Oh, this is where I want to be. As most of you I have way too many hobbies. But since I live so far away from most of you, it makes life difficult sometimes.
Once up on a time there was a lonely GT-500 in a shed. I had been trying to get my hands on that car ever since I at the tender age of 17 at the wheel of my older brothersī71 Mach 1 had the pleasure of seeing its taillights flash by, both cars at WOT. When I bought the car many years later It had been the subject of many attempts at one personsīquarter mile dream. Gone was the power steering, the C-6, the heads, exhaust manifolds, parchment interior, rear end, shoulder harness, intake etc. I spent four years trying to revitalize it but gave up, bankrupt and disappointed. It was the worst trade I ever made. I sacrificed my ī70 Cyclone GT in pristine condition for this pile of rubbish. I sold it and Dave Matthews at SAAC has confirmed that the car is now in an automuseum in Tokyo, Japan. You figure the rest. But, I still have the engine. I want to pay tribute to the man himself and blueprint it. I am slowly gathering parts for it, but in the meantime I want to complete the 474 Cobra jet for the ī70 Spoiler that I now have. It is gooing to be the main engine, the SCJ will be mounted on a stand for display. Have found the original valve covers and ram air air cleaner, distributor and other parts. Canīt wait for spring. Now page two:
In 1990 I bought a 1967 Galaxie 500 Converitble to drive to school. I was in college at the time. Two daughters were born during the tenure and they learned about that old car with that cool top that would disappear and there was nothing between them and the sky at 70 mph. The only noise was the wind blowing past the radio antenna. A nice sound and even nicer if it happens at 115 mph. So I took that one home and started building it. In went a new interior sewn to exact proportions with moondust blue vinyl OEM Ford for the 1960 Starlner. It looks unbelievable. Then I had to replace the frame ... sixties Fords have a nasty habit of rusting out behind the left rear wheel. Then the engine. Bought a 1970 390-C-6 combo and went to work. Heads ported, block drilled, deburred and bored .060 os. In went forged slugs, C7AE rods, CJ windage tray, Wolverine cam, Crane springs, locks and retainers, Edelbrock 427 intake, ported heads, 427
oil pump and a Ford duraspark distributor. The C-6 was prepped and then the package finished off with a set of Le-Mans valve covers and a matching oval air cleaner. This package is 402 CID of FE power and after three years I find it does not suit this car and so in goes the original drivetrain this spring and I am on the lookout for a 67-70 Mustang coupe or fastback to slap that 390 on steroids at ...... which brings me to FFR427īs question about the 406 ........
Well the 406 is patiently awaiting its turn. The mothership Galaxie is long gone and I am gathering parts for it along with the Shelby 428. The only thing missing from the 406 is the intake and carbs. Some bright young man thinks he is going to race Merlin - powered Chevrolets with it. NOT! So, in order to familiarize myself with the 406, I bought the original road test report from Car Life, published in july 1961, when Ford had only built ONE fully dressed production mule and what interesting reading it is. As it turns out, the 406 Galaxie was as they put it "quite a package". They complained that the engine wa so tightly set up that they could not wind it above 5200 rpms. But they liked it enormously and were absolutely convinced it would put one up on the GM crowd ... which it did both on quarter mile tracks and on the superspeedways. My conclusion from this reading is that the 406 is much, much closer to the 390 than it is to a 427 as many have tried to convince us in latter day sermons on the issue. The journalist effectively states and puts evidence to prove his point that the 406 was a veruy humble outgrowth out of the Super Stock 390 of 1960-61. But, Ford knew he was on to the right recipe, so that is how the 427 in all its forms was born. My most interesting bout with a 406 happened a few years ago when a friend told me about this set of FE heads someone had thrown in the trunk on his car. He said he was going to throw them away as asked if I wanted the set. Neither of us know what they were until I looked the casting numbers up in my Fooooord bible by Bill Carroll. They are a fairly good set of C3AE-Cīs, cast in may 1963, just a few days or weeks ahead of the first 427 LRīs. So they will be glass bead and put in a glass case for display.
Now, historical revisionism may have it that the 427 Ford may not be the archduke of motorracing in domestic and international circles. But that is wrong and so totally inadmissible evidence ...
It is the mother of all winners, indestructible, pretty to look at, but most importantly ... it was there at the right time in history. Sort of like Patton and MacArthur ...... The revisionists can toss and turn all they want but we won at Midway and crossed the Rhine and turned the FIA world on its ear in 1966 - 70 with an engine that was an embarrassment to all that Italian aluminum.
Just picked up a set of D0OE-Rīs for the Cyclone last night. Cant wait to start the assembly.
Now, if this story, my auto-biiograpy over the last 24 years rings a familiar tune to any of you my friends, Iīd absoluteluy love to hear of it. It is getting lonely out here on the ice........