The Cobra S/C or Comp 427 FE Engine - What is the real thing?

[Bruce Robles]

All Comp. cars and most SC's were built in 1965. Ford Engines were Black in 1965. In 1966 Ford changed the engine color to Corporate Blue.
The engine block in my '66 GT-350 was blue. The engine block in our '65 competition GT-350R was Black.
Ford quit sending black 427 Sideoilers to Shelby in '66 and replaced them with the 428 (it was Blue) engine found in a car Ford named the 7 Litre. A Galaxy 500 XL with the 428. It was the only car in the line up with the 428 at that time. It was basically just a bigger 390, said to have 335HP. They were also used in police cars. My mother had one, it ran pretty good. So to cut to the chase, Blue tanks were sent to Shelby with the Blue engines from Ford that were 428's. Black tanks were sent on the '65 and early '66 427 powered cars. So that may explain why there are some who say there is no right and no wrong. That car was probably a late build and had a '66 Blue engine. Nobody knows. Hand built cars are sometimes that way.
As far as the intake is concerned, both the street 427 and the 428 had dual quads on an aluminum manifold, with iron heads.
The 427 Comp. and SC's came with the single Holley 780cfm (Le Mans) carb on an aluminum dual plane manifold and side pipes. Good Luck