Hi Steve, greetings from a cold and snowy South Yorkshire in the UK.
I must admit I wondered the same thing, very unusual to see leaf and coil springs together, my 1:1 70 coupe only has leaf springs......
I've had a good snoop round on the UK Mustang owners club forum (I'm a member) and can't see anything regarding the use of both types of spring.
Not a lot of help, Sorry.

Thanks guys. I had a feeling they were there to give the rear end the effect of working suspension as the kit shocks don't have springs and that is fine with me.

This build will be a whole new experience for me and I am very much looking forward to it. I really like the way the individual assemblies interact so precisely with each other.

I don't plan on building the Shelby as delivered. More likely it will be patterned after a standard fastback that has been upgraded with Shelby or other after-market parts. That will allow me to make a few modifications without upsetting the Shelby legacy. I also want to add extra detail when there is an opportunity, like engine wiring, brakes and maybe tires and wheels. I have not ruled out using 3-D printed parts or kit-bashing parts from other 1:8 scale models.

Thanks again for the information.

I was digging through my parts box and found a set of Goodyear Eagle VR-50 tires from an old Monogram 1985 Corvette kit. These tires are roughly the same diameter as the tires included in the Shelby kit. A little online research found this to be accurate as the Shelby Speedway 350 tires had an overall diameter of 26.73" compared to the VR-50's 26". The major difference is the width as the Corvette tires are about 1.5-2" wider.

By the way, the VR-50 tires were known as "Gatorbacks" because the tread pattern resembled an alligator's back. The tires were patterned after a F1 rain tire and were rated at 160mph.

I think I can make them work on the Shelby by adjusting the offset slightly to allow enough clearance for the wheel openings in the fenders. I really think that wider tires will add to the overall look that I am trying to achieve.

I also want to use the center 5-spoke portion of my wheels from the Revell Big Tub model. The plan would be to scratchbuild the center part of the wheels from 2" diameter PVC pipe with a slightly larger diameter flange on each side made from styrene sheet that will match the diameter of the wheel openings on the tires. The 5-spoke center section will then attach to the inside of the wheel with the position based on the offset required for proper clearance. The wheels will be chrome although I am undecided on the spoke sections as their generic look will look nice as fully chrome or in graphite torq-thrust style.

I plan on keeping the tires as is with no raised white lettering.

I want to make my own hubs so the wheels will mount using scale lug nuts so disc brakes will also be in store. That way they can be removed to show the details that would otherwise be hidden.

Please let me know your thoughts.

That's an interesting you have planned, I'm looking forward to seeing how you implement it.

Will look pretty cool

Here is the 4-piston modern disc brake kit I got from TDR Innvovations. Pretty cool. Even comes with brake pads. I discovered that the lug bolt pattern on the hubs is different from my wheels so I will have to scratchbuild replacements. If I wasn't attaching the wheels with scale lug nuts this would be no big deal. I will also have to figure out a way for the entire assembly to attach to the Shelby steering knuckles (and still operate correctly). Lastly, I will need to make a bracket to mount the caliper. I bought an extra issue of one of the knuckles off eBay for my R & D. I've already drilled out where the control arms and tie rod attach as these will attach with scale bolts.

This should keep me busy this weekend.

It's taken me awhile but I finally came up with a modification to the TDR disc brake that worked with the Shelby steering knuckle and still retained the proper offset. These photos show how they go together. The hubs are made from multiple pieces of Evergreen plastic sheet, .040" & .030". I also used some 3/4" plastic tube from Plastruct. After confirming the proper size, I printed out the 5-lug pattern on adhesive back label paper which I stuck to the plastic and used as a template for drilling the lug holes. The lug bolts themselves are 0-80 x 3/8" silver plated from Reactive Metals, a jewelry craft supplier. The hub assembly mounts by by "sandwiching" the rotor in the middle. Not shown is a smaller tube that goes through the hub and will slide over the shaft on the steering knuckle. Probably will be greased internally with Vaseline. Photo of the other brake parts shows the calipers which have been painted and slightly detailed and the rotors, painted Tamiya Titanium Silver and the brake pads. The 2-piece caliper bracket - in the foreground - mounts to the steering knuckle with 00-90 nuts, bolts & washers (brass, black oxide and silver plated). The bracket was made from .040" Evergreen sheet. This weekend I hope to paint the hub assemblies matt black and finish detailing the calipers by adding the brake bleeders, decals and other details.

Thanks Dave. I took a break today and made something fun. How about a 1:8 scale 1967 Shelby GT500 owner's manual (complete).

This will probably be my last post over here as it has been suggested that I post under the member's build diary forum - even though I haven't technically started building. I'm still trying things out and getting ideas from other members' builds before I actually start.

Having said that, I hadn't seen anyone strip the valve covers down to bare metal and polish them yet so I thought I'd give it a try. After removing the bolt head detail and drilling holes for new bolts I used paint remover to strip off the paint and then sanded the surfaces until they were scratch free and finished with very fine steel wool.

I don't think the pictures do it justice as the lighting seems to be off but I thought it was a nice effect. I like using bare metal when applicable as I feel that the naked eye tends to recognize real metal and thus adds to the overall realism.