When the 427 cobra first came out they had trouble keeping the bearings in the race motors, as previously mentioned. So while shelby was waiting for the side oilers he put 390s in the cars for at least the first 9 months.

Lots of em came with 390s.

Put me in the small block camp tho, with forced induction. Gotta make positive intake manifold pressure.
Same power, same torque, more driveable, and less weight.

For sale on cobracountry.com now...has the optional ERA rear suspension that is supposedly a very nicely done bit. not cheap but man....
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1336751146.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1336751170.jpg

SOO nice!

I know nothing about Cobras (the car)...

But as others have already said, 460, slush box, drum brakes... meh...

If you are going to spend the money... I would wait for a properly setup car.

I love my little 944... but kinda lament that I didn't hold out for a turbo (951) or the bigger 3.0 engine (944S2)

If it has the 11" drums I wouldn't be too concerned about braking ability for street use which is what this car seems to be set up for. Actually for a Sunday cruiser/gawker mobile the 460/auto wouldn't be bad but it should be prices accordingly.

Really, it could have little Pinto rear brakes and it would be "enough for the street".... or enough for the track.

They're so light, with so much weight up front let alone during weight transfer under braking, that the rear brakes do very, very little work. They're unimportant.

Same thing with the engine. It could have a 1981 Ford 302 truck motor in there and be quicker than most people could handle in that twitchy little chassis.

The 427 side oiler with top-loader 4 speed, the knockoff Halibrands, etc are really just about being true to the "original". If it's for driving pleasure, it barely matters. If you're trying to impress people, better do it to their specs. Wouldn't want to disappoint.......

This isn't a car I would take on the track with those tires and Mustang II/Pinto front end. As light as they are the MII brakes really aren't up to track work. Mine has the tubular front suspension but originally had the MII brakes. I came home one day with pad material melted onto the rotors.
I don't know how twitchy this chassis would be either as it has MII front/leaf rear instead of the proper coil overs so tire pressure is your only adjustment, but who knows it might drive fine on the track as long as you don't have to slow down. It would suck on the track with those tires anyway.

427 cross bolt mains.. killer built factory motors and a whole different animal vs. ANY 460.

The 460 is a stroked 429. Tough lower end and was primarily a truck motor. The weight is impractical for any of these kits. Go with a retro built-up 289 non-flared car and you'll have more fun and interesting enough, seperates itself nicely from the other imposters.

I used to run with the Alfa Club Of Southern California. Frank who used to play there as well brought a 396 c1 based 351 windsor in a cobra kit car. The car had on some street BFG tires and Frank would have to "pedal" the heck out of the car even 1/2 way down the front straight of streets. It was just plane wicked.


I know that I'm the loan desenter on 427 vs 460 engines. Yes the 427's are race motors with proven history. The 460 engine is a lump. but don't put it out to pasture. the 427 has a bore of 4.232 and a stroke of 3.784. The 460 engine has a bore of 4.360 x 3.85

larger bore to stroke ratio. Larger bore for better valve unshrouding etc. The 429/460 based engines did run in Can-Am and a little bit in nascar. Of course plenty of use dragracing. There was a 490 Can-am motor in the past and I think that there was an alloy block.

I did own a 390GT engine and I will tell you that that engine was the engine that I broke the most parts on! It really hated running 6k rpm if I did miss a shift or over reved the engine it would break rocker journals, bend pushrods or just rip the threads out of the heads. Yes my dad didn't build tis engine. I would love to have a real sideoiler 427 but If I was building a big-block ford race engine I would talk to more guys with "385" info. As far as the cobra that you're looking at pass. slush box,MII front end and underbraked.