Cammers Who are the lucky ones?

[Full Throttle Al]

My Cobra project took almost 25 years to complete. I found the SOHC motor in an ad in the back of AutoWeek in 1997. A Ford enthusiast bought the motor in the late 60's from Holman Moody and it sat, unopened, in the original shipping crate for almost 30 years in his garage until I bought it. Dyno tag still attached, 629HP in 1967 with single 4v, 615 cfm.

[dcdoug]

Originally Posted by Full Throttle Al

My Cobra project took almost 25 years to complete. I found the SOHC motor in an ad in the back of AutoWeek in 1997. A Ford enthusiast bought the motor in the late 60's from Holman Moody and it sat, unopened, in the original shipping crate for almost 30 years in his garage until I bought it. Dyno tag still attached, 629HP in 1967 with single 4v, 615 cfm.

That's better than most barn-find stories.

[Bernica]

Great stories! Brings back memories about how I got into Ford FE's in the first place.
When I was young(er), back in the mid seventies in the Seattle area, the guy I worked for was a total Ford racer and connected to all the dealerships with the "Muscle Parts". When Ford pulled the plug, he got word from his buddies at the dealerships to bring a big truck. I helped him load up shelves full of everything you can think of: tunnel port heads and manifolds of every configuration, lots of heads & manifolds of all sorts, 100 or more cams (new in the tubes), cranks, lifters, springs, gaskets etc. I mean pallet racks full of stuff!! You get the idea.
We also loaded up one moving truck with crate motors from Ford, all wrapped in plastic and still with the shipping tags. Three complete cammers, a bunch of sideoilers, long-blocks, short-blocks, service blocks, and some aluminum motors that said "NASCAR" on them. There were also three Boss 429's. I remember that either the Boss 429's or the Cammers had tags with "T" or "S" on them. My boss had told me that this is how they identified the "racing" and "street" versions.
We loaded all of this stuff in a big building out near Puyallup, WA. The guy was a slippery one, and he dissapeared some time after, leaving many Ford folks looking for him. He owed me several weeks pay too. Some things you never forget, good or bad. Ahhhh, the memories....

[Woodz428]

Originally Posted by Bernica

. There were also three Boss 429's. I remember that either the Boss 429's or the Cammers had tags with "T" or "S" on them. My boss had told me that this is how they identified the "racing" and "street" versions.
....

Those were Boss 429s, internally they were very different, even to different rod lengths...not to mention the o-rings for the head connection.

[Dar73]

Cammers...... once you get involved with them it kind of becomes an obsession. I can't say whether the repops are good or bad (I have read some of the past discussions about Dove, etc.) but the price (at 32-40K) is less than half that of a finished original. I purchased a complete motor in good shape for 30K. By the time you rebuild it, add your trick pieces (ie. Hillborn EFI @ $6K, TD rockers 2,500.00, pistons, polish and add all of the bells and whistles, have a reputable builder put it all together for you you're pushing 70K +. Just the way it is.

Originally Posted by dcdoug

That's better than most barn-find stories.

[mdross1]

Originally Posted by Full Throttle Al

My Cobra project took almost 25 years to complete. I found the SOHC motor in an ad in the back of AutoWeek in 1997. A Ford enthusiast bought the motor in the late 60's from Holman Moody and it sat, unopened, in the original shipping crate for almost 30 years in his garage until I bought it. Dyno tag still attached, 629HP in 1967 with single 4v, 615 cfm.

25 yrs! Wow, dedication is the word that comes to mind.Have to ask what is it like driving your Cammer Cobra?