Commissioning a Turn Key ERA 427 Cobra

[patrickt]

The cheapest, stripped-down, 428FE on Southern Automotive is $9,000. I wouldn't buy from them, personally, but that's beside the point. My point was not that you can't have an FE built for a cheap price, you just shouldn't.

EDIT -- I can't find prices on Keith's or Barry's sites....

[FUNFER2]

Boy, how do they stay in business for 9k, with a stripped down 428 ?,....wow.

"you just shouldn't". What ever my friend.

I had 6k in my 428 FE as is ran in the car, with all the performance parts, polished everything on the motor ect. 500 hp.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by FUNFER2

Boy, how do they stay in business for 9k, with a stripped down 428 ?,....wow.

"you just shouldn't". What ever my friend.

I had 6k in my 428 FE as is ran in the car, with all the performance parts, polished everything on the motor ect. 500 hp.

Then check this recent thread by Brent. A 450HP 390FE for $12K. Complete 390FE Engine, Quicktime, TKO 600 Package, Under $12500 Would you say that was a fair price?

[FUNFER2]

What you have to remember is, the cobra is almost half the weight as a Camaro, Mustang ect. So the same HP & TQ is pretty fast in our light weight Cobra's. Listen to my 428 FE. Fairly mild in the build.

I only made these for the buyer of my engine. 415 hp rwhp. $6k spent on the entire engine, including machining. My point, there's no reason to spend that 9k on a great performing and fun HP/TQ 428 FE.

For buyer of my engine #2 - YouTube

For buyer of my engine #7 - YouTube

[DanEC]

Your wish list sounds very similar to the street version ERA I'm currently building, although I'm sticking a little closer to pure street. ERA has an undercar exhaust option with headers. Only problem is they recommend their standard rear suspension (in-board brakes) and the tail pipes are 2 inches dia. I was OK with the standard suspension but 2 inch tail pipes would just strangle a healthy stroked 428. The wheel and tire situation complicates the tailpipe clearance issue. I purchased the standard halibrand replica style wheels from Vintage in the 7.5 and 9.5 inch widths because repro street style Sunburst wheels were not readily available yet. To allow enough room for 2-1/2 inch tailpipes I'm going to run a 255-60/15 tire on the rear - which is a little marginal for that size wheel. It looks like I will have around 3-1/4 inch clearance to snake the 2-1/2 inch tail pipes through.

ERA has another approach as an option. If someone wants to run a steet style 7-1/2 inch wheel on the rear, they can modify the rear track to widen it slightly which moves the narrower wheel and tire package out in the wheel well a little further. Peter's ERA street car has this done to it. Some like the change and some don't. This has the added benefit it that it would also create a little more room for tailpipes.

I plan to run Spintech mufflers on my car which are only 3 inches deep. They should hang just about even with the bottom of the frame or slightly below.

On the motor if you plan to run a smooth hood w/o scoop you need to plan ahead. These FE motors get me confused with the interchangeability issues between LR, MR and HR top ends but generally I believe you will need to stick with LR top end parts. It's possible that MR heads can be used with a LR intake - I would have to go refresh my memory to be certain one way or the other. Keith Craft built my motor as basically a near visual replica of an original dual quad Cobra motor. It has low riser high performance steel heads that he ported and polished and installed larger valves in. They are basically the same as early 406/427 LR or 428 Cobra Jet heads. I found an early 427 LR aluminum dual quad intake and had it refinished and Keith provided the Holleys and original air cleaners. You can check with Bob or Peter at ERA but I think any MR intake will require a hood scoop. If going with a single quad carb, then a 428 Cobra Jet intake in aluminum would be a good choice. Forget the turkey pan unless using a hood scoop. I did use a 428 service block with a stroker crank for 460 ci and medium hydraulic flat tappet cam. It's a little low for me but he didn't want to build any higher than 9.0 compression with the steel heads. I have a Corvette with a wild L88 motor in it - I wanted something this time that is a little more streetable. It still made 470 HP and 535 ft lbs of torque.

Not being a slave to a completely accurate Street Cobra will help you hold your budget down some. Some of the details for authentic appearance can start to add up - fuel filler, motor, wheels, bumpers, engine trim, ect.

I highly recommend ERA - they are excellent to work with. I'm doing my own body and paint work but from what I've heard, the deals they can work for painting your car are a good value.

Good luck