427 SOHC kits for $11,000!!!

[olddog]

There was one original SOHC at the Ford swap meet at the Columbus fair grounds. It sure did have a lot of people salivating over it.

If Dove wants to sell these, why wouldn't he have some parts and an assembled (wouldn't have to have any guts) engine on display. I would think he could sell a few at a place like that. If he was there, I sure missed him. Think I did see him there years ago.

[ogasman]

I finally made it up Dove's factory to take some new pictures last week. I added them to my photo gallery. I am not quite sure how to get them from there to this post. Any help in moving the pictures would be appreciated. The price for the kits is $12,250 plus shipping. The kits include:

1. A pair of cylinder heads, with caps. Made of 356 aluminum from the original tooling. The castings are thicker in the decks and chambers (internal modifications). The guides and seats are installed.
2. Intake manifold with removable top, a dual quad top comes in the kit.
3. Valve covers
4. A set of cam bearings for the heads
5. Front timing cover, includes covers for the cam windows
6. A full gear set for the long chain, including the long chain
7. The fuel pump stand, and long chain tensioner with bearing
8. The short chain (primary) timing set
9. A set of spark plug tubes
10. A set of aluminum rocker arms
11. The rocker shafts and spacers
12. Cammer specific water pump
13. Steel backing plate for timing cover
14. Stub cam
15. Spacer to run wedge pullies on the cammer
16. Small parts like the cam star locks, cam pins

Most of the cast parts are made from the original Ford tooling, you can't see any difference from the originals parts from the outside. They even have the Ford part numbers. They have been modified internally, like changing the water jackets on the heads, for increased strength. Dove is also using better materials, like 356 aluminum, than the originals. This stuff just wasn't available in the 1960's. The original cammers had a problem with the connection between the short and long timing sets, not chain stretch. The gears would slip realtive to each other(they relied on a press fit on the stub cam), and the motor would go BOOM. The kit includes a modified gear set that uses a mechanical drive dog between the gears, also still have the press fit on the gears. No more slipped gears!
There are a few options for the kit. The top for the intake is removable, and a blower adaptor is available. An aluminum block is also available for $3000, with the kit. It is based on the Ford XE Can Am casting. Anyone interested, please email me.

Thanks
Paul

[Rick Parker]

Does the fact that Crane has closed impact cam grinding or their choices?

[Ron61]

Ogasman,

Normally when you click the reply button just under the smileys on the right side is a small box with My Photos and under it a line that says Insert. But for some reason it is not showing up in this Forum, however I get it in all of the other Forums. Anyway you would normally click that and it would pop up a page of your pictures and you just click on the ones that you want in the post. I clicked on your Camera icon and just got a picture of the heads to put in this post. To do it that way, you go to your gallery, click on the picture that you want in the post, and when it expands under it is a URL line with the IMG tags. Just copy that and then when you are ready to put it in your post paste it into the post.



Ron

[superfleet]

Guys, I bought one of those kits. I hate to say it, but the thing is a junk. The heads leak, timing cover is not flat. The machine work overall is horrible, water passages in the block are shifted off to one side so they will not line up with the holes in the head gasket. The spark plug tubes are aluminum. Not copper. The timing cover backplate is welded together and looks like a caveman made it. The carb adapter plate is machined off to one side and now it will not line up correctly. The valve covers are machined down to the point that the lettering is almost flat. Not to mention the phony rocker arms and chain tensioner. That is just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. The quality is very bad. The customer service? What customer service. They would be more than willing to send you new parts for the junk, but how long and how many times before you get something that might work.
If any of you guys are thinking about buying one you should think about buying parts from Bill Coon. I wish I would have! His parts are light years ahead of Doves stuff as far as quality and craftsmanship go. Better quality at a way better price. His stuff comes with a money back guaranty also. Try that with Dove.

[Great Asp]

Originally Posted by superfleet

Guys, I bought one of those kits. I hate to say it, but the thing is a junk. The heads leak, timing cover is not flat. The machine work overall is horrible, water passages in the block are shifted off to one side so they will not line up with the holes in the head gasket. The spark plug tubes are aluminum. Not copper. The timing cover backplate is welded together and looks like a caveman made it. The carb adapter plate is machined off to one side and now it will not line up correctly. The valve covers are machined down to the point that the lettering is almost flat. Not to mention the phony rocker arms and chain tensioner. That is just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head. The quality is very bad. The customer service? What customer service. They would be more than willing to send you new parts for the junk, but how long and how many times before you get something that might work.
If any of you guys are thinking about buying one you should think about buying parts from Bill Coon. I wish I would have! His parts are light years ahead of Doves stuff as far as quality and craftsmanship go. Better quality at a way better price. His stuff comes with a money back guaranty also. Try that with Dove.

Super,

Please list when you bought your kit, from who, how much, and who is (or has) built your motor.

You might list your engine building experience, and why you bought a SOHC motor (What were you putting the motor in?)

Please note that this was your first post. Your profile only has limited information.

Eric

[Woodz428]

Originally Posted by Great Asp

Super,

Please list when you bought your kit, from who, how much, and who is (or has) built your motor.

You might list your engine building experience, and why you bought a SOHC motor (What were you putting the motor in?)

Please note that this was your first post. Your profile only has limited information.

Eric

I would have to give that a BIG second. Especially in light of promoting another product at the same time.

[superfleet]

Great Asp,

I put money down in 12/07. I received my kit on 8/28/08. I bought the kit from Paul. I put out 14,500 for the kit and the block. I run my own heavy truck repair and have been the business for 25 years. I have built my share of gas and diesel engines over the years. That means I'm not stupid when it comes to this stuff. The stuff I got I would never sale to a customer. You will have to forgive me if I sound like I'm being smart, but I'm getting very pissed just thinking about this whole mess. Yes, you can make anything work if you throw enough money at it, but I paid way to much money for this stuff to have spend a ton more. One head has two guides and the roof of two exhaust ports leaking. The other head has two guides leaking. I have not checked to see if the cams will turn in the cam bores. If I send them back and get two more I could get the same thing back. From what I have heard of his track record that could take months or longer. I had my machine shop check the front cover on a flat table and the told me they do not have enough feeler gauges to tell me how warped it is. Dove told me to tighten it down it will flatten out. W.T.F? I will build my own engine. I can get the information on how to build it to live from Bill Coon, Jim Green, Jay Brown. Just to name a few. It is not rocket science. Jay Brown posts a lot of information on the Fe forum. as a matter of fact Jay had on of the heads leak. Do a search on the Fe forum.
All I can say is that I got suckered. I had no Idea that somebody could send out such garbage and then tell me I'm the one that is nuts. After I bought this thing and have been talking to people. I have found that there are a lot of leaking and miss machined parts of doves laying around out there. At least he is consistent.
As far as promoting another product. I'm not. I'm telling you what I have seen with my own eyes.I paid good money for this stuff and now I'm stuck with it. If you have that kind of money to throw around with out looking at all the alternatives then be my guest.

Superfleet

[Great Asp]

Super,

Thanks for writing back, and I am glad that you posted more information.

Please appreciate that people use these forums to gather information about manufacturers and products to decide if they are interested, or feel good about spending their money. I sure you do, or you would not have posted in the first place.

While everyone will agree that posting useful information (whether good or bad) is a good thing since it helps people make decisions, you will have to then appreciate the value of this information when some posts it (good or bad) on their first post.

No one wants to "experiment" with their money, and everyone wants to look at the alternatives before buying so they make the right decision for them.

I don't know anyone at Dove and don't really care what their products do. This is a matter of protocol, and if you were posting your issues as part of a build thread, or if you had at least 50 posts before slamming "any" manufacturer it would be a lot better.

I am really sorry you have had problems, and buddy I've been there (you get a sick feeling right?). Nobody likes it.

It would be great if you could hang around here on Club Cobra, and let other folks here get to know you, your build, and how you overcome the problems with this motor. I'm a business owner also, and we both overcome problems all the time

Eric

PS Got any pics?

[olddog]

I think you should give Dove one chance to make it right with you (the heads).

I understand your frustration.

I have heard several things over the years that may or may not be true. From what I have heard the man himself tries to be fair, but he has had problems keeping skilled help. Just does not have a steady enough volume to keep the skills. If your parts were some of the first out of the current batch, it might make sense that the latter parts are much better, as they get into the grove of doing it right. Hope this helps you out.

[ogasman]

There have been 15 plus kits delivered to date, I have one unhappy customer, Devin. He does have a connection with Bill Coon, don't know how deep. West coast dealer maybe? He had a listing for multiple front cover backing plates he was selling for him on Craig's list.

It was a day or two after Devin recieved his kit that he spoke with me about multiple things he did not like about it, most were cosmetic. From rust staining on the iron parts, to rough cast surfaces. He said there were dings on the block, the spot facing of the bolt holes on the intake was rough, and the relief of the lettering on the valve covers did not match. I told him to go through the kit carefully, and have the heads pressure checked. Dove's policy is to replace or repair defective parts after they inspect them. IT IS A LIFETIME WARRANTY. These kits are all custom ordered parts. Devin has been a moving target since that time. He told me he had 3 leaks in the heads, and the front cover was out of flat about 1/4 inch. Now there are six leaks in the heads, and the front cover is so far out it cannot be measured?

I spoke with Jim Dove about it, he said to have him box up the parts he did not like and send them back and they would be exchanged. Devin was not sure what to do. We finally agreed that I would hand pick the parts out for him, so I could get him what he was looking for. Then he did not want to pay for the shipping, so Jim worked it out to have a friend pick up the parts in Washington state, so there would be no shipping charges. Then Devin decided he did not want the block at all. It is an option, and not included in the kits as originally planned. I had told Devin there were going to be some changes to the block to make it more cammer specific. This was very early in the planning stages of the kits. These changes were in the original plan when we were trying for a run of a hundred kits, they did not make it into final production. I told Devin I would refund the money for the block out of my pocket. My mistake, I would make it right.

Then, all of this was not good enough. To quote him "I want my f#@!ing money back". I told him I could not do that, and that he needed to talk directly to Jim Dove. They spoke a few times, and could not work it out. I finally pulled the plug on Devin after multiple threats of a law suit, and the profanity got too bad to take.

Devin got the third kit produced. There have been some changes to the kits as a result of his complaints. Most of them have been to improve the cosmetics. Most of the iron parts are black oxide coated now. The valve covers are hand picked and compared before they are put in the box. There are a few molds for them, with subtle differences. The front timing covers are from a different alloy now. The intake adaptor is machined a little differently to improve the cosmetics, etc. The kits now have a lot of bling, and look really good.

Jay Brown got the first kit produced. He did have a pin hole leak in one head. I told him to send it back, and it would be replaced. He said it was an easy fix, and not worth sending it back. I have heard nothing but compliments from all the other people that have recieved their kits.

The parts have a life time warranty on them. Try to find that with any other custom ordered performance engine part. The offer still holds. If he returns the parts he does not like I will hand pick out parts for him, so he gets what he wants.

Devin has posted on multiple sites, trying to smear Dove. This is just one more incident.


Paul

[superfleet]

Paul, looks like I'm not making things up. I'm not smearing a name. He is doing it to himself.www.network54.com/Forum/74182/message/1236747742/Dove+SOHC+kit+SOHC+rocker+update

[601HP]

FWIW:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/74182...+rocker+update

[ng8264723]

I wanted a kit as well. It would of been a serious stretch for me. It would be great in my Kirkham. However his stuff is junk junk junk!!! This has been shown again and again by Jay Brown. He is a reliable source and a wealth of info about FE's. He has plenty of cash no reason to lie and I think owns three SOHC's as well as a shelby and a new GT-40. He has his own dyno at his house and tests and runs these motors all the time. He has had early Dove stuff that was junk and the new stuff that was also junk. Dove has made junk intakes junk heads and now more junk SOHC stuff. Bill Coon's stuff is superior in everyway. When there is a DOVE engine that actually runs it will probably be Jay's but after dumping a ton of cash into it

[joyridin']

It was funny in the post that somebody mentioned maybe his CNC machine was junk. It probably is. He uses garbage and the cheapest crap on the planet to machine his heads. When you buy junk, you get junk. Dove buys junk tooling to machine his parts and he probably gets junk parts. Our distributor tried to sell him quality tooling (because he was having a tooling issue!) but Dove insisted that the out-of-tolerance Chinese crap works just fine on his $11,000 heads.

[ng8264723]

As I said the stuff is junk!!!!!!!!!!! If you spend $11,000 on a kit it ought to work out. Jay is extremely reliable and has had nothing but trouble. I would like to see the people with the successes write about them here. I'm so glad I didn't buy his junk!!!!!!!!! It would be a disservice to my beuatiful kirkham

[Great Asp]

Did you guys say "junk"?



1. Discarded material, such as glass, rags, paper, or metal, some of which may be reused in some form.
a. Articles that are worn-out or fit to be discarded:
b. Cheap or shoddy material.
c. Something meaningless, fatuous, or unbelievable: nothing but junk in the annual report.
3. Slang Heroin.
4. Hard salt beef for consumption on board a ship.
tr.v. junked, junk·ing, junks
To discard as useless or sell to be reused as parts; scrap.

A Chinese flatbottom ship with a high poop and battened sails.

ng8264723 "I'm so glad I didn't buy his junk!!!!!!!!!"

So you didn't buy it, and it's junk.....right?

Look, I'm not saying the product is good or bad.

But these posts are really odd.

E

[SoTxButler]

Have watched and read every word of this thread. "ODD" is very descriptive...but I am not sure it is descriptive enough of how "VERY ODD" these "JUNK" posts are!!!!

[Great Asp]

Originally Posted by SoTxButler

Have watched and read every word of this thread. "ODD" is very descriptive...but I am not sure it is descriptive enough of how "VERY ODD" these "JUNK" posts are!!!!

I'm not casting doubt or praise on anyone's experience with this kit.

Anyone have a SOHC build with these components? Let's see it!

Let the Chinese sail the "Junks".

E

[joyridin']

What is so "ODD" about them? He does use "junk" Chinese made tooling to machine his expensive parts. Nothing "odd" about it. Go to his shop and see for yourself. If you are going to dump $11k, he shouldn't have a problem showing you around right?