA text and a Cobra part number was added to the castings. Shelby American had additional versions with no lettering or TIGER lettering made.

    Late 1964 Shelby American came up with a race only light weight (very thin wall) 289 c.i.d. engine COBRA high rise 4V not intended for street use in Cobras because all street Cobras with HP289 engines used PCV valves and ancillaries. Light weight and very fragile. I have only seen about seven ever and all but two were broken or had been broken and repaired. The ports are so small and the walls so thin I would not try to even port match to stock gaskets.

    At the end of 1964 the first 1965 GT350 intake castings were made and included a provision for a PCV system. There was also a TIGER lettered version.

    From that point on, it was a constant evolution of versions until about 1971 including a COUGAR lettered model in 1967.

    Circa late 1968-69 Ford released a large volume runner version with and without FORD lettering to be used with race only C6FE-A cylinder head castings (either version) or 351W cylinder head castings on 289/non-Boss 302 engines.

    Performance wise, late 1966 model and onward versions of castings are generally referenced as the best performance and best cylinder balance in out of the box condition.

    One noticeable change set to over-the-counter models came about after Holley Carburetor Company released their first 3-V (a.k.a. three venturi, three barrel) racing carburetor.

    There were so many "high rise" Holman-Moody, COBRA, TIGER, COUGAR, SHELBY, and FORD 4V aluminum intake manifold versions, I gave up trying to even get pictures of them all decades ago.

    That is a very brief flyover. To cover the subject very well might take a hundred or more illustrated pages. GT350 owners with cars missing their original intake want to know which needle in the haystack to be hunting for and that is not as easy as it sounds. Any version not used in a new assembly line vehicle is normally not as expensive to buy as one let us say correct for a 1966 GT350 made in late 1966. The exceptions are the high rise TIGER and COUGAR lettered pieces made in very small quantities. They sell for whatever a specific buyer and specific seller agree to.


    Be aware that after the factory performance and sponsored racing were over, countless aluminum 4V and 2-4V intake manifolds marked with Holman-Moody, COBRA, TIGER, and SHELBY by logos or by lettering were defaced to remove brand identifications and sold off at discount prices. I have seen several manifolds with just a little bit of the R in Tigers still visible for example.

    Dan

    Edited 6 times, last by Dan Case: spelling (May 25, 2026 at 4:34 PM).

    Aluminum 4V intake wise for the Ford Fairlane engine family, this Holman-Moody piece is the earliest I know about. It is a copy of a cast iron Ford experimental 4V 260 intake manifold that never made it to production in new Fords with a Holman-Moody engineering number added and a Holman-Moody logo added. Rick Wood picture 2010.


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    Dan

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