Ford 427 SOHC engines

Don't recall if its been posted but this oddity caught my eye, never seen one with four Holley two barrel carbs.

 

All alloy SOHC, a one off I'd guess from the aftermarket.
Built by Steve Strope Motorsports.

 

In the middle 1960's, there were a half dozen or so Top Fuel dragsters that were running the SOHC engine, and they had more than their fair share of success, compared to the "defacto" standard at the time, the 392 Hemi. A lot of people chalked this up to the overhead cams on each bank. I never felt that was the BIG advantage. In my opinion (and we were running our own AA/FD at the time), the big advantage was the displacement of the Fords. The 392 Hemis (most were punched out to around 398 cubic inches) were making about 1,600 horsepower on about 85%. That is about 4 horsepower per cubic inch. Assuming the 427 Ford SOHC was making about the same power per cubic inch, they had a 30 cubic inch advantage, or about 120 more horsepower. I have always felt (and Lou Baney backed this up) that was their big advantage over the 392 Hemi, and shortly after the 426 Hemi came out and began to appear in T/F dragsters, the SOHC advantage sort of disappeared...

 

If you are interested in FE engines, Jay Brown is a good friend of mine and has FEPower Forums which would be a great place to check out. He also has some very interesting parts that he manufactures for FE engines, the latest being clear valve covers. Type fepower and you should see his forum as well as parts site. Not trying to make a sell just think you would find it interesting. Lots of dyno pull info on his site you may find interesting, like shaker hood vs no shaker hood etc.


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In my buddies comp. Willys pickup.

 

There really are only two engines that look right in a Willys. The 427 SOHC and a Chrysler Hemi.

 

Lunch time reading material

 

Ireland sold it to one of the guys in our local race group who knew Bill pretty well.
He ran it with a 351 Cleveland/toploader 4 speed so the SOHC motor was never in the picture after leaving Irelands. It was sold to me minus engine/transmission.
I was around when it was converted from a unibody car to the tube chassis and actually helped strip the paint off it.

 

This truck ran airplane fuel in the 427. On our way home from a car show one day he pulled a hole shot and pulled the front shocks out of the towers. Sadly my buddy passed away some years ago but his son is now restoring it as it sat for many years. It was quite a ride in it's day.

 

i wonder why it has ed pink stickers on the valve covers if it wasn't built by him then.

 

Great to read that story, be nice if they survived.

 

^^^^^^^Love that picture, Dan. How cool is that!^^^^^^

 

I think it's a great shot too.

 

Early prototype, note plug location



https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/...ngines-suddenly-showed-up-all-over-the-place/

 

Cool pics!!!!!..... Thanks!

 

Dan Gurney having some fun....

 

That would make a great poster, I buy one for sure.

 

.......................................Same here. Two iconic power-plants right there.

 

Mmmmm..... Eye candy....

 

Somebody is showing off....

But that's the wrong type manifold for those carbs. These were designed to get Weber performance within the '2 4-barrel' carb limit that was current in Trans-Am (4 2-barrels isn't the same as 2 4-barrels.. LOL) at the time. Carb length was dictated by the port spacing on the Boss 302 heads, with the carb dumping straight into the port, same as a Weber set-up. It's a shame Ford didn't do more development work on these, but the factory pulled out of Trans-Am before they got sorted out.

 

..... And a bunch of those got stolen out of a train... Or so I've read elsewhere......

 

I just stumbled onto this HotRod and another article and don't think that it's been posted before?
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/90-day-wonder-sohc-427-cammer/
http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...e-of-fords-good-ideas-that-got-canceled.1107/

 

Stumpy....I remember years ago at a Roselands Hotrod show in Sydney there was a speedboat of some sort that had a SOHC engine in it, this would have been around 1968 or 1969, I had never seen one in person and was suitably impressed as any 15yrs old would have been.......lol........I saw a couple at Jim Broadleys Diablo Motors in Sydneys suburb of Lakemba during the 1970's.........there were a couple of brothers from Sans Souci a southern Sydney suburb who imported a 63/64(?) lightweight Ford Galaxie(may have been thru Diablos) that supposedly had a SOHC in it, I understood that was the one that John Lynch obtained & installed in his 34 Ford Roadster.........maybe not...........andyd

 

Andy, I've an old Custom Rodder magazine with article on an imported [Black] mid 60s Galaxie 2 door hardtop. It was I believe a factory lightweight with 427SOHC, 4 speed, lexan windows and aluminum bars. Might be the same car!

 

Here are some photos to the two links posted by mgstumpy above. Not all of them because they have been posted in here before.

ps most of these get HUGE when you click on them and would make great computer backrounds

MERCURY valve covers.




When Hot Rod’s Ray Brock Wandered Around The Garages At The 1964 Indy 500, Look What He Found An Early SOHC Prototype With The Spark Plugs Located Low On The Heads Stuffed Into A 1964 Galaxie. Engineers Found no difference in performance and moved the plugs to the top in production models.



This Was Jack Chrisman’s Take On The AFX Evolution Revolution In 1965. Extreme Engine Setback, Supercharger, And A Jug Of Pop Differentiated His Cyclone From Dyno Don’s. The Half In, Half Out Cammer Led To Flip To the funny car era.



For A Time, The Cammer Popped Up In Many Drag Racing Classes. One Of The Most Famous And Consistent Gassers Was “Ohio” George Montgomery’s Torrid 1933 Willys Coupe, Which Evolved Into This Cammer Version With Ford SOHC power.





Maybe The Farthest Advancement In The Technical Evolution Of The SOHC Was In Pete Robinson’s Geardrive Development, Seen Here In March 1969 On His “Tinker Toy Dragster. A True Cammer Believer, He Was Tragically Killed and development halted.



to be continued

 

6 Tom Hoover Came To The SOHC Wars Slightly Later With This Woody Gilmore Car. Originally Built With A Chrysler Hemi, With Ford Sponsorship, Hoover Switched To The SOHC Midyear In 1967.



The cammer built for a Hot Rod article

New engine currently offered



to be contiuned