Club Cobra - My New Cobra's Heart Beat, And Mine

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My New Cobra's Heart Beat, And Mine

I've desided to start a new thread about my engine, FE vs a 385 series, as many things has changed.

After 9 years,....I finally have a new heart beat for my Cobra and me. (kind of) lol
For him, a new 428 FE and me, three stent's and a pig's valve, after a heart attack. My spirit has also come back after loosing 10k when my engine builder stole my Genesis side oiler, new hard drive cam corder, tripod and bag.

On to the great news.

My wife said that in two years, after we pay the bill off from my Med Jet Flight to the Mayo Clinic, we can take out a 10k loan, and I was stoked ! I spoke with my best friend Chad (own's a mechanic and performance shop) about loaning me money to buy a kick ass 8 stack injection system. It was $3,400, the next day, he text me saying, come get the money.
I was very excited, when he handed me the money bag, and gave him a huge hug and kiss on his forehead. He told me to count the money, but could tell it was more than &3,400.

After dropping to my knees in shock, when it came to $15,000, tears came out. I still,.....can't believe he has loaned me the money for two years. Chad is one of those people that everyone likes & loves. We've known each otherfor 20 years and we're more than friends, we have been brothers for 19 of those years. ;)

So, here's what I've bought, need and the plan.

With the budget I could not afford my dream engine, a BBM aluminum 427 side oiler block, their heads and intake but, even a 390FE, 428FE or old school side oiler would have been tough to build with that cost, plus a transmission and all the smaller part cost which always adds up to quite a bit of money.

After a lot,....of rearching I came across a newly built 428FE by Larry Dove !

It also has a lot of parts that he's made, except it's not his block. I know some people here may not like him or his parts, but I do so please don't start bad mouthing him and I. ;)

Here's his ad and partial list of parts.
428 Ford F.E. + .030 Internally balanced

Speed Pro forged Pistons

Sealed Power File Fit Moly Rings

Eagle H-Beam Connecting Rods

Melling High Pressure/High Volume Oil Pump

Dove Heavy Duty Oil Pump Drive

Dove C.J. Aluminum Heads

Stainless Steel Valves

Heavy Duty Retainers & Locks

Dove Rocker Arm Assembly w/ Heavy Duty Shafts

Dove Tunnel Wedge Intake

Cobra Mustang Low Profile Oil Pan

Dove Aluminum Water Pump

$6,500 bank check or money order.

Lawrence A. Dove

Dove Manufacturing, Inc.

Dove Tool, Inc.

Dove Bookkeeping Service, Inc.
-------------------------------------------------

With the injection setup, it's rated for up to 600 HP. The owner had it on his 445ci FE in his truck. He desided to restore it back to factory, so it would have to go. My hope for a new engine was 600 HP, but if it only reaches 500, with my dream of this 8 stacked, all polished,
and includes everything except for the fuel filter and lines, THAT'S FINE ! lol :D

I will paint over the black on the TB's with my Cobra's blue body paint.

I'm stoked guys ! Been 9 long,.....years. :cool:
Kevin

(having problems posting pics, very slow to load) ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUNFER2 (Post 1431438)

For him, a new 428 FE and me, three stent's and a pig's valve, after a heart attack....

Glad you got a new ticker, but a Cobra is always a "she" -- always. No exceptions.:cool:

Need to find a different photo uploader than photobucket. They've changed their format and I get a lot of pop-up ads. :mad:

I agree, but the wife calls it HIM. She took over typing this in as I was pissed about photobucket and club cobra being so slooow.

Can't post any pics of the engine ?

Wow FUNFER2, sounds like things are going your way!
And your friend is quite a guy.
Keep us updated on the progress. The engine sounds nice.
I'll bet it's gonna be worth the 9 tear wait. Well.....:p
Congrats!

Congrats on being so close and sticking with it. Sounds like it has been one hell of a journey for you. Can't wait to hear a video of it running!

Jim

Congratulations on finding the setup of your dreams. Best of luck on the assembly and tuning.

A great thing to hear of your recovery from your own problems and also the new heartbeat for the Cobra. Congratulations on everything. As for Photo Bucket there are a lot of other sites that i like as well. I use Flickr, Imgur, Imgbox, and Vimeo for much of my photo and video storage. They also have paid sections if you want a huge amount of storage.

Ron

Thanks guys, I appreciate it !

Having a fall as a two year old, I have 24/7 headaches , migrains and "electrical zaps" in my head. I had to quit working at age 25, so it took us many years to save money and build our Cobra. Then with all that happened with my health issues, I thought it may not happen again, but I never gave up !

I hired Fastenal ($200) to ship the engine home and should be here next week. Once my Bank Check goes thru to the owner of the injection, he'll ship it.

Can't wait to get started. (have to shovel out the garage first though) %/

Yes, my buddy Chad is a amazing,...man and friend ! :D
Not many people would help out like he has done for 20 years.

Ron, I'll check the photo hosting sites out. Who do you prefer ?
Thanks.

Wish it didn't paste them all in a vertical line.

Ok, I'm very excited. I picked up the engine at Fastenal. They were great and only cost $205 bucks !

With others I got quote's from for 500lbs, they ranged from $300 to $500.

I also received my new Tremec TKO 600. Chad my friend that own's the mechanic shop and performance side with not one, but two chassis dyno's is really helping me out. I love him like a brother, if not more. He helps me out a lot and understands my health issue's. Chad will be helping with the build.

I've felt pretty well the last few days, so I've been very busy cleaning out the garage after 10 years of crap around the Cobra, so I rolled her into the street and started shoveling out and moving everything out onto the driveway and yard. It's amazing how much crap
accumlated ! There was so much dust etc that I fired up my gas yard blower vac, and blew it all outside. It was funny how much was clowding the neighbors ! lol....

It got to 60 degrees today, with the cold setting in for winter so I took advantage by washing the car with dust and grime after 10 years in my garage. After raising it in the air with my MaxJax car lift, the tires were down to 20lbs, but there's not dry cracking or flat spots. Great news !

Now onto the rebuilding. :cool:

I backed my truck into the garage to unload the Dove engine using the chain hoist that I mounted on the ceiling joist's back in 2000. Works great. I found 3 bolts to mount the engine on the motor stand, but after searching the garage I could not find just 1 more, so had to drive 20 miles into town to buy one,..... $1.25 frickin bolt ! :rolleyes:

Once I removed the Saran type rap, I was shocked that Mr. Dove and crew did not,....cover the exhaust ports, with anything ! I realize that the wrap went all the way around the engine, but still ? :mad: (I hope they forgot,... rather than didn't care)

So, should I be concerend enough to take the motor apart ? :confused:

Kevin,

I cannot offer a professional opinion concerning the engine and whether you need to tear it down or not. Was the wrap tight and do you see any evidence of anything in the exhaust ports?

Regarding the tires, there has been much discussion here about how long a tire is safe irrespective of the amount of tread on it, and ten years is way too long. A tire could blow out at any time due to degradation of the rubber. Being that this project may take a little time to get fully sorted out and completed, I would not run out immediately and buy a new set of tires. However, before the car hits the road you should invest in a new set of tires.

Good luck.

Jim

Kevin,

That is great and like 1795 said, check everything on the engine while it is out as that makes it much easier to check. It looks as if they did cover the intake ports but I would look in them to be sure that they look clean. The exhaust ports could have just been missed but better to check them. If you had a bore scope that you could use it would be great to check inside the cylinders too. That is a good looking engine. Depending on how low it sets in the engine bay you may want to consider a remote oil filter mounting.

https://images.imgbox.com/f9/f7/pwLxYkvo_o.jpg

Another photo site that I use and is very easy is Postimage.org.

Ron

It may not matter. The intake will be coming off and replaced with the EFI manifold, and if I to step up to a mechanical roller cam, and of course the heads will come off.

So, all will be well, unless a Cobra snake is in there. (Chad is scared of snakes) :eek:

With changing to EFI, the exterior mounted FAST pump that came wih the system is in geat shape, but some I've seen are very noisy.
If I can hear this pump while driving, it'll piss me off.

After 10 years, I may remove the fuel tank to clean it out, should I think about ditching the pump and fab up a drop in the tank pump ?
They run cooler as well, the budget is running low, but I'd rather replace it now, not later when the car is running.

How much would changing over cost ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUNFER2 (Post 1431964)

Once I removed the Saran type rap, I was shocked that Mr. Dove and crew did not,....cover the exhaust ports, with anything ! I realize that the wrap went all the way around the engine, but still ? :mad: (I hope they forgot,... rather than didn't care)

So, should I be concerend enough to take the motor apart ? :confused:

No.... Leave it alone. There's nothing that can go wrong with uncovered exhaust ports.

If a rat had taken up residence in one of them, you would have seen him...

That's our cat's job ! ;)

Ok, a update.

The injection manifold is polished, I'll either sand & polish the Dove water pump and timing cover or sell them for all ready polished pieces.
Back in 2002 I sanded & polished everything but the block, but I did sand it smooth and painted it my body color. With my bad health I don't think I could do all that again.

Question. This time I have Dove aluminum heads, should I sand/polish them ?
The ends would be easy, but the front and back with the horns are a pain to do. A lot of finger work !

I would hate to paint aluminum heads !

I would leave them bare. Once you go down the rabbit's hole of polishing you will likely want to do something bad to yourself.