Ingredients of Comp 427 Cobra

[bitzman]

These are questions of historical interest, because as the first 427 Cobras approach 40 years of age, it is getting a little hazy to remember how they were originally. I am making a list so I can modify my car when I decide which one I want so it looks like a Full Comp car. Here is my guesstimate as to what the cars had so far, and would welcome any opinion.

Talked to a 427 Cobra owner Friday who said he thought only the Competition cars had two batteries somewhere in the back.In the famous picture taken at the LAX factory, the carin the foreground, bodyless ,has two batteries but I thought that was the fliptop so it is a one off car,not representative.

dry sump, I have heard the figure 3 Comp cars had it. (the filler cap for the dry sump was on right front fender, small gas cap from 289)

aluminumheads, all Comp cars

Aluminum intake manifold all Comp cars

Medium riser heads, all Comp cars

Holley 715 cfm center pivot float, one four barrel /air box all Comp cars

Wheel width--I heard there were extra wide wheels, but not sure what size
or how many cars had them

Reverse reading speedometer (I missed the reason for this and don't buy that by reading it backwards it is closer to the driver's view as you're only talking 2" closer to the driver's line of sight)

Was the tach made to read backwards too?

No glove compartment--all comp cars

On the pictures of the brushed aluminum prototype there is a emblem on the side of theprototype 427 Cobra, the picture is too fuzzy to read that emblem or even tell if it is a decal.

The hood scoop on the prototype was black fiberglass pop riveted on, any opinions on whether production cars had aluminum scoops welded on. One reason I would favor the fiberglass choice is that there are pictures of dozens of unsold 427 Cobras in the LAX lot with holes in the hood, meaning by the timethey arrived at LAX they still didn't have sccops

Outside side pipes.One factory picture I have shows black but the picture of KenMiles in 3002 racing in Australia, the car has white side pipes and I had a ride in one in '65 or '66 factory demonstrator, white side pipes

First prototype had front mounted oil cooler without oil cooler scoop added yet but I would go with the scoop as the radiator looks silly sticking downwithout the scoop in front

Rearview mirror inside the car. I think in the front 3/4 factory shot on the tarmax at LAX the mirror is the spun aluminum short fat mirror. Or was this only added after a team chose a car and started to set it up the way they wanted? I don't think the chrome mirror was used inside the car on the dash

Radiator divider, horizontal. Note sure how far back this divider went, only a few inches or did it divide the radiator totally? Don't think it was in Comp cars

Front cooling fans. Seen them in lots of Cobras, don't know if Comp cars came standard with them or not?

Incidentally I have seen one of the two supercharged 427 Cobras (Shelby said in one interview he made three) When I saw it it was owned by Jimmy Webb who wrote the 11th best selling song in history "
By the Time I get to Phoenix." Jimmy had it hid up in sylmar but the IRS found it and put it up for sale in a full page ad in Hemmings.I never got to look under the hood. Is there any book with a picture of how the superchargers were set up--I am guessing two four barrels with a Thunderbolt like hose going to each. His car had a wierd hood scoop, not straight across the front, kind of wavy

Looking forward to opinions

[CompCar98]

Here Goes..
S/C's & Comps = 2 batteries
Aluminum heads=only a few. Not all comps
Dry Sump=3
Medium Riser. There are reports of High Riser but no proof
715 CFM? No. 780CFM 715 was for the GT 350
Wheels? Early comps used narrower FIA'S. The rest had 427 wheels
No aluminum hood scoop.
No radiator divider
No Fan for comp
White or Black sidepipes

Originally Posted by bitzman

These are questions of historical interest, because as the first 427 Cobras approach 40 years of age, it is getting a little hazy to remember how they were originally. I am making a list so I can modify my car when I decide which one I want so it looks like a Full Comp car. Here is my guesstimate as to what the cars had so far, and would welcome any opinion.

Talked to a 427 Cobra owner Friday who said he thought only the Competition cars had two batteries somewhere in the back.In the famous picture taken at the LAX factory, the carin the foreground, bodyless ,has two batteries but I thought that was the fliptop so it is a one off car,not representative.

dry sump, I have heard the figure 3 Comp cars had it. (the filler cap for the dry sump was on right front fender, small gas cap from 289)

aluminumheads, all Comp cars

Aluminum intake manifold all Comp cars

Medium riser heads, all Comp cars

Holley 715 cfm center pivot float, one four barrel /air box all Comp cars

Wheel width--I heard there were extra wide wheels, but not sure what size
or how many cars had them

Reverse reading speedometer (I missed the reason for this and don't buy that by reading it backwards it is closer to the driver's view as you're only talking 2" closer to the driver's line of sight)

Was the tach made to read backwards too?

No glove compartment--all comp cars

On the pictures of the brushed aluminum prototype there is a emblem on the side of theprototype 427 Cobra, the picture is too fuzzy to read that emblem or even tell if it is a decal.

The hood scoop on the prototype was black fiberglass pop riveted on, any opinions on whether production cars had aluminum scoops welded on. One reason I would favor the fiberglass choice is that there are pictures of dozens of unsold 427 Cobras in the LAX lot with holes in the hood, meaning by the timethey arrived at LAX they still didn't have sccops

Outside side pipes.One factory picture I have shows black but the picture of KenMiles in 3002 racing in Australia, the car has white side pipes and I had a ride in one in '65 or '66 factory demonstrator, white side pipes

First prototype had front mounted oil cooler without oil cooler scoop added yet but I would go with the scoop as the radiator looks silly sticking downwithout the scoop in front

Rearview mirror inside the car. I think in the front 3/4 factory shot on the tarmax at LAX the mirror is the spun aluminum short fat mirror. Or was this only added after a team chose a car and started to set it up the way they wanted? I don't think the chrome mirror was used inside the car on the dash

Radiator divider, horizontal. Note sure how far back this divider went, only a few inches or did it divide the radiator totally? Don't think it was in Comp cars

Front cooling fans. Seen them in lots of Cobras, don't know if Comp cars came standard with them or not?

Incidentally I have seen one of the two supercharged 427 Cobras (Shelby said in one interview he made three) When I saw it it was owned by Jimmy Webb who wrote the 11th best selling song in history "
By the Time I get to Phoenix." Jimmy had it hid up in sylmar but the IRS found it and put it up for sale in a full page ad in Hemmings.I never got to look under the hood. Is there any book with a picture of how the superchargers were set up--I am guessing two four barrels with a Thunderbolt like hose going to each. His car had a wierd hood scoop, not straight across the front, kind of wavy

Looking forward to opinions

[bitzman]

Thanks for your answer.
About the two batteries, what was the advantage of aircraft batteries other than they are thinner? Will the car start on one battery alone? Were they both connected at all times or was one a back-up?

About the high riser, I gather it would have to have a big hood scoop to accomodate that. I think I remember a picture of a Cobra with a big scoop (Ford thunderbolt sized) but can't remember the details

Another obscure question: was the Cobra 427 bodied by Ghia (pie plate sized taillights, maybe dark blue, mag wheels painted white) ever rebodied back into a 427 Cobra to anyone's knowledge?

More obscure yet: The Ghia Cobra that John Willment had built, using an old Fiat aluminum body, does anyone know the chassis number? Or what car dealer has it now (it seems to change owners every few years)

Also on the backwards reading speedometer, somebody tried to tell me at the Knottsberry Farm show that the reason for that is the speedometer was made for British cars, which were right drive. I would believe this except that when i drove a car in England, australia and NZ,,the gauges read normally i,.e. left to right, so there must be another explanation.

Also did some racers reject the alloy heads because they were subject to cracking if overheated?

At Knottsberry Farm, there was a Cobra with GT40 Halibrand wheels, said one observor. I can send a snapshot of said car to someone who will post it (beyond my computer expertise) because I can't see the differance.

Also there was a Cobra at Knottsberry that someone whispered had the dreaded duplicate serial number, but I didn't see what car he was pointing at. There was about ten replicas there for every genuine Cobra but they were a happy group of campers. Shelby was there but I didn't see him around the Cobras.

PS the new movie called XXX has the Cobra Concept car in it but I can't tell by the TV commercials whether it's a real car or computer generated, but maybe this is a sign Ford is still leaning toward a roadster.

Thanks for all the enthusiasm,

[CompCar98]

SEE ANSWERS BELOW

Originally Posted by bitzman

Thanks for your answer.
About the two batteries, what was the advantage of aircraft batteries other than they are thinner? Will the car start on one battery alone? Were they both connected at all times or was one a back-up?
-Always 2 batteries in line

About the high riser, I gather it would have to have a big hood scoop to accomodate that. I think I remember a picture of a Cobra with a big scoop (Ford thunderbolt sized) but can't remember the details
-Hmmm. I think it fit with just a turkey pan and no air cleaner. The comp cars most often ran without a cleaner

Another obscure question: was the Cobra 427 bodied by Ghia (pie plate sized taillights, maybe dark blue, mag wheels painted white) ever rebodied back into a 427 Cobra to anyone's knowledge?
-Car still exists as was.

More obscure yet: The Ghia Cobra that John Willment had built, using an old Fiat aluminum body, does anyone know the chassis number? Or what car dealer has it now (it seems to change owners every few years)
-Get a Cobra Registry. You have been bitten

Also on the backwards reading speedometer, somebody tried to tell me at the Knottsberry Farm show that the reason for that is the speedometer was made for British cars, which were right drive. I would believe this except that when i drove a car in England, australia and NZ,,the gauges read normally i,.e. left to right, so there must be another explanation.
-I am not sure how much thought went into it. Let me know what else you hear.

Also did some racers reject the alloy heads because they were subject to cracking if overheated?
-More because Ford only made a limited number of sets when the 427 was squashed for the GT 40 program/ LeMans.

At Knottsberry Farm, there was a Cobra with GT40 Halibrand wheels, said one observor. I can send a snapshot of said car to someone who will post it (beyond my computer expertise) because I can't see the differance.

Also there was a Cobra at Knottsberry that someone whispered had the dreaded duplicate serial number, but I didn't see what car he was pointing at. There was about ten replicas there for every genuine Cobra but they were a happy group of campers. Shelby was there but I didn't see him around the Cobras.

PS the new movie called XXX has the Cobra Concept car in it but I can't tell by the TV commercials whether it's a real car or computer generated, but maybe this is a sign Ford is still leaning toward a roadster.

Thanks for all the enthusiasm,

[marcocsx3121]

GT 40 Halibrands will not fit on a Cobra: I know, because I bought a set from Holman & Moody in 1971 and tried them on my car (CSX 3121). Offset was wrong, in that they hit the suspension upright before they bottomed on the hub. The pattern is slightly different in that the openings are closer to a rectangle than the trapezoid found on the Cobra Halibrands.

[bitzman]

I will send the picture I took of the car at Knottsberry Farm and you can see for yourself. Maybe he machined them to fit. I have to send it to the Forum regular mail as I am too basic in computer skills to e-mail them.

[marcocsx3121]

Another possibility: if the Cobra you saw was a replica rather than an original, the suspension might have been different enough to accomodate Gt 40 Halibrands.

BTW, Holman & Moody was selling those wheels for $50 each in '71!