Ford 427 SOHC engines

Sure looks like the tunnel Port manifold.

 

Top = 427SOHC
Centre - 427HR
Bottom - 427TP
SOHC and TP are pretty close in design except for the push rod tubes

 

So...7 grand...what did ya run it to? Was this a shift point?

 

The tach on mine starts to redline @ 7200 rpm..

 

Digger....

 

That'll be a portion of a magazine ad for a Boss 429 Mustang. Even in 1969 the cammer was still quite successful in in drag racing.

 

Production line shot

 

You are correct sir....

 

Wayne Gapp’s SOHC

 

loveoftiki, I shifted at 8 grand. Those came with Le Mans rods and steel cranks. Being a side oiler, the bottom end wasn't a problem naturally aspirated. The urban myths say large engines can't do high rpm. Look at blown alky stuff. I and everyone else turned those 426 thru 450 ci. engines to 9500. Even the alky funny cars with long stroke and horrific piston speed were above 8 grand. The trouble was usually in the valve train which OHC removes that dillema.

 

Very cool info....I will likely never experience what it’s like to be in a vehicle powered by one of these beast’s....

 

I have one more tidbit of info. The man I bought my engine from was running a modified production stick shift car as I remember. He was running clevite 77 bearings and had to change them every 25 runs. They were beat up. That was the real down side to steel rods. I don't know if micro babbitt bearings would have lasted longer or not. My thought is, no. Every serious drag engine I've owned has had alum. rods.

 

Come on over...we’re throwing a SOHC motor in the car...

 

I remember that article in Hot Rod magazine. I forget the fellas name but the car is a 69 Boss 429 Mustang that he swapped out for the 427. I think he was from SoCal and used to cruise Van Nuys looking for off brand products.

 

Ford has never admitted just how many SOHC motors were built; I've seen estimates from 200 to 600 and everywhere in between over the years. They were never planned for regular use in street cars as they cost Ford more than the cost of a well-optioned Galaxie to build, plus Ford understood trying to warranty these through their dealer network would be nearly impossible. The most commonly-heard cost-per-motor figure was about $10K each... Once NASCAR required that 500 'production' cars had to be built and sold, Ford dropped the Cammer for NASCAR use. It was never intended to be anything but a race motor. NHRA did allow its 'legal' use in the A/FX classes as well as the 'unlimited' top fuel cars. Ford could have made the Cammer legal in the NHRA stock classes if it had built 50 'production' examples, but it had no appetite to do so. The fuel racers reached it's limits relatively quickly (they had a tendency to split the blocks in half at the lifter galley) and as Ford wasn't interested in further development, it fell out of favor. Between-rounds servicing was difficult also. Ford supplied motors to it's sponsored racers and selected privateers for a few years and then switched development to the Boss 429. The remaining Cammers languished in the Holman-Moody warehouse well into the late '70s at fire-sale prices of about $2500 each.

 

Been reading this book...highly recommend if your a Ford fan...or a fan of vintage Drag Racing..Al goes into great detail about what it took to make the SOHC motor win and live at the track...

 

I disagree,I believe Ford was prepared to build a few production Galaxies to legalize it as production because at that time that's all that was required that it be a regular production option there was no 500 minimum yet, when Nascar outright banned OHC engines.To avoid the appearance of favoritism Nascar then rolled out the 500 minimum requirement which knocked out the Hemi until Mopar could develop the Street Hemi and get production geared up to meet the minimum, that's why it didn't compete in 1965 not because of some perceived boycott.As far as the 10K cost per engine,that may have been true for the first few but the same can be said of the 1964 426 Race Hemi,until the economy of scale (Street Hemi)kicks in and brings the unit cost down.The comments you make about their dismal failure in top fuel also has an obvious appearance of looking thru Mopar glasses,they were very successful in TF but went thru the same learning curve as the 426 Hemi with the same attendant split blocks and ruined parts as the correct blown fuel tuneups are zeroed in.The disappearance from Top Fuel coincides with the end of production and the attendant lack of development and support in a time when there was no aftermarket able to pickup production and continue development like it was able to a decade later.Ford saw no future in an engine that couldn't be raced in all venues and rightly so,they moved on the next.

 

I appreciate both of you guys posting and enlightening us about these engines........Don.

 

Wow....FB Marketplace....and about 1/2 hour away....

 

^^^^What are you waiting for?^^^

 

Winning lottery ticket...an unknown relative to drop dead and leave me a lot of money....I’m ignorant to what these motors go for..I’ve seen “regular” 427’s go for 6-10K...is 40K a pipe dream? This guy must be a pretty serious Ford collector..he’s got a 428 SCJ Ranchero that’s 1 of 75 built and 2 of 3 with a certain option package..also noticed some other blue oval stuff sitting around in his pics...

 

Back in around 1985 I almost bought a 1969 Ranchero GT with a 428 CJ. It was Indian Fire red in color with a shaker hood, 4-speed, black interior. I cant recall if it was an SCJ but it did have 3.91 Trac-Loc in it. Owner had blown the clutch in it. He wanted $3000 for it and I thought it was to much.

 

....I'm like you, I guess $40k might not be out-of-line, I really don't know either. Even if I had that kind of money to spend (which I don't) it would be scary for me, considering it likely needs a re-build and/or a complete evaluation by someone far more competent than myself. It's fun to dream.........Don.

 

I saw a very nice 63 (or 64?) Galaxie with a Cammer for $50,000 a couple of years ago. Said it was an original 427 car.
It seemed like a great deal.Only 50,000 reasons I didn't buy it.

 

Ford did build at least one prototype 'production' SOHC '64 Galaxie, it was spotted at the '64 Daytona race (a 4 door hardtop no less). To my knowledge, it was never seen again...

There was/is numerous opinions as to why the SOHC never became NASCAR legal, although the ones really in the know kept their mouths shut to a large degree. I believe the primary reason was that Bill France was very unhappy that 'exotic' purpose-built race motors were appearing, diluting the 'stock' car image he was trying to project. If Joe Blow couldn't buy one at his local dealer, it wasn't 'stock'. Hence the 500 minimum 'regular production' requirement. Given the current state of NASCAR, the irony of this decision is obvious...

To a large extent, Ford was it's own worst enemy during this period. After realizing that GM and Chrysler were both ignoring the '57 AMA racing ban with 'back door' support, they jumped back in with both feet starting in 1960. While this resulted in some iconic cars and extreme engineering (for Detroit), it rarely translated into cars on the dealer lots. Many were only available to those 'in the know' (think '64 Thunderbolts and '66 427 Fairlanes), sometimes they perversely limited availability. Until '67, the only way an average guy could buy a 427-powered car was in a full-size Ford, and even in '67 if you wanted a 427-powered Fairlane, it was only available in the 500 model, not the 'performance' GT which was limited to the 390. It took an intervention by Bob Tasca to finally get Ford to build a 'everyman' performance car with the 428 CJ Mustangs which became a RPO in '69. Unfortunately, Ford had missed most of the decade and the looming emissions/insurance/fuel crunch quickly ended it all. Ford did learn the lesson however; once performance became acceptable again, it's selection of mass air rather than speed density EFI for the 5.0 Mustang (much easier to modify) gave it supremacy over the Camaro.

And I don't own any 'mopar glasses'... LOL. I'm a hard-core Ford guy and can count the non-Fords I've owned in the last 55 years on my fingers and get change... well, except when I was infatuated with Jaguars, but those don't really count do they? LOLOL..