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Original Message
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| RE: 428CJ vs. 429SCJ |
| By McQ - 12/26/2002 11:07:01 PM; IP 65.176.104.199 |
Read a few of the posts over there on Net 54. Found it sort of ... well not too factual just puffin' smoke. Thought about contributing my story but Net 54 is just too annoying to me. Not the people just the continual pop ups, procedures, etc.
So just for the heck of it here's the personal experience I had with two Ford Cobras.
The first one, a '69 Fairlane Cobra Formal roof(coupe). I was working as a general lot-lizzard, go-fer, parts runner, literally "etc." at a small Central Washington Ford dealership during the spring/summer/fall of 1969. It was a dream job for sure. The dealership owner's son and I talked his pop into allowing us to order a Fairlane Cobra. The idea being we could have some summer fun racing in what was known as Pure Stock. We checked the appropriate boxes and the Cobra came this way:
R-code Drag Pack with C-6 and 3.91s. Black on black. Column shift control with un ordered comfort weave buckets! We were going as cheap as possible. The taxi upholstered bench would have been fine. We never knew why the buckets. We placed the order in early June and it may have been one of the last '69 Cobras built.
Only mod to this Cobra was removal of the thermactor air pump system; correctly plugging the air holes. And a set of Cragar SS's with the original G'year Polyglas GTs. I think they were G70X14". Maybe F70? I know they were 14".
Results:
A best ET of 13.72/102mph at Deer Park Drag Strip North of Spokane, WA. We took first place trophy every time out that summer except once which was my fault due to red lighting. I think this was in C Pure Stock. The class was always packed with cars. People just driving to the strip and running as well as they could. Heads up drag racing with pure stock Roadrunners, Malibus, 'Stangs, Super Bees, 442's, GTOs.
Danny Muggli and I did change plugs upon arriving at the strip. He'd take one side and I the other. We'd replace the BF32s with BF22s. I doubt that it really made much if any difference. But that was the height of our speed tuning knowledge at that time.
The Head Parts man, er, the only Parts Man, was so impressed with the Cobra he wanted one for he and his wife. But too late to get a '69 so he ordered a '70 Torino Cobra as soon as available. He went right down the list like Danny and I. He ordered the R-Code 429 Drag Pack, C-6, 3.91s. Like the 428CJ, the drag package made the engines Super CJs. Bud's '70 Cobra was beautiful in Calypso Coral, black interior, shaker of course, and 15" Magnums with F60 Polyglas tires. It also had a column shift control and he did get the bench seat. Also had the cool factory tach optional in '70. It was a mean sounding thing with the solid lifter cam.
Results:
A best of 14.00/99mph in total Pure Stock form. Same Drag Strip. I drove it too for its first voyage out. Bud wasn't confident on his driving skills. It sure took a lot of skill....Leave it in drive or manually shift the hard shifting C-6, stab & steer. After that first time out, Bud took over and did as well.
Bud did eventually go with the hydraulic CJ cam(which was the trick back in the early '70s since the SCJ solid cam was out performed by the CJ hydraulic shaft). A set of Firestone Drag 500s and headers. It got him all the way down to the low thirteens. Not too bad and it was a daily driver.
So there's my real world experience with two Cobras. Please don't think I'm knocking the mighty 385/Lima big block. It just didn't get the proper full development by Ford that the FE got. Time ran out. By early '72 the 351 Cleveland Cobra Jet was the hot one. I actually personally owned one of those....whoa what a dog. |
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