I need your thoughts and opinions - Page 3

Satanpez · #41 (**permalink**) 08-03-2003, 11:49 PM

Real 1:

You said there were no 427s with small blocks. What about the COB cars with the 427 body style and the 289 blocks? (Yes I know, none were shipped to the US)

They're not CSX...but just as authentic.

-steve in nj-

xlr8or · #42 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 12:03 AM

Where's the dilemma?? Put the SB aside and build a BB for your 427 car. When your done order a 289 car or daytona coupe and put the SB in it.

Turk · #43 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 12:39 AM

A 427 in a 427SC, a 289 in an 289 car.
Don't get any simpler than that.

I don't know what to do with them 351's. Maybe put them in a Mustang or something!!

casaleenie · #44 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 08:15 AM

Turk is correct...

You put a 427 in a 289 car and a 351 in a 427 car.. Don't get any simpler than that.....

Clois Harlan · #45 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 09:48 AM

I have had both and I felt just like you. The difference is I made the switch. Here is the deal we drive replicas'. I love my BB. It makes good power, has an awsome sound, and when the hood is up everything looks correct. Big F in deal. Probably none of us have an original. If we did we wouldn't want to drive it. I like to drive and race mine.

The point is you can have just as much fun in your SB as you can in a BB and when it breaks (and it will some day) parts are a lot more available and cheaper to buy. Your SB will run with anything on the road. Enjoy the ride. You have more horsepower than you will ever need on the street and you can probably out run many of the BB out there.

Bring your Cobra to Saint Louis in October for the Run and Gun and you will see how many Cobra 427 body's are running SB engines and tearing up the track. Get it on the street and don't worry about anything, after all you own a Cobra!

Clois

Ron61 · #46 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 10:16 AM

Turk,

You are almost correct. But Carrol Shelby did have a 351 put into one of his original Cobras a long time ago. I think it has since been removed and the 289 put back in.

Ron

rdorman · #47 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 11:38 AM

Didn't Carroll convert two cars to 351 Clevelands? Maybe he was saying something! He did want ford, he wanted chevy (sic). He didn't want aluminum, he wanted glass. If I was building a car with nothing else in mind but accuracy I would put a 427 in a 427 body. Even though Shelby put an assortment of engines in all the different body styles.

But wouldn't it be fun to replicate the first 427 engine car, that was in a 289 body

No one seems to mind that the first big block car was a small block body and chassis. With wire wheels!!! Scary but very cool. There where SO MANY combinations built by Shelby that no one can say one way is the only way.

Shelby put what he wanted in what ever he wanted. So can you!

I like BB's, I like SB's. All I need is a budget that will fit both! The BB would probably be my street car while the SB my track car. That just seems to fit me best!

My car is a 427 Roadster but has the lemans stripes and side pipes but no roll bar and an engine that shares as much in common with BB's as SB's! As I say, 'I am schizophrenic...... and so am I' (or in this case, so is my car!)

Rick

REAL 1 · #48 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 12:00 PM

Enough with effort to create a rumor that CS put 351's into a Cobra or Cobras at some later point in time. There is no truth to this as far as I know.

If so supply the CSX vin#s or the Registry information.

427s deserve a 427. End of storey.

rdorman · #49 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 12:07 PM

Lighten up a little will yah fellow!

The comment about the 351C is a question.

"427s deserve a 427. End of storey."

So Carroll slighted the 427 bodied cars with the 428 or 390? Or should the 289 bodied car get a bonus when it got a 427?

He!! Shelby is putting 351's in 427 bodies for the challenge series. Isn't that good enough? At least good enough to say 'to each their own'?

Peace out!

Rick

Pete Gibbs · #50 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 12:26 PM

I'm running a 465BB (465 CFM air conditioner-BB stands for Big A/C Blower) in a 302 powered FFR.Does this count?

Lowell W · #51 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 12:54 PM

Hmmm...Let's see...

If Carroll Shelby (or his agents) is/are putting 351's in some of the CSX 4000 replicas, does that mean they're not "real"? Can the same CSX 4000 car alternate between "real" and, what, "unreal" or "fake" from day to day, depending on whether it has a big block or a small block? Does it have to be a 427/428 to be "real"? How about a 390? Or a 352??? Well, heck, they're big blocks, too.

Come on: get real!

It's your car; build what YOU want.

If money's no object and you decide you want to replicate the originals as closely as possible, the decisions are pretty obvious. If you love Cobras (real and unreal) but don't have unlimited resources, you'll have to sacrifice something and it's up to you to decide where you'll have to cut corners. In any case, don't use that $9000 motor for a doorstop, as somebody will be glad to put it in his Cobra!

foothills gary · #52 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 06:08 PM

I'll refer back to page 70 of Brooklands Books"Shelby Cobra'Gold Portfolio" for a picture of Carroll's own Cobra with a Boss351 with Cleveland heads.For those who are interested in this excellent addition to their library,the reference# is ISBN 1 85520 0236.It is compiled by R.M.Clarke.

Excaliber · #53 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 07:04 PM

Shelby didn't want a Chevy,,,,,,he wanted an OLDSMOBILE.

HA, put THAT in your pipe and smoke it.

Who was that guy who said "You can't always get what you want?"

Ernie

Edley Rondinone · #54 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 08:30 PM

MOST people really dont care WHAT engine you have in your Cobra as you drive around town, on the freeway, etc etc. They will think you have a BEAUTIFUL car, one that most people would LOVE to have as their very own!! Right now, you have an engine that will work absolutely fine in YOUR Cobra; it will sound good, it will go like stink, you will be the center of attention wherever you go, you will get about 8 miles per gallon, and you will be loving every minute of it!! Use what you have now; you could always change it later, if you so prefer. But never, EVER, let someone make your decisions for you! The point of my rant is for you (and all of us!) to have as much fun with our cars as we possible can!! Good Luck!

rdorman · #55 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 09:28 PM

Oldsmobile! Cobra 442

Old stuff you know. What should I put in this and that. Carroll would put any thing you darn well would pay for in any 'real' Cobra. So, what is 'original' engine. Darned if I know. What I do know is that he and his bunch where the best of the best hot rodders. Nothing more or less. Guys that could take a pile of $hit and turn it to gold (not taking away from the AC).

You that say only a 427 side oiler in a 427 body and only a 289 in a 289 body are missing the point. The point that Carroll made 40 years ago and the one he is making now. As much as it pains me to say this to some folks that I like and respect............. wake up.

Peace out!

Rick

G.R. · #56 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 09:58 PM

BB or SB, no matter what you have in your replica or continuation, unless it is a CSX2000-3000 which you would probably rarely drive, why be accurate? It's still not an orginal 60's Shelby car and unless you absolutely just have to have that 427so to make YOU happy, go with what you have.

Just like the gunslingers in the Old West there will always be someone out there bigger, better and faster than you and one day they'll come gunnin' for you whether you're running the biggest, baddest $$$427so BB or $$$$SB---and to the average Joe on the street you have a Cobra

I agree with Rick--despite my respect for many of the individuals here-- Wake up and just enjoy what you have

rdorman · #57 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 10:03 PM

I lift my glass to you!

Rick

Pete C · #58 (**permalink**) 08-04-2003, 11:26 PM

The Shelby challenge cars run 351s and they are flat out rockets! If I were to build one as a track only car and I was on a limited budget, which would definitely be the case, I'd go for a built up 351. A lot cheaper to repair than the FEs and the initial outlay is pretty low. The final result however, is blistering fast!

Cheers, Pete C

Lowell W · #59 (**permalink**) 08-05-2003, 05:04 AM

There's always a line of people waiting to make you unhappy with your car. Ya gotta ignore them, make your own decisions and enjoy what you have. In May, I took a Rt. 66 trip to New Mexico. Somewhere in Oklahoma, I stopped to take the top down and a guy drove up and asked me about the car. Said his dad had had a bunch of sports cars in the '60's, yadda yadda yadda... Of course he had all kinds of suggestions regarding how I should have done this and that. He asked about the motor and I told him it was a Windsor stroker. He said, "Oh, no, you should have at least put in a Cleveland, etc., etc.," And what was he driving??? A DUMP TRUCK!

Don't let 'em get ya down.

STG · #60 (**permalink**) 08-05-2003, 06:37 AM

Despite the Real One's rambling,

A C Cars sold a 427 chassis with a 289. I believe it was called a 289 Sport.

No, they didn't have CSX numbers, but they did have COB numbers. I'll bet they are in the registry, too.

That's my storey (sic), and I'm sticking to it.