Which engine is more valuable 427 or 428CJ?

[cobranc]

I recently purchased a 65 cobra replica with what I thought was a 427. After educating myself(does not have cross bolted mains bearing caps) I had some doubts so I pulled the oil pan. The crankshaft has a casting number of 1U and the block has reinforced main bearing webbing. This leads me to believe the engine is a 428CJ. I bore scoped the top of the pistons and have found that they are .030 over pistons.
Other info on engine: date code on engine is oct 15, 1968. No engne Casting number, push in freeze plugs, aftermarket cam(no idea of specs but sounds nice), forged pistons. That is all I know so far.

My question is: which engine is more valuable 427 or 428CJ?

Thanks for the help.

[RICK LAKE]

cobranc Both motors are worth something. Even more if a restoration is being done. 427 blocks are thin wall. In the old days you got pistons to go .002"-.005"-.010" over size to get max life out of a block.It sounds like a boat motor block you have. The 428 block with thicker webbing and correct parts would be worth more. Finding the person doing a restoration and wanting to spend the money is the problem.
The car you got, was the owner telling you it has a 427? Did you ask if it's a Sideoiler? You could also have a 390 block with heavy webbing.
No sure where you are going with this. If you have the motor in the car, enjoy it. Rick L.

[undy]

427, period.

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by undy

427, period.

Well this ^ "may" be true...

But...

Originally Posted by RICK LAKE

No sure where you are going with this. If you have the motor in the car, enjoy it. Rick L.

...this ^ is most certainly true!

Enjoy

[66gtk]

I can see why you would want to investigate this. If you paid an extra "premium" for a car with an advertised 427 FE you should be aware if you didn't get what you paid for. It will also help you to know in the event you decided to sell your car in the future so that you advertise it correctly.

If the car works well and meets your performance expectations by all means enjoy driving it. I've had the opportunity to have 2 similarly equipped ERA Cobras recently. One was a 427 side oiler with dual carbs and the other is a 390 single carb setup. Both are equally enjoyable to drive on the street. Proper building practicies, head, intake, carb selection and TUNING go a LONG way to making either enjoyable so I would place more emphasis on these details for a personal driver than how the factory short block started. Unfortunately, resale value seems to think otherwise these days?

[601HP]

My question is: which engine is more valuable 427 or 428CJ?

The 427.

[Jerry Clayton]

welllllllllllllll---how many sleeves did you say it had???????? Did you want to run hydraulic rollers???????hydraulic flat tappets?????????

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Dimis

Well this ^ "may" be true...

Sideoiler or center oiler 427? Is either a service replacement?

If both engines have been overbored beyond their tolerances and/or cracked, I'd say they're worth ABOUT the same. About zero. To me anyway.

If one is standard bore and otherwise in beautiful shape, then that engine. If both are NOS, then the 427 sideoiler, if we're assuming a sideoiler.

Too many variables.

[601HP]

Here's another approach to your question regarding worth, value, investment...

Contact any of the experienced FE engine builders. Ask the cost of building a 428 and a 427. Each engine would be considered a street engine with hp in the vicinity of 450-460. Similar heads, valve train configuration, intake.

If you find a builder for the 427 whose sale price isn't $3k to $5k costlier than the 428, I'll be a bit surprised.

David

[Jerry Clayton]

supply and demand, what the market will bear,what the customer can afford------

If you are looking at resale valve down the road your in the wrong neighborhood

[Tim Brewer]

Just because it doesn't have cross bolted main bearing caps doesn't mean it's not a 427. It's not that easy to tell the difference between a 360, 390, 427 center oiler or a 428.

[Bernica]

One old trick is to pull a certain freeze plug and look at the casting on the outside of the cylinder for a "428" cast in.

Everything else that folks have already said is right on.

Rare? Desirable? Collectible? Each has value.

Between a 428 and the 427, IMHO, I guess two high value base lines could be:

1) An original unmolested, standard bore 428CJ meeting all expected specs for a Mustang or Shelby like a GT500. That would include matching numbers block, crank, heads, manifold, carbs etc.

2) A 427 s/o in same condition

Adjust down accordingly from there.

If I had those two in front of me, I would give the 427 my personal choice. Unless, of course, I was restoring a car or THE car that the 428 came from.

Too many variables in play for someone to be able to provide a question to give a simple answer!

[olddog]

As said earlier there were 427 center oilers and side oilers. The 427 side oiler was the best performance engine that ford sold. It was also the highest cost. It is also the most sought after today.

Shelby dropped 428 engines in the Street version of the Cobra, because it was cheaper. Rumor has it there was legal action taken against him and he stopped doing it.

So a straight answer to your question. The 427 is worth more, especially true if it is a side oiler.

You may have a 427 center oiler.

[olddog]

Double post delete or ignore

[DanEC]

For what it's worth, more 427 block equipped Cobras had center oilers originally, than side oilers. I believe most of the originally equipped 427 side oilers were in SC, Competition and maybe a few late street cars. A center oiler would be more "correct" for most of them - if anyone was striving for originality.

I wonder if Cobra motors had any stampings on them that tied them to a particular car - I don't remember reading of any? My impression is that the Shelby crowd doesn't get as excited about original equipped motors as the Corvette guys do.

[cobranc]

Thanks to all for your input. I am relatively confident that it is an 428 block, as the cylinders measure 4.160" plus or minus a few thousandths. That would be either a 406 or 428 block bored .030 over. I plan on doing some more investigation to find out for sure.
The reason I ask the question is that I purchased the car from one of the big collector car auctions and the car was announced as a 427. Since this is the main reason I purchased the car, and paid what I did for it, I wanted to know the difference in price of the two motors. If they are the same value, then I do not have an issue. IF they were different, I wanted to make an issue of it. I have spoken to the auction house and they are willing to work with me IF the car does not have a 427. Since the cylinder bore is much less (in cylinder terms) than the 427, it cannot be a 427 block.
I am also planning to change the tranny from a Jasper C6 to a TKO600/T56 and wanted to make sure the cars value was worth making the swap. I also know that you never get out of these cars what you put into them, but I didnt want to put lipstick on a pig either.

[MOTORHEAD]

The engine by itself doesn't determine the value of the car. What make is the replica ?

Ted

[cobranc]

Don't know. Certainly not one of the big ones today. It was built back in the late '80's, titled in 1990. I have tried to figure it out. I will try to post some pics.
I know the engine doesnt determine the entire value of the car, but it does affect the overall value.

[joyridin']

You know, if I saw two identical Cobras side by side and one had a 427 SO and the other a 428 and both engines were good, I would probably easily pay 5k more for the 427 SO.

I know I could tell 90% of the population that the 428 was a 427 and they would never know, but just the bragging rights to having a 427 would be worth the money.

Now, that being said, I would probably pay 5k LESS for an automatic regardless of what engine it had.

[Bill D]

Original cars came with both a 427 and a 428