Joe Macura & Making A 427 Sideoiler run 7000+

[djs]

Fascinating article on FE engine designs & improvements:

http://performance.ford.com/series/...rld-tells-backstory-of-mark-ii-427-ford-.html

 

[CJ428]

Nice thanks my first Ford V8 and still my favorite

 

[jr66]

Interesting read about facts that I did not know. I love my 427 side oiler in my original Cobra. Now I know why!

 

[DakotaGT]

That was a very enjoyable read! Lots of things in there that were new to me. Loved the Contessa story- never heard that part of the story before. Thank you for posting.

jr66- would love to see a post about your original Cobra! How long have you had it?

 

[RickH]

There wasn't any mention of the earlier 427 top-oiler from which the side-oiler was derived.

 

[jr66]

I have had my 427 Cobra since 1970. It had a full restoration by Mike McClusky in 2009. It is a street 427 with an aluminum head engine prepared by Holman Moody. No side pipes or hood scoop. 8200 original miles. The Cobra is the other woman in my life. Now it has company with my 2006 Heritage GT.

 

[Sinovac]

The street 427s are my favorite. I have a repro that I really enjoy.

 

[Beach-GT]

At first I thought you sad repo.......but I knew you were not in the repo business. Ha!

 

[DakotaGT]

I have had my 427 Cobra since 1970. It had a full restoration by Mike McClusky in 2009. It is a street 427 with an aluminum head engine prepared by Holman Moody. No side pipes or hood scoop. 8200 original miles. The Cobra is the other woman in my life. Now it has company with my 2006 Heritage GT.

Wow, that's terrific! What a treasure.

 

[DakotaGT]

The street 427s are my favorite. I have a repro that I really enjoy.

Me too, as you know. Strange now to think you drove mine before I even did! They sure are a ridiculous amount of fun... :cheers

 

[jr66]

I had a friend who had a 289 Cobra who took me for a ride in 1965. I was bitten by the snake. It was a stretch to buy one when I did, but it is the one car that I have kept all these years. I always wanted a GT40 but could not work out the finances.

 

[NorthwoodGT]

I agree with Dave that the FE series engines is one of my all time favorite, especially the 427s. really good article about the FE engine design for Lemans. I'm still amazed on the comment made at Rally X here in Dearborn by Edsel and Mose Noland about the 427 engines in the GT40s at Lemans. they literally pulled horsepower out of the 427s because they were making too much power. also by doing that, it gave more durability to the engines. here is a youtube link to the conversation at Rally X for those of you that haven't seen or heard it. what an amazing time we had to sit there and listen to the icons of the industry and edsel talk about being at Lemans as a teenager and watching Ford win. cool stuff for sure!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tShh1Pp4ZSE

 

[PeteK]

Reflecting on the 50-year time difference, the power of the 427 LeMans engine and the 3.5 Ecoboost LeMans engine (BoP'ed) are about the same!

 

[GT35065]

jr66, do you have any pictures you can post? My dad had a 427 Cobra street car demo that I rode in when I was eight years old. It was red with black interior. I always wondered who ended up with it. The ride in that car is the main reason I've owned a recreation for the last twelve years.

 

[07XL0027]

Back in the day I purchased a motor from a Chevy enthusiast. He had this "Ford FE" motor he wanted to take out of a Ford street rod he had just bought and he was going to replace it with a Chevy 350 small block. He told me over the phone he was positive it was a 390 cubic inch motor. When I arrived I immediately saw it was a freshly built 427 sideoiler with medium riser heads and a two four barrel aluminum intake manifold. I didn't correct him and paid him his full asking price of $500.


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[2112]

Back in the day I purchased a motor from a Chevy enthusiast. He had this "Ford FE" motor he wanted to take out of a Ford street rod he had just bought and he was going to replace it with a Chevy 350 small block. He told me over the phone he was positive it was a 390 cubic inch motor. When I arrived I immediately saw it was a freshly built 427 sideoiler with medium riser heads and a two four barrel aluminum intake manifold. I didn't correct him and paid him his full asking price of $500.


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He got what he deserved

 

[CJ428]

As I have observed countless times over the years, most GM people have a low IQ.

 

[jr66]

Cobra and GT

Sorry for the delay in posting my photo. The holidays are always demanding.

 

[DakotaGT]

Sorry for the delay in posting my photo. The holidays are always demanding.

Wow. That’s just fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

 

[cobra498]

It is interesting to see how far engine technology has come. The FE has a very bad short turn radius and the valves are way outboard of modern engine designs like the GM LS series. I have a Shelby aluminum block FE with essentially the same valve locations and port geometry as the originals. We recently went through it and used modern light weight Carrillo rods and a light weight small bearing Sonny Bryant crank. It also uses Blue thunder high rise heads with titanium valves, a modern high lift solid roller cam, electronic port injection and a modified Edelbrock manifold that will fit under an AC Cobra hood. The engine is 440 cid, makes 556 lb/ft at 7500 and 820 hp at 8200. Red line is 9300 rpm. Newer engine designs have more specific output but considering the FE is essentially a late 1950's architecture it is still pretty impressive for a normally aspirated engine and more than enough in a 2370 pound car.