I just saw a truck for sale - a project truck that is in pieces - the guy wants $700 for it. The emblem on the cab and bed says 428 Cobra Jet. I didn't know Ford made the F150 with a Cobra Jet. I tried to do a google search and found very little info on the trucks with this engine. As far as I can tell, they were in the ford muscle cars from 68-70.

 

Check the block and heads. S lot of real, and very rare muscle car engines were "swapped"into trucks back in the 70s and 80s, because there weren't any factory muscle engines ( big cam, good heads, intake etc) from the factory. Getting hard to find these engines anymore. if that is a real, honest to god 428 cobra jet or super cobra jet, buy the project from him and run away like hell. Then eBay that cobra jet for about 5 times what you paid for it. Trust me, there is someone restoring a cougar or mustang who desperately wants that cobra jet right this moment

 

I bet the motor and emblems were swapped on and into the truck. As far as I know NO 428 CJ or SCJ was put in a truck from the factory.

 

As far as the block, he had it covered with a tarp. I'll check tomorrow, but those are not 'emblems' I saw on the cab and bed. They were painted on and it looked like it came from the factory or someone did a fine job of painting it on. I'll post some pics of it tomorrow. I may just buy it. It's worth that much without the motor. I'm trying to think of where to store it since I live in an apartment and the garage I rent already has a F150 project truck in it.

 

No 73-79 truck came factory with a 428 CJ. Unless some rich guy special ordered it thru the dealership. Always could be that ONE out there?

They did not paint emblems on the assembly line, they installed metal ones.

 

I'm trying to get my buddy at the location to get the id numbers off the block. There's supposed to be a metal tag under the coil.
https://www.428cobrajet.org/id-engine-codes

If its a fake, they did a pretty good job.

 

There were NO 428s, Cobra Jet or otherwise, factory installed in trucks.
If it truly is a 428, it was, at best, dealer installed. And the chances of it being a true Cobra Jet are minimal.
Best way to tell what you've got is to measure the bore and stroke (4.130" X 3.98"). You can also pull the pan and check the crank casting numbers:
C6ME, A, B, 1, 1UA, 1UB.
Also, 410 and 428s are external balance engines, so they'll have a balance weight on the flywheel. If you're lucky and fortunate enough to have a Super Cobra Jet, it will also have an additional balance weight behind the harmonic balancer on the front of the engine.
Another point, an F150 has to be at least a 1975 model. Last 428s installed in cars I believe was 1970.

 

It may not be a CJ but it could be a P/I (Police Interceptor) those were fairly common back in the day and were often mistaken for or even just flat out called CJ's as the uneducated would not know the difference. . More than one former police car lost it's P/I engine after disposal for transplant in to something else.

 

Subscribed out of pure curiosity. I know of at least two real 428CJ's "transplanted" into '69 F250's by my dad and his buddy, so yes, it did happen.

Be aware, there were plenty of 428 passenger car engines that people try to pass off as CJ engines to the uneducated. These came in Galaxies, LTDs and the like. NOT the same.

Is the engine in pieces? As others have said, check the bore and stroke if you can to verify if it is a 428 at the least.

If you can get the pan off, there should be heavier main webbing on a CJ block over a passenger block. Familiarize yourself with this and take a printed picture for reference.

You already found 428cobrajet.org, which will be your friend.

CJ heads have a 16 bolt pattern for the exhaust ports while many of the lesser heads have only an 8 bolt pattern (some others have 16 as well, but is a quick check that can be done externally).

Remember that just as easy as it was to swap a 428CJ into one of these trucks, it was just as easy to pull it back out and slap a 360 back in to sell. Good luck but buyer beware!

 

Recently looked at a boss 302 mustang coupe Ford never made a boss 302 coupe. But sure enough, it was all there, and looked factory. Cleveland heads, 4 speed, detroit locker, etc. Talking to the seller, his buddy piled up his 70 fastback boss sometime around 78 or 79, so they transplanted everything from the boss car to his coupe and went out racing. ....these cars were plentiful back then, and you could score an entire drivetrain for 3 or 400 dollars and swing it into your car, 100 pct complete and it looked factory and was correct all the way down to the date coded carb, radiator fuel lines etc. The same happened with our trucks. Best an f series owner could get was a snogged out 360, but there was a wrecked cougar or mustang at the boneyard with a 428cj. Drag the whole car home and swap in an additional 100 horsepower using all Ford parts and it appeared factory.

 

428's were only installed in 1966/67 Thunderbird, 1966/70 Ford/Mercury Passenger Cars.

428 CJ & S/CJ's were only installed in 1968/69 Fairlane/Torino/Comet, 1968/70 Mustang/Cougar.

Since the engine was out of production after 1970, only "The Deuce" or Lee Iacocca or other "big wig" FoMoCo executives could have had a 428 factory installed.

If this was the case, there would be no VIN engine code, the DSO code would contain 6 numbers denoting a Domestic Special Order.

But, who really knows what FoMoCo did? A pal of mine has a 1971 LTD Convertible with a 429 4V and 3 speed on the tree manual tranny.

The 3 speed was not offered with the 429, but this car has it.

The car was assembled in the Louisville plant for a FoMoCo executive's wife who could not drive an A/T or shift a 4 speed.

No FoMoCo vehicle of any year had emblems or nameplates painted on.

 

Sorry if I jerked anyone's chain but I think it might be a 360. I could see in better light that the emblems were just decal stickers.

 

I looked it up and its a 361. When I drained the oil pan, half of it was full of water.

 

This FE engine (it's not a 1958 361 FE Edsel or 1964/78 361 truck FT) is a Frankenstein Monster. The D2TE-AA heads were introduced in 1972 F100/350 360/390, have hardened valve seats.

The C1AE-9425-B intake manifold is from a 1961 Ford 352/390 or Mercury 390 Passenger Car.

0F28 = The intake manifold was cast June (F) 28, 1960 (0).

1958/64 FE engines were only installed in cars. Have rounded valve covers without holes for smog valve/oil cap. Have an oil filler tube on the right front side.

Since these engines were only installed thru 1964, the bolt pattern on the block for the rubber insulators is different than what was used on 1965/71 cars & 1965/76 F100/350's.

This could be the original 360 or 390 engine that someone installed the 1961 intake manifold on.

 

That's a pretty high-performance looking Krylon rebuild on it at least!

Looks like someone got creative and copied the font from a Mustang / Fairlane Cobra ram air scoop for their decals. Oh well, worth a look.