Unusual Ford powered Mustang - DOHC Indy engine

[machoneman]

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ccrp_1304_horsepower_ford_indy_v8/

[jayb]

What's really interesting about that engine is that the heads are swapped from side to side, so that the exhaust ports come out in the normal fashion, rather than through the middle of the valley.  Originally that's where they were, to keep the engine tightly packaged for aerodynamic reasons, I believe.  That would never work in a normal, front engine car.  I didn't know that you could swap those heads side to side like that...

[machoneman]

Ford did start out with the intakes on the top, exhausts out the side but I didn't realize either that the engineers made the castings swappable. Nice touch and it would seem to indicate Ford was looking at using the engine in more than just Indy cars......like the GT-40 and other FIA/SCCA sports cars.

Some really definitive Indy engine details here:

http://www.quadcamford.com/development.html

http://www.wrljet.com/fordv8/indy.html

[BruceS]

Here's an application for the DOHC Ford Indy engine you may not have seen... many Of the winning USAC Champ Dirt cars from the 70s used a version of this engine.  A champ dirt car is a close cousin to a sprint car but has a longer wheelbase and larger fuel tank. They run primarily on one-mile dirt tracks such as the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  That series today is known as the Silver Crown Series.  The car pictured was built by Grant King of Indianapolis and was owned and campaigned by Vel's-Parnelli Jones Racing.  Driver was Al Unser Sr.  I took these shots in the Indy Speedway museum last May... it was the 50th anniversary of Parnelli's Indy 500 win.  The car looks like it just rolled off the racetrack! 

http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u624/Bselby1/image_zpsc45ceb91.jpg

http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u624/Bselby1/image_zps3f99432a.jpg

[machoneman]

Way cool Bruce! Totally forgot that the DOHC was used in dirt track events back then. Btw, I was looking for a pic of the engine in a Mark 1 (or II) GT-40 that Ford used for testing. Didn't work out I think.

Some years ago, a fellow with a genie GT-40 (289 IIRC) did swap in the DOHC and said it was a major pain in the ass with the dry sump set-up, bellhousing/transaxle issues and a weak running engine at higher rpms....until he figured out the magneto was bad. Then, it ran like a bat out of hell! 

[Heo]

A realy interesting Engine....It have all the stuf
hi po Engines have today. Dual cams, 4 valve,
fuel injection. Well all that have been around
since the early 1900s but been used regular
the last 20 years or so
Actualy i think most regular no hp family cars
use all that today

[BruceS]

Yes, modern engines have all that and more!  And remember very little computing power in those days... Here's a GT40 with a DOHC Indy engine in it.

http://gt40.net/photos-articles/ford-gt40-4-cam-255-indy-engine/

Enjoy,
Bruce