The 427 Cobra that AC Cars was SUPPPOSED to build

[RunWithScizzors]

Originally Posted by eschaider

They have and are findable and down-loadable off the internet.

Thanks! They would be fascinating! I see elsewhere a lead to Cobra Restorers, which I'm checking out.

[blykins]

The 390 wouldn't have been lighter weight. All FE blocks are the same. If anything, the 427 is lighter because the bores are larger.

I think a lot of the stuff you read is speculation or opinion.

[Mark IV]

I had the privilege of knowing Bob Negstad and had a couple of interesting conversations with him. When I met him he was with SVO and had designed a bolt-in IRS system for the proposed SVO Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. My introduction to Bob was with Brian Angliss of Autokraft.

Bob had an AC MK IV a little later as well as Mike Kranefuss head of SVO with engines built by Jack Roush (way before his crate engines) Bob told me if he, Mike and Jack all dropped the clutch on their MK IVs at the same time, the Earth's rotation would change!

Bob had a Fairmont boxtop that was full SVO underneath with a lot of trick pieces from Ford suppliers. Looked like Grandma's car and went like stink and handled fantastic.

[RunWithScizzors]

Originally Posted by blykins

The 390 wouldn't have been lighter weight. All FE blocks are the same. If anything, the 427 is lighter because the bores are larger.

I think a lot of the stuff you read is speculation or opinion.

Perhaps Legate was referring to the aluminum 390 that Ken Miles ran in CSX2196 at Nassau in 1964. It would certainly have been lighter than the iron block FEs. But I don't know if that's what the weight distribution calculations were based on - just speculating here.

[MKS427]

[quote=blykins;1491968]The 390 wouldn't have been lighter weight. All FE blocks are the same. If anything, the 427 is lighter because the bores are larger.

The 390 in question was an experimental all-aluminum FE engine. The engine would not hold up earning Ken Miles' car the nickname The Turd.
Ford wanted to showcase the FEs. However, the drivers wanted lighter cars with stroked small blocks. Ford brass won.

[MKS427]

Originally Posted by blykins

The 390 wouldn't have been lighter weight. All FE blocks are the same. If anything, the 427 is lighter because the bores are larger.

I think a lot of the stuff you read is speculation or opinion.

It was an experimental aluminum 390 FE. It was tested in Ken Miles car and failed every time it was raced.