Hurry up Bordaine! That sounds much better than any AMC.

 

But the AMC's are SO MUCH FUN, nobody knows what they are.
Q- Is that a Mustang?
A- NO its an AMX made by AMC.
Q- Who's that?
It is fun, even with people who know about AMC an insist that the engines where made by Ford (ie. the 360 and the 390). You never know how far away the Cobra project is. Almost bought a rolling chassie on Ebay. Just because I always wanted an AC
Steve

 

Stopped at the store to get a cuppa joe this morning, looked across the street, and there was one on the lift at a......ready for this?.......JiffyLube.

 

If I had my way I'd be going with a Roush 427. Nice engine, Check it out:
http://www.roushparts.com/pdf/427R.pdf

 

Due to having a Book on Shelby and unless the author left something out Shelby never put a 428 in the roaderst the original was a 260 then the next yr came the 289 and after that they shoehorned the 427 in there. I believe 68 was the last yr for the cobra. But he did have left over frames and now the csx 4000 cobra's are a continuation that he now builds. Now the cobra mustangs got 428's the latter part of 67 thru 70 but a very few GT 500's got 427's by mistake in later 67. Those are very rare. So for your Cobra put in whatever you think will suit your needs.

 

When you get your book, do a quick scan , under history and you will find that although the Ford small block V8 and the 427 big block, side oiler, of NASCAR and LeMans fame were the two engines, we think of, when we think AC Cobra engines, there was the 428.

The 428 was used, in place of the 427 in some cars. Also a good engine, just not quite as powerful as the 427 side oiler, but cheaper and easier to access. The 428 looked very close to a 427, to most people.

My reference is p. 125 of Shelby Cobra, Gold Portfolio, put out by the English, Brooklands Pub., Co.
Les

 

I would go with a 427 small block with AFR 185 heads and a 6-speed trans. The factory Five kits are dasigned for thew drivetrain from a 86 - 04 drivetrain.

 

my friend built a cobra kit car about 5 years ago,his car has a fe 428cj a 5 speed and 9 inch diff.it is very fast!!! where ever we stop, a crowd gathers around the car.the first thing asked is always the same,"is that a real cobra?".the next question asked is,"what kind of engine does it have?" the 428cj always impresses people.

 

When I read the previous post about none of them having 428 engines I had remember reading somewhere that SOME of them did have 428 engines, I just didn't remember where I had read it so I wasn't going to argue about it.

I do remember reading many years ago that some 428 were used because the 427 was in high demand or that the production was extremely low or maybe both. At the time I bet the owner would claim that it was a 427 though because 428 weren't thought of quite so highly. Now it might be worth as much or more because of the rarity......

 

Be about the same as taking your Powerstroke to Walmart for a oil change! Sad indeed!

 

while i dont have my oil changed at walmart, at least the oil is getting changed. i believe there are alot of people in the masses that dont even bother with routine maintenance. at least it is an option for some people.

 

Don't get me wrong, walmart is fine for the soccermom and her mini-van, or the person that don't know where to locate the muffler bearings (). But a specialized vehicle that kneeds a little more attention to certain operating systems needs a tech that understands these needs. Thats all i was poking at.

 

I vote FE 390. They're a dime a dozen, and can very easily (and cost effectively) be built to 400hp, and be very streetable. I have one in my truck! A fully dressed FE weighs in at 625lbs. Replace the heavy iron intake with an aluminum one and you can take 60lbs off that. The casual passer by wont be able to tell the difference between that and a 427. Looks good, performs good, is cheap to build, bulletproof, looks right in an AC Cobra... there ya go!

 

My only concern about a 390, would be the amount (and the expense) of perf. parts availability.

Expense because the 390 was never used as a perf. engine as say, the small block ford V8, and therefore parts may be harder to find, tha range of parts maybe less, and the cost may be more, because the less you make of anything, usually, the more it costs. Same amount of research, engineering , etc., going in, but less numbers to sell, and harder for the mfctr. to recoup the investment back, so he has to bump up the price.

I still, feel, that the 289 or 427 SO/428FE would be the best match. Mostly because this is what tradionally came in these cars, when orig. made.

But the choice is up to the guy, whose car it is, and whose money is going to be spent.

It will be a beautiful car, no matter what.

Also consider side pipes. Nothing like a Cobra with side pipes, unless, of course it it a 63-67 Corvette, with side pipes.

 

search summit, you'll think different afterwards.