FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => Member Projects => Topic started by: 427HISS on November 04, 2017, 08:01:54 PM
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At last,....after 9 years of our Cobra sitting in the garage, all alone, surrounded by the snowblower, weed wacker, tools that never put back, garbage etc,
We are back baby !
I'll tell you how exciting this is. If you like emotional stories, please read on, if not, tuff ! lol (na, just scroll down where there's no more tears)
I live on two sites, here and on a Shelby Cobra website, so some of you have read about this before.
I have a few real bad health issues and recently three almost killed me.
As a two year old and had a bad fall cracking my head open, in a coma for 5 days, and ever since have headaches, migrains and the worst, "electrical zaps" in my head 24/7. I have a 1-10 scale for my pain and changes hundreds of times per day. A few years ago I passed out driving, crossed lanes, into a yard, crashing into a house deck through a glassed in outdoor room and into their living room. None of the 5 people were home, at 5:00 pm. We were all blessed ! My 1/2 ton truck was almost twisted in half. The truck was also holding up the second story, so it stayed for two days. They ended up tearing it all down. I always wear seat belts, but somehow I slipped out of the shoulder harness and ended up laying across the bench seat. I was blessed because a 2×4 came through the windshield pointed at my head if,....I had stayed upright and a pvc water pipe pointed at my stomach, missing me by a couple inch's. Yes, I beleive and Love God & Jesus. I only cracked my pelvis from the g-force of the lap belt. Could you imagine if I wasn't wearing my seat lap belt and, if I did not slip out of the shoulder belt ? !!!
I'm a diabetic and had such a bad infection that went septic, which means it went into my bloodstream and into all my organs. Was in the hospital for 4 days, back in again after 3. Then the flew me from Ne. by Med Jet to the Mayo Clinic in Mn. Spent 26 days there, almost dying twice. They told my family to make death plans. Well, I fought it and with my faith, family and friends, I survived. So blessed !
Then, last Nov. I had a heart attack. I have three stent's and a pig's valve. 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.
We built our Cobra back in 2000 with a 428 FE, Temec 3550, Ford 9" etc. Long story short, it broke a rocker shaft a few years later and decided to have a pro build a Genesis 427 side oiler. I sent him all the parts and $3,000. After 9 months he told me his boy was busted for selling drugs, wife left him and his shop was broken into and all the Genesis blocks, including mine, all my parts and my newer Sony hard drive camcorder to record the build were stolen! I beleive he sold it all to pay bills. So, after saving for many years to build my dream 427 side oiler engine, he took me for $10,000.
I thought, we were friends.......
So with all that happened, my spirit was broken. I've litterly,...haven't done anything for 10 years. Then one day, BAM,....I beleive the Lord gave me back my spirit ! Although I still have bad moments, hours and days with my head pain, I'm back !
With more 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.
No, it's not my dream engine, but I feel lucky and blessed to still be here and have so many great family members & friends.
I don't know why Mr. Dove sold me his engine, which he was saving for himelf, so low in price, but very thankful !
$6,500 complete. (should be from $10,000 to $13,000)
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.
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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
I will paint over the black on the TB's with my Cobra's blue body paint.
More later with plans and photo's.
I'm stoked guys ! Been 9 long,.....years. :)
Kevin
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The engine builder that stole my parts 9 years ago, is trying to pay me back. I found him on Facebook so I wrote him a hard mail, but not nasty.
He sent me a $300 bank check and a tote with some of my parts. Some top of the line one's too, so I'm happy about that. I felt like it was a big wrapted x-mas present, laying them on the livingroom capet (Patty wasn't happy) lol
I'm almost,..... ready to forgive him, but my Patty will never do so. Once he pays me the rest of the money, then I will forgive him. I'm the half full glass and Patty is half empty person. So we work well together. Lol ....
I'll lay all the parts on a table, take pics and post them. I thought this would never happen, so I'm very excited guys !
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Its great to hear that you are getting something back out of the deal Kevin, congrats!
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Ok, my build questions/answers will not be in order.
Yesterday I received a tote box with many of my parts from 10 years ago. I'll share a list and photo's of them.
Question. I have a wonderful balancer from Inovators West, FE Ford 7 Inch Harmonic Balancer. (work of art)
but the engine I bought already has one connected to the crank.
Here's the dumb question.
I beleive,....the rotating assembly was balanced, so am I stuck with the one it has or can I replace it with the Inovators West ?
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FE harmonic balancers are all neutral balanced. You can swap on the Innovator's West balancer, no problem.
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If the rotating assembly was balanced with the one that is on the crank now, would that be an issue with replacing it with the Inovators ?
Or it wouldn't matter ?
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As Jay mentioned, your harmonic damper should not have been touched during that previous balance job.
Unless you see suspicious fresh drill holes in that old damper, you can swap in your new one with no issues.
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Ok, sounds great.
Thank you guys.
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Question. Will the great quality of the Inovators west balancer aid any better balancing and harmonics vs the one that's already mounted ?
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I would think.....
Yes it would technically help. Even more so if you had a really big stroker
No you will never see the rpm for it to matter.
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If the attached balancer is just fine, not making a big difference, I could sell Inovators west to add the the build budget.
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Anyone ?
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Does your IV have crank trigger option?
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Nope, don't need one inmy case.
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I see now, that was a site photo, not what you actualy have.
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I see now, that was a site photo, not what you actualy have.
Yep, sorry buddy. I now have a photo of mine, if I can attach it.
What a work of art ! 8)
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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 !
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I'll bump myself. lol
From what I've seen, a lot of custom car builders are painting the engines a contrast color to the bodies.
Like the body black and engine blue etc.
With my Cobra body being blue, how about painti ng the engine the popular, (and almost candy) orange ?
Like the beautiful Vette orange.
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If you want the ire of every true Ford person, go ahead and paint it orange. Real Cobras with 427 engines had black blocks, and the 428s had Ford blue. Some things are worth more and appreciated better if they don't deviate from the original too much. Cobras with anything Chevy are a no-no! Joe-JDC
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In My eyes a cobra is a racecar .So no
Polished heads black block all alu glasbeaded
But thats My opinion
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I'm with Heo.....
tho I'm a sucker for the black/ cast aluminum look
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The Hot Rod bling in me, likes some in my Cobra. If I were creating a dead on 427 replica, it's boring, but nasty too. They were never built as a great looker, but a race car. I gave a friend a ride and he said, "it's not comfortable" I told him to "get a ride in a Cadillac then" !
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The engine itself looks terrific in my mind. ;)
The only thing that I'd change is the black painted expansion tank....maybe polished brass, silver paint or chrome.
That said, since originality isn't an issue, dumping the tank entirely would add to the cool factor. Saw a 500+ CID BBC Cobra awhile back (heresy, I know!) but was struck when the hood opened how clean the entire engine front looked w/o of course any Chevy expansion tank.
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The engine itself looks terrific in my mind. ;)
The only thing that I'd change is the black painted expansion tank....maybe polished brass, silver paint or chrome.
That said, since originality isn't an issue, dumping the tank entirely would add to the cool factor. Saw a 500+ CID BBC Cobra awhile back (heresy, I know!) but was struck when the hood opened how clean the entire engine front looked w/o of course any Chevy expansion tank.
I thought you meant my engine, so I asked myself,..."what expantion tank" ? lol :o
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I bought the complete internally balanced Dove engine without a flywheel. I have a billet flywheel, since it's billet,..... shouldn't it be balanced, so no worries ?
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If the engine is internally balanced, and the flywheel is a billet, it'll be fine...provided the flywheel is not offset balanced. I'd just double check that there are no drill/balance marks on the back side.
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Some great news.
A local muscle car restore shop is going to help me paint all the parts, as a advertising trade. Clean, spray with self etching primer and top coat, matching my body color.
I have the intake off (and already sold) water pump etc. It will be ready to load up in my truck after I lay cardboard in the oil valley and wrap in saran wrap and lawn bags.
I couldn't help but set the injection on top just to see hoe it'll look.
I really like my Craftsman roll away chest with all it's trays, removable top as a small bench, drawers, electrical power, holes on the side for drills, screwdrivers, wrenchs, sockets etc, and the peg board on the side. Really,.....happy with it.
Anyway, if my health stays well, I should have them all painted by the weekend !
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I see a set of what looks like those Goodyear "Billboard" tires! LOL Those tires look real mean on Cobra's IMHO. 8)
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Lol, yep, and I love them too. Too bad their bias-ply. There are a few company's that have real high quality Billboard stickers that can be placed on any tires. I might try them somday.
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Well, been a while. With my bad health things are going a lot slower than I was hoping, but I did get the block, bell and trans done.