Clear SOHC valve cover

[ToddK]

Today, at a local hot rod show, I got to check out a legendary car. Mickey Thompson’s original Mustang blown SOHC powered funny car. A local guy from my city bought the car and has restored it to running condition, and had it on display.







One feature that stood out on the right side of the car was the clear valve cover.



The cover didn’t have any holes for the plug tubes, but did have a Ford logo cast into it. Obviously it was for display only. Has anyone seen or heard of such valve covers before?

[TomP]

No idea about the clear valve cover. Cool to see that on display though. I wonder how accurate that car is... pretty sure M/T's 69's used a wider chassis and single wall headers and for sure the blower drive and mag are modern. It looks like it is set up to run or cackle but that valve cover would preclude that.

[ToddK]

As far as I know, the body is original, not sure about the chassis. The car is set up to run, and has started the licensing process. I know that engine is using a Pond block and heads.

The engine is set up to run nitro, but we have restrictions over here that will stop it from making a full power nitro pass. There is only one class that can run a nostalgia nitro funny car, and they have to use 392 style hemis, I believe. I have heard the owner is planning to run it on alcohol when it hits the strip.

[jayb]

I've seen one mentioned before, maybe something that Ford did for display purposes also.  I've thought about doing a clear valve cover for the SOHC but getting the spark plug holes right, so that they will seal around the tubes, would be a challenge.

[Autoholic]

Could be useful for valvetrain testing, as far as being functional.

[Nightmist66]

Here's another one I found while stumbling onto an article:





Link to rest of article:

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/06/03/power-to-the-people-when-big-block-engines-suddenly-showed-up-all-over-the-place/

[preaction]

Rockers and cam look chrome plated.

[Autoholic]

And the rocker spacers and timing chain are too. Sadly I think that motor has never been ran.

Awesome article though, thanks for sharing it. Some very cool pics in it. The series 1 cammer is neat.

[cjshaker]

And the rocker spacers and timing chain are too. Sadly I think that motor has never been ran.

I think it would be sad if it had been torn down and used for parts. Factory produced show engines that show internal designs are super cool, so It'd be cool if that engine were still around somewhere.