Ford 427 SOHC engines

There were also a couple of 64 Galaxies "refered" to as pre production mules spotted driving around the Detroit area in late 64.The 500 minimum wasn't around until 65 which is why the 63 Chevy mystery motor and 64 race hemi weren't kicked off the track.Nascar had already announced that the cammer wouldn't be allowed and brought out the 500 rule to appease Ford.The most significant fact around the SOHC ban was the reason for it Nascar was concerned at the speeds these essentially production cars could reach on the track,those concerns were already being fostered when the Hemi was brought out,the Cammer nailed the lid on the coffin.It bought them 3 or 4 years of sub 200 mph speeds at best and then came new rules.

 

Like I said, there were a lot of reasons... Given Ford's history, I would have been totally surprised if it had ever reached production status.

It would have been interesting to see how the SOHC would have done in endurance racing, being a new design. I'm semi-surprised that Ford didn't try it in the GT40, but the weight/bulk of it probably ruled it out. They supposedly looked at the DOHC Indy motor, but it didn't have enough torque for the car weight.

 

SOHC 427 was too long, wide, tall and heavy for GT40/Mark IV.
That's why the next engine at Ford engine development was the "Calliope" 427 that is shorter, narrower (due to dual enbloc camshafts) and lighter. FIA/ACO rules change for 1968 made that program pointless. Back to five liter max displacement and why GT40 MkI chassis number 1075 won BOTH 1968 and 1969 Le Mans.

In 1968 and 1969 the 3 liter "Indy" motor, the Ford/Cosworth DFV/DFX - Keith Duckworth Four Valve, was used in Alan Mann's Ford P68/P69 lightweight small displacement cars. The most beautiful race cars ever built. And proof again Ford's Len Bailey could design race cars aerodynamically slick but shit for unstable at speed.






GOD'S MIDDLE FINGER: The Story of the Cosworth DFV Engine


Back on topic...

 

I hear what your saying about the AMA ban and agree,but by the time of the Cammer McNamara was long gone and the Total Performance ideology was in full swing,just look at the GT-40 program it was clear Ford would stop at nothing to get on top,and that wasn't just at Lemans.You also have to remember that Cammer Galaxies would have been in the same category as Thunderbolts and Lightweights,while they came with a warranty it clearly stated that engaging in competitive events would void the warranty.Those cars came with disclaimer documentation that the fit finish and quality control didn't meet normal Ford standards to maximize performance for competitive events,so the act of buying one signaled clear intent of engaging in such events.I don't think they were at all worried about warranty claims.That's a good question about the endurance racing,while I believe they would have done OK on the superspeedways,I would not have been at all surprised if they continued to use the standard 427 on the short tracks where they didn't have any disadvantage.I agree with your conclusion that lots of shifting and rpm changes would have been a challenge for the Cammer.As far as the the 4 valve Ford Indy motor which was based on the what was then called the Fairlane V-8 it could easily have been built at the 5.0 liter displacement vs. the 255 ci. of the Indy version so I'm not sure what the holdback was there.and while the 4 valve clearly influenced the development of the Cosworth thru lessons learned there was no direct link the Cosworth was a clean sheet design of much smaller dispacement than the 4 valve,Ford turned over the 4 valve program to Foyt who developed it as the Coyote(no relation to current 5.0 Coyote).

 

The calliope that's an engine I haven't heard in a long time,it was also being developed for use in Group 7 or can am type racing also wasn't it?Of course Can Am displacements quickly grew out of the practically achievable range of the FE block type bore centers.

 

Remember, the Thunderbolts, FX, and lightweights weren't 'production' cars in the strict sense of the word. They were all sold to racers and in very limited numbers. NASCAR was requiring 500 cars, not just handfuls. The race market couldn't have absorbed that number even if they had been competitive in all venues, which they wouldn't have been. Drag racing was moving to smaller/lighter cars, the heavy Galaxie would have been a tough sell. While NASCAR could do something with them, how many teams were there? Lets be generous and assume 50 teams; each team would have to purchase 10 cars. The reality was much fewer teams, so...

Assuming that Ford could have sold 500, it's a safe bet that a substantial number would have ended up in the hands of 'regular' guys. Now I'll agree that Ford likely would have attached a disclaimer to them, no warranty. But unlike the low numbers race cars where it was fully understood by the racers that Ford had zero after-sale obligation to repair them, telling a guy his expensive new SOHC-powered car wouldn't be fixed unless he paid for all repairs and worse yet, with no dealer support network couldn't be fixed would have been a non-starter. So Ford was faced with setting up a dealer parts network, mechanic service training, special tools if required, all the things needed to keep them on the road. Getting the dealers to buy in would have been an issue as some of those costs usually came out of their pockets. Failure to get this right and having dead cammers littered around the country would have been a public relations nightmare.

A real unknown is how well the motor would have fared in 'regular' use. While Ford was obviously confident that it could withstand the rigors of racing, those were all limited-duration events. While checking/'freshening' a race motor after each race is expected, street cars don't get that sort of attention. What sort of 'regular' maintenance would be required? How many miles does that long cam chain last? While there are guys that street drive these today, you don't hear about any high-mileage examples. I suspect it would have needed substantial re-engineering for street use like Chrysler had to do for the Hemi. This may have been the final deal-breaker for Ford.

And how much would this car have had to sell for? Remember, Ford was selling the leftovers SOHCs in the mid-'70s for $2300; to give an idea of the discount, you could also buy new-in-the-crate complete Boss 302s for $870! A top-of-the-line '64 427 wedge Galaxie could be had for about $4500 very well optioned, how much of a premium could they charge? Even if economies-of-scale could have brought motor costs down, they were still probably looking at selling every car at a pretty substantial loss.

All told, that's an awful lot of negatives. While the SOHC was a real 'statement' by Ford, they were likely looking at increasing their investment in the program by 2 or 3 times with little chance of recouping the costs, with the danger of the motor being troublesome in everyday use.

 

I wonder how much they lost on the Boss 429 Mustangs? They were sold with a 1 year, 12 month warranty. The attrition rate of them must have been 50%.

 

I'm sure the biggest cost was getting them smog-legal, something the SOHC never had to face.

 

Crusty little devil.....in a 66 Falcon.
View attachment 4684008
View attachment 4684008

 

Hmmmmm

 

Steve your still stuck on the 500 minimum rule that didn't exist until after the ban of OHC engines,until then it just had to be available the 63 chevy mystery motor is a perfect example of that as is the 64 426 Hemi,it is widely accepted that there were less than 50 427 MK II mystery motors ever built yet they raced in Nascar until GM pulled out of racing,thats why they disappeared not because Nascar outlawed them.The 1964 426 Track Hemi engine raced the whole year in Nascar without being available in any production car,just a few A990 factory built drag cars.There was no 500 minimum when Ford was deciding whether or not to install the cammer into a "production" car it was when Nascar banned the OHC engine that the decision was made for them.

 

One of the design study prototypes before the final configuration was decided.Early 64 or earlier due to the 64-earlier bellhousing and T-10 transmission.Also note the Nascar configuration with the single 4 barrel carb and cowl induction type air cleaner.

 

Notice the exhaust port angle, 30 degrees off being horizontal

• A cammer is 32" wide and 34" long; a standard FE is 27" wide and 32" long;
• A cammer is 30" in height whilst a 427FE is 29" tall; and
  
• A cammer weighs 680lbs compared to a 427FE at 659lbs with aluminum intake, single 4BBL, long tube cast iron headers, complete ignition, starter, alternator, 28 pound flywheel, water pump, fan, belts pulleys and fuel pump.

 

Is your cammer weight with cast iron or aluminum heads?While most of the factory ones were cast iron most of the aftermarket ones appear to be aluminum.

 

Going by interweb sources, weight appears to be OEM cast iron and not with aftermarket aluminum heads?

 

It wasn't quite that simple. Yes, Bill France banned the cammer, but it was a very controversial decision and generated quite a bit of heat. Rumor had it that Ford was considering suing NASCAR over the decision and France would have had a very hard time defending his position of singling out Ford in court, which he knew. Ford and France had some private discussions about all this, and while he wouldn't recind the ban, his answer was the 500 car rule for '65, which would be very easy to defend as long as it applied uniformly to all manufacturers. This neatly mousetrapped Ford; they could pursue the court case to force the cammer back in but by the time it made its way to a decision the season would likely be over, and no matter how it turned out they'd still have to build 500 cars to be legal for '65. Ford decided it was a no-win situation and walked away. Chrysler just got caught in the crossfire...

A similar deal happened in 2004 in NHRA. Walt Austin started doing some development work on the Boss 429 for TAFC. The motor started showing a lot of promise, enough so that John Force and other racers got interested too. A redesign had been done so it could be bolted in place using Chrysler clutch cans, etc while still keeping the major 429 dimensions. The max legal bore spacing at the time was 4.9", same as the 429. NHRA got wind and made a rule change to take effect in '05 to reduce the max spacing in top alcohol and fuel to 4.84", basically banning the motor. NHRA was very closed-mouth about the change, stating it was done to 'reduce costs'... A number of racers appealed the decision to no avail.

 

I would agree that the 500 rule was what finally slammed the door shut on the matter of the cammer in Nascar ,but I still contend that Ford was fully prepared to build the cars necessary to qualify the cars to race prior to the 500 rule,and that was halted due to the OHC ban.I also agree that the continuing argument resulted in the 500 rule to make it defensible,also since there are multiple references in documents such as sales brochures and specifications tables as late as the 1966 MY it appears Ford was still considering what it would take to meet the new rules,and that it was finally decided at some point not to pursue it.I would also agree that it was never intended to be used to drive down to the local market to get groceries but the same could be said of lots of engines that were released in production cars,there are multiple examples of race engines being detuned or special instructions being included with the car in an attempt to minimize complaints.

 

Thanks Crazy Steve and Starlinerdude for adding some great information to this thread.....Don.

 

I have to disagree. Finding doodling in the paperwork was little more than wishful thinking on somebody's part IMO or crappy proofreading, and is still common.

No, I think the answer lies in what's been brought out so far. Additionally, don't forget that huge changes in the performance car market were occurring at the same time...

One, full-size cars as performance platforms were obsolete. Ford's full-size entrants in NHRA had a less than stellar record. While the SOHC may have fixed that, the focus was off the stock classes because of the FX class explosion.

Next, the first production big-motor-in-a-light-car had burst on the scene with the GTO, forever changing the breed. Ford recognized this, but didn't have any smaller cars that would easily accept the FE or SOHC. They had a stopgap with the Thunderbolt, but that cars existence just proves to me Ford wasn't serious about the cammer. If Ford had any intention of selling that motor to the public, here was their chance on the cheap. Given the butchery needed to squeeze the wedge in there, it wouldn't have been much of stretch to the cammer and Ford could have totally ruled the stock classes. But they stuck with the wedge, reserving the cammer for the FX classes and selected pro drivers.

Lastly, the Mustang. Exploding on the scene, if the big cars weren't already dead, the Mustang supplied the death blow. Ford couldn't build them fast enough, and that didn't help the cammer cause either. After all, racing (and winning) is to sell cars, and Ford had zero problems right then. Once Shelby got his hand on the Mustang fastback, it was all over; the Mustang was king at Ford. I think Ford figured that selling an expensive, full-size performance car was going to be an uphill battle and expensive for them to boot, so they let the cammer fade away.

 

Yeah they considered both sides,don't know if there was any performance difference but plug changes would be easier on the intake side.

 

Drew Austin (Pat Austins son) is having quite a bit of success with that banned by nhra block in his A /F dragster. He was last seasons champion.
Garrett Richards also uses one in the WDRL pro mod division in a newer Mustang. I think he was either last years or the year before series champion.

So the Boss lives on.