[A Snake]

Ok I looked at the pics. The car is a nice typical Contemporary...just like mine. Before I forget, I suggest that you DON'T blend in the hood scoop if you want the car to bear it's current resemblence to an original. Also, just so you know, the original street versions had 428 enginesw/dual 4's. Some owners didn't like it and either made Shelby change them to a 427 or did it themselves. Who knows how many survive today with original 428's in them. The dual 4 setup also had very thin Stellings and Hellings air cleaners and the dual 4 manifold is enough lower to make the set up fit under the hood without a scoop. If you want a good clear picture of how an original 427 set up looks in a Contemporary, check my gallery. The manifold is the correct "Sidewinder" and even has Shelby cast into it. Back in the '60's, the Shelby team did some tweaks to make the manifold flow better at WOT and and high RPM than the original Ford version. The engine and it's "accessories" are exact to original as can be seen in the B/W engine pics.

You might want to make note of the shape of the front bumper hoop on my car. I opted NOt to use Contemporary's part because 1. it was stainless steel not chrome and 2. it wasn't shaped like an original.

Granted, an original S/C has quick jacks, but what the heck....I didn't care for the look so mine is half street and half S/C. Street cars don't have side pipes and roll bars either. Funny thing though, I've been asked for the serial number by people who purportedly know Cobras. Go figure.

As to the performance of the "non-competition" dual plane manifolds mentioned in this thread, there is only so much that can be done or for that matter, needs to be done. Clean up the ports and match them to the heads and let it go. I would defy the average person to notice the difference at full throttle let alone just driving around. This comes from one with 40 years experience with FE Fords. Bench racing is great fun and inexpensive though! The average car buff who looks under your hood has no idea what he is looking at with these old Fords.

Remember this if nothing else. You have a 2350# car with at least 400 HP and a very short wheelbase. Push your luck in it and someone who loves you will be getting a very sad phone call. The engine you see in my car Dyno'd out to 482HP @ 6100RPM and I got several good scares before I finally woke up and realized that I was really tempting fate when I pushed it. Just concentrate on going places, having fun and enjoying having people admire your car......you'll live a lot longer. Ignore Shelby's words below.

Al

"If some is good, more is better. And too much is just enough." --Carroll Shelby