What a small block Ford should sound like...

Hot dang, thats awesome.
 
That's what I'm talkin' bout!
 
Sounds awesome.

In a 427 style body tho, no?
 
Don said:
Is this the one the alert was about?
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No sir. That would be this one, by Hi Tech, which is another replica outfit out of South Africa, which is either the precursor, or similar outfit to Superformance.

289FIA-peck-ca10.jpg


The one I posted above is a "continuation" Cobra, meaning it is in fact made by Shelby American but is much later production than the original CSX-2### vin early Shelby's that Carroll Shelby raced.
 
NKD said:
Sounds awesome.

In a 427 style body tho, no?
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No sir. The 289 FIA and 289 USRRC cars were precursors to the 427 cars. The 289 cars are THE original Shelby Cobras. I prefer them actually. Slightly different body style. Everybody puts small block Fords in the big block 427 replicas anyway. I say if you're going to run a small block, then run it in the right body style.
 
NKD said:
Sounds awesome.

In a 427 style body tho, no?
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These are the early 289 Cobras that most people recognize prior to the 427 "replicas" that are somewhat ubiquitous. The "slabside" street versions. No real fender flares, or hood scoop, and under car exhaust.

There's a guy in Durham who has/had one identical to this. Original Shelby Cobra. Easily worth a million bucks. I saw it up close a couple of years ago.

slab-075-1a-640x423.jpg
 
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NKD said:
When I think of 289's I think of the slimmer body:

View attachment 16926
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Which is the original AC Ace body that Carroll started with. The FIA body was developed for international competition. If you look closely at the rear of the car in the OP, you'll see two raised "corners" in the rear of the trunk lid. That was to clear the suitcase that the FIA mandated had to fit in the trunk.
 
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I thought all the flared fender Cobras were 427's, clearly not an expert over here!


edit: not talking replicas of course, millions of different motors in those.
 
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427.

427.jpg

Rear of the car is much wider. Actually I think the whole body is. They grew the body to get wider rubber under it.

Also bigger grill opening with an opening for the oil cooler below. And side pipes.
 
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NKD said:
I thought all the flared fender Cobras were 427's, clearly not an expert over here!


edit: not talking replicas of course, millions of different motors in those.
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The FIA and USRRC 289 Cobras are hard to distinguish from the 427 competition cars. Less rear fender flare, slightly different and smaller opening on nose, but you just about have to have them side by side to tell the difference there. The dead giveway is the undercar side exit exhaust of the 289 comp cars versus the exhaust exiting the side of the front fender in the 427 car.

Observe.

289
289FIA-peck-ca10.jpg


427
See where the headers exit behind the front wheel, instead of undercar like above, on the 289?

50th-anniversary-shelby-cobra-427_100494921_l.jpg
 
Interesting bit of trivia: the first engine Carroll used was a 260. Then they went to the 289 HiPo.

A friend of mine had a 260 in a Falcon Sprint and he says it would wind much better than the 289.
 
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fieldgrade said:
The FIA and USRRC 289 Cobras are hard to distinguish from the 427 competition cars. Less rear fender flare, slightly different and smaller opening on nose, but you just about have to have them side by side to tell the difference there. The dead giveway is the undercar side exit exhaust of the 289 comp cars versus the exhaust exiting the side of the front fender in the 427 car....
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Nice, thanks!

Sexy, all of them! But I think I do like the simple slabbie look for a street car. Not as butch, but just really nice lines. Bit more understated.
 
I've heard the 427 cars can be difficult/dangerous to drive, just due to the obscene power to weight ratio.

A buddy of mine in PA is building a '67 Comet with a 557 big block stroker. Can't wait to go for a ride in that beast.
 
Crazy Carl said:
I've heard the 427 cars can be difficult/dangerous to drive, just due to the obscene power to weight ratio.
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...and the short 90 inch wheelbase.
 
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Ah, yes...back in the days when "fart mufflers" didn't have to be made to make an engine sound bad*ss.

In fact, the exhaust system didn't have to be tinkered with at all to make those cars sound bad*ss. No Glasspack mufflers, no exhaust cutouts, none of that stuff. You could have an exhaust system properly designed and installed to muffle the exhaust and it STILL expressed the fury of a bad*ss engine.
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
Ah, yes...back in the days when "fart mufflers" didn't have to be made to make an engine sound bad*ss.
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We fired up the 2 liter Pinto race car one day with no headers on it (I think we were checking to be sure a replaced 'freeze' plug was in tight). I told my driver after we shut it down that we weren't going to do that again. Sitting there idling the silly thing sounded like a tractor.

With the 4-2-1 header on it, it sounded like a real engine.
 
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"What the H*ll is that horrible, vibrating noise I can feel in my bones?"

"That's the sound of an exhaust system giving everything it has to hold the roaring fury of a big block 440 in check...and barely succeeding."

Ah, those were the days!
 
Don said:
We fired up the 2 liter Pinto race car one day with no headers on it (I think we were checking to be sure a replaced 'freeze' plug was in tight). I told my driver after we shut it down that we weren't going to do that again. Sitting there idling the silly thing sounded like a tractor.

With the 4-2-1 header on it, it sounded like a real engine.
Click to expand...

Yeah...people don't realize just how much an exhaust system does to quite an engine of any size until something happens, like blowing out the donut gasket at the exhaust manifold.
 
My favorite quote about original Shelby Cobras...

"There's nothing nice about a Cobra. It's stripped down to the essentials - a big engine, a small car, and four wide tires trying to keep the whole business on the pavement. It's loud, smells like gasoline, and shakes, shudders and bucks. It makes your arms tired and your feet hot. You nearly crash about once every ten minutes. It's so damn wonderful that you can't believe it."

-Road & Track Magazine
 
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Had lunch with @Don , @scmoose , and a friend of his who happens to also do performance Mustang builds. He said nearly every stock Terminator dyno test he's ever seen puts those engines at 430-450 horsepower (at the flywheel). That's what I'm talking about. So standing in the parking lot of Apex Wings talking to those guys today added 60 horsepower to my Pony car. :D

My exhaust system is somewhere in Oklahoma today and should be here Saturday. Published test results show that adds about another 30 HP for the system I ordered. I should be at around 470-480 by next week.
 
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Here you go Ashe. Here are the ratios for the Boss trans:

Boss 302 ratios.jpeg

And I stand corrected. According to this, the final drive ratio is 3.73 not 4.11.
 
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Don said:
Here you go Ashe. Here are the ratios for the Boss trans:

View attachment 17071

And I stand corrected. According to this, the final drive ratio is 3.73 not 4.11.
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3.73 is more than plenty on the street in my opinion. Yours will feel a lot stronger, just with this gearing alone.

Terminator Gear Ratio------Boss Gear ratio
1st 2.66 --------------------------3.66

2nd 1.78--------------------------2.43

3rd 1.30--------------------------1.69

4th 1.00--------------------------1.32

5th 0.80--------------------------1.00

6th 0.63---------------------------.65

Final Drive
3.55---------------------------------3.73
 
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Crazy Carl said:
I've heard the 427 cars can be difficult/dangerous to drive, just due to the obscene power to weight ratio.
Click to expand...

fieldgrade said:
...and the short 90 inch wheelbase.
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Yes--the big block Cobras can be a handful. You learn to respect them quickly (or pay the price).

Very good tires and judicious use of the "loud pedal" go a long way.
 
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