428 and top loader 4 speed out of 69 mustang what's it worth

[bobbylipp]

Hello I have a question. Any of your help would greatly be appreciated. I just purchased a 69 Fastback that has a 428 and a top loader 4 speed. It is a great car and runs and drives awesome. It is not a numbers matching car though. Originally it was a 302 car. I bought the car to do a coyote swap and a complete Restomod. I want to sell the 428 and the 4 speed and all accessories that could go with them that I don't need. It is a fresh rebuilt 428 but that is all I know as of now. The previous owner of the car for the last 20 years passed away and left the car to his son. His son didn't want it so I bought it. I would like to know what it's worth so I can get a fair price and give someone a fair price. I don't have any date codes or any of that yet but I will be getting them once I get the car in my possession. I won't take it apart till it's sold either. It runs and drives flawlessly at the moment. Thanks for any of your help.

[jayb]

More information is really required before a value for the engine and trans could be set.  For example, is it a base 428, or does it have Cobra Jet heads or aftermarket aluminum heads?  Cobra Jet intake and/or carb?  Cobra Jet exhaust manifolds, or headers, or standard 428 exhaust manifolds?  Any and all details on the engine will help to set its value, including making sure that it is a 428, and not a 390.

By the way, I'm curious, what is your rationale for the Coyote swap?  Is this just trying to go to a modern drivetrain, or is it the cool factor, or?  I've always figured I could "modernize" the FE with EFI and big cubic inches, and slaughter any Coyote swap in horsepower and torque, while keeping the basic flavor of the car intact...

[bobbylipp]

That's great info and I will get all of that. I am very confident it is a true428 but that's about it. It had dual fours on it with an intake from a 427 on it. That was removed before I bought the car because a friend of the dads needed it for one of his projects and gave the kid $2000 for it. It has an edelbrock intake and 780 carb now. I'll get some pics of the exhaust and do some research on the heads.

As far as why this is my answer. I understand that a coyote swap isn't for everyone. And if this car was a factory big block car I absolutely wouldn't take it apart. I have. A few older cars and I drive the A Lot. I like power and drivability and economy. I put 5-7000 miles a year on my old cars. I have a 69 coupe I'm selling to fund this project that is 500 horsepower 5.0/5 speed from a fox body. It gets 17 mpg and I drive it on a lot of road trips cruising 75+ mph. I also have a 72 Monte Carlo with an LS swap that is 500 hp and gets over 20 mpg. I also have a 13 mustang gt with a vmp blower that's 800 hp and runs very low 10 second quarter mile times. It's an awesome all around car and I just love it. I pretty much want that car in an old body. I guess my answer is I want to modernize it and drive it a lot.  Not building a race car or show car that hardly gets driven.

[ntheogen]

Jay's correct, any value placed on the engine without knowing what it is and it's internals are, will be pretty inaccurate.  The current state of affairs of the engine and it's parts will need to be known to give you an idea of its market value. Can you post all the information you have on it?

Jack

[jayb]

As far as why this is my answer. I understand that a coyote swap isn't for everyone. And if this car was a factory big block car I absolutely wouldn't take it apart. I have. A few older cars and I drive the A Lot. I like power and drivability and economy. I put 5-7000 miles a year on my old cars. I have a 69 coupe I'm selling to fund this project that is 500 horsepower 5.0/5 speed from a fox body. It gets 17 mpg and I drive it on a lot of road trips cruising 75+ mph. I also have a 72 Monte Carlo with an LS swap that is 500 hp and gets over 20 mpg. I also have a 13 mustang gt with a vmp blower that's 800 hp and runs very low 10 second quarter mile times. It's an awesome all around car and I just love it. I pretty much want that car in an old body. I guess my answer is I want to modernize it and drive it a lot.  Not building a race car or show car that hardly gets driven.

I see your reasoning, especially if economy is a concern.  For what its worth, though, a bored and stroked 427 FE engine can get to 700 HP and run mid 10s in a streetable 69 Mustang; I've done it and so have lots of others.  For me, having an engine in the car that is like the original engine is valuable.  In any case, good luck on the project, and when you find out more about the engine we can give you more feedback on its value.

[jholmes217]

Hello I have a question. Any of your help would greatly be appreciated. I just purchased a 69 Fastback that has a 428 and a top loader 4 speed. It is a great car and runs and drives awesome. It is not a numbers matching car though. Originally it was a 302 car. I bought the car to do a coyote swap and a complete Restomod. I want to sell the 428 and the 4 speed and all accessories that could go with them that I don't need. It is a fresh rebuilt 428 but that is all I know as of now. The previous owner of the car for the last 20 years passed away and left the car to his son. His son didn't want it so I bought it. I would like to know what it's worth so I can get a fair price and give someone a fair price. I don't have any date codes or any of that yet but I will be getting them once I get the car in my possession. I won't take it apart till it's sold either. It runs and drives flawlessly at the moment. Thanks for any of your help.

Where is the car located?  If your close to one of the forum members, they could look at the casting numbers on parts and give you a better idea of what you have.  In some cases, not only part numbers, but also date codes can be used to determine value.  For example, early date 1968 Cobra Jet parts can bring more money than late 1969 parts.

[My427stang]

Of course this is an FE forum, but the Coyotes are fun.  Computer adjustable cam centerlines allows you to change valve timing, on both the intake and exhaust seperately, meaning overlap, ICL and ECL.  They rev loose and make a lot of power.  Of course, I doubt 700 hp power, but I just did a bone stock 5.0 with intake and headers and a tune that did 480 to the wheels with no other work.  It's a fun engine

I have a buddy with another one we are just getting to tuning, "aluminator" Ford racing engine, Saleen supercharger, every part you can buy for it, and my hunch is it'll be all of 700 to the wheels.

That being said, I'd prefer a big inch FE with a Paxton, but the cam tuning piece sure is fun.  Silly, but you can even buy "ghost cam" tunes where at idle it closes the LSA tight so it lumps away like a rowdy cam, and as soon as you move the throttle it opens it up and behaves again LOL

[jayb]

That is pretty cool to be able to mess with the cam timing on the Coyotes.  Four cams offers a lot more flexibility, that's for sure.  What I like about them is how easy it is to put a supercharger on one; seems like there are lots of kits for that, and they'll still stay under the hood that way.  So a 700 HP engine with good manners is not that difficult to achieve when you can put 15 pounds of boost into the engine.  There was a guy from Whipple Superchargers who bought one of my intake adapters, and was working on a manifold to bolt on that would allow a Whipple to go on the FE.  That would be cool; wonder how he's doing on that project...

To me the problem with the Coyotes is you've got to do the shock tower mods to make them fit in Mustangs or Fairlanes/Torinos.  If I'm going to go to the trouble of doing that, I'm putting in a cammer 

[My427stang]

To me the problem with the Coyotes is you've got to do the shock tower mods to make them fit in Mustangs or Fairlanes/Torinos.  If I'm going to go to the trouble of doing that, I'm putting in a cammer 

No doubt, and as it should be

[bobbylipp]

Thanks for all the input guys. I am currently out of town working till this Friday. I am located in Wichita Kansas if any members are around the area that would be very helpful.

[bobbylipp]

Ok I am home and able to do a little digging tonight. I have long tube headers on the car with an edelbrock rpm intake and Holley 780 carb. It does not have aluminum heads. I don't know if they're cobra jet heads or not?? How can I find this out?  Where are numbers and or date codes on the block I can look for that would be help? The entire long block is painted red and it's not original. The car is red so I'm guessing that's the reasoning behind that. It has msd ignition and coil on it as well.

[rockhouse66]

The Cobra Jet Registry site will provide clues as to correct numbers and where to find them.

https://www.428cobrajet.org/id-main

[ntheogen]

In between the two center exhaust ports on the heads there will be a casting # - Most CJ's heads casting number are C8OE-6090-N. If it is not those numbers, just write down what it is and search the web or post here or both.  As for the block the casting numbers will help but wont be a definitive way of identifying it.  Its usually on the pass side up front on the side of the block.  The date code is most likely under the oil filter adapter and will help as well.  Let us know and we will help you sort through it.  The only real way of knowing with an FE is to measure bore and check stroke.  Hope this helps.

Jack

[bobbylipp]

The date code on the block is 8F24. That tells me June 24th 1968??  That's all I have for now. Hard to see the heads. Not much room there. I'll post more when I know more.

[BruceS]

Correct on the block date code.