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General Information Post.

All the production Ford Motor Company U.S.A Ford Fairlane 221, 260, and 289 c.i.d. V8 engines made before about the late 1966 model year were manufactured in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. and not in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Specifically, all High Performance 260/289 assembly line engines 1962-67 were manufactured in Ford Motor Company's manufacturing complex in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.  All original equipment new leaf spring chassis Cobra engines were "Cleveland" engines if one just has to cast them into a lump into one category.

There was no such thing as a "Windsor" small Ford V8 engine during new leaf spring chassis Cobra production based on all data collected to date. There were subsequent issues of 289, 302, and 351 c.i.d. V8 engines manufactured in Windsor, Ontario, Canada that were then actually "Windsor" engines. 

Beginning in late 1966, thank you Bob Mannel for the clarification, Ford started producing 289 c.i.d. engines in Windsor, Ontario to join production from Cleveland, Ohio. Afterwards, Ford started making a new 1969 model year 351 c.i.d. engine in Windsor, Ontario but the "Windsor" colloquial name did not exist yet. During the year 1969 Ford introduced another new for the coming 1970 model year design 351 c.i.d. engine. Two very different engine designs with the same displacement and two different factories to make them. After the second new engine production started, the first model made in Windsor became known colloquially as the 351W model with W meaning it was produced in the Windsor, Ontario facility. The second design created for the upcoming 1970s model year was colloquially called the 351C model where C meant they were made in Cleveland, Ohio. It was confusing in 1969 and I recall the types of questions we asked the local Ford dealer at the time.

Somewhere along the line, authors started calling all the Ford Fairane 221/260/289 c.i.d. engines, "Windsor engines" which of course was not ever true.  It would be more appropriate to say Cleveland production of 289 engines was joined by production in Windsor late in 1966.


Thanks again to Bob Mannel who helped with this timeline. Additional details are included in his excellent book.


Here is a screen grab image of a cast iron Ford 289 intake manifold casting produced December 13, 1963. You might find one with that date in a new Cobra completed during late 1963 or early 1964. (Ford Fairlane series engines were painted Ford engine satin black before the 1966 and not this custom color.)

I have no connection to this seller or their offering but here is a replacement fuel level sender for CSX2201-CSX2589 street cars.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/225777972242?hash=item34916a7412:g:5OEAAOSw2Dtk52lR&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAABAF4YzP56KJG41PiyzQ%2FguPwX5BckFdOpg0FciqGoXQcKk0xQl5VCIQ4Ujqwa1sKTUBfwE6lBqXQQc9mQl9cd5X70Tw8vDOINnq%2BOEjWO4WftqW3CGg7V4Voe8HOXvDeZjXt0ml1Q%2FuHKXIfQNP36lDzV3DTnDN8gql%2F3HPJpXY2tWiNDC2yhdKHCnBqEaOZM15Y1gwS4v1hCqvXDVK8X66u5i3fnV4%2B8VjU4ES6KWFn8TpuP1I3uvFIPhuvzfuQTlQZzh7MY3qBCt1AeP9hPPbbHHpOMlsX5Z%2Bf5kkrHMPKfNy%2BJ80oNyPeV43d8URT7mkoeq5uMRdfsZdIaVGLzqtQ%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4Sd3cbfYg

Neat, thanks.

I am not Roger but

B4 on Ford-McCord expansion tank tags:

B = February
4 = 1964.

Ford-McCord radiators were dated also.

Good day rr64

I have contacted Dave Actons business and had a positive response straight away via Bonni. Let's see how this develops but they definitely appear to be up to it, thank you .
To aid my endeavour it would be great to have some quality shots of the cooling set up on an original early 289 car including expansion tank, radiator and hoses. Do you have a suggestion where I might be able to acquire these.
The Car has a 1963 aluminium Gearbox which appears to be a race box, would this have been a standard part for a road going car. I understand that aluminium boxes were introduced at some time in development but were these "race " boxes ?
Originally 6005 was fitted with an Armstrong selectaride damper control system, the control being mounted on the transmission cover . I suspect that this was unreliable. Do you think this was purely an option offered by AC cars for European/British cars.  I am not focused on originality, but it would be good to get information on this as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick and Bonni Acton help customers with maintenance and repairs of original Cobras and 427 Cobras. I provide technical information, detailed pictures, and drawings to them as required for those activities.

I have about eighteen thousand digital pictures of unrestored American market cars covering back nearly six decades.  As questions are asked, I can usually cut and paste images into a slide show for somebody covering most subjects. The exchange of large blocks of information is not something to do in little Internet forum text boxes. Some slide shows and commentary files are quite large.  My slide show regarding the Otter® brand coolant temperature switches and housings is 17 pages in length for example.  The file on mechanical fuel pumps used in Cobras is 50 pages in length and my commentary on engines used in Cobras is currently 124 pages in length. I have created more than 300 each specific subject information files so far not counting many reverse engineering CAD drawings.

Files are free for the asking and may be treated as open source by users, but file transfers must be accomplished via email. It takes just seconds to share in *.pdf file format anything but CAD drawings or single pictures. CAD drawings take more effort to transmit if they have to be back saved to a prior software version including some version of old *.dxf file format. Individual pictures can take more effort because I usually have to reduce their size first. Yes, I am aware of third party file storage services. If I created a file and never revised or added to it that might work other than in total as of this morning I have more than 40 GB of Cobra related file space in the machine I am using with more than 24,000 files in more than 1,400 folders.  Most of the commentary, slide shows, and spreadsheets get revised and or expanded in content as better or addition details are confirmed. It is enough to keep and back up one file bank much less add an online cache to maintain (a slow cumbersome process at best). I also have access to the databases other researchers keep with more thousands of pictures that I care to think about right now.

With that as background, I can identify most materials and parts in American market (CSX2 prefix) cars. I have been studying them since circa 1971.  CSX2144 was literally parked in sight of the home I grew up in. I have very little technical coverage on COB/COX60 prefix cars, especially electrical systems which we very different from the CSX2201-CSX2589 cars made concurrently. The engines and transmissions subjects are the same for the two markets I believe based on my association with somebody in the UK that has answered my questions. We will get into unknown to me territory looking into radiator hoses that A.C. might have used, especially the lower one for COB60 prefix cars. I can provide information on what American market cars were finished with late 1963-65.

I have a big digital commentary file regarding manual transmissions used in Cobras and an associated slide show covering the yoke and plug assembly for transmission outputs. Aluminum transmission main and tail shaft housings were adopted from big Ford sedan race cars. The design pattern is that of a 1963 Ford Galaxie with 260/289 engines and are the same dimensionally all over inside and out. Aluminum cased units were introduced into new street and race Cobras circa August 1963 and were used thereafter.  Several different gear sets were used in street and race Cobras; yes units created for racing were installed in street Cobras. The most desired sets of gears with produced with higher nickel content in their gear alloy. Our black car came with a 'racing' unit with the General Motors input and gear which requires the use of a General Motors design of clutch disc.

The driver adjustable Armstrong® Selectaride™ suspension dampeners and electrical control system was available in COB/COX60 prefix production cars but not American market cars to the best of my knowledge. The anomaly was CS 2030, a car retained by A.C. and it had that system installed in it. I cannot speak to how they worked.

Parts related to cooling systems and heater-demister coolant circuit you may want to study include:
• a formed aluminum pipe with a branch for the heater-demister coolant circuit. Short sections of rubber hose and clamps accomplish a connection between the water pump and McCord expansion tank. (Cars with McCord design tanks used a different tube assembly than earlier cars using Harrison 1962 Corvette design tanks.)  More than one company has produced parts between perfect copies of originals down to similar parts that work. Nick and Bonni can supply a very nice one if required.
• housing adapter for a thermal fan switch and a switch. A.C. produced three different versions, two in fabricated steel and one in sand cast aluminum for American market cars. I have no idea what a COB60 prefix car would use. There were two Cobra specific switches made under the Otter® brand for Cobras. The 70°C trip point switches have been obsolete for decades and the near identical MGC (carburetor air temperature switch) and the 1969 Lamborghini P400 Miura (radiator fan switch) switches have also been obsolete a long time. Nick Acton offers a modern 12VDC switch and custom mounting plate to get the job done.

• Everhot® provided Cobra specific manual shutoff valves for the heater-demister coolant circuit in American market cars. They have been obsolete since the 1960s. I have no idea if A.C. used them in COB/COX60 prefix cars.

• If required, spacers to move an original type expansion tank mount away from the left side rocker arm cover. They are simple to make and I have a drawing set I did for them. (Yes, some people use stacks of flat washers, which works.)

I suggest that further questions be handled via email. I am not sure how much I can help with your car I will help if I can. My email address is posted in this site's profile page for me.

Dan
CSX2310
CSX2551

Hello RR64

Thankyou for the information I will try and contact the people you suggest . My Cobra is Cob 6005 The second right hand drive car produced by Ac which I believe was used as the factory demonstrator for some time . The car is very original generally but as is the way with Cobra's I suspect over heating issues lead to the radiator being replaced with a 427 unit and a non standard expansion tank being fitted .
I attach a picture of what I believe is a standard engine bay for an early 289 and COB 6005 as it was before the present non original expansion tank was fitted ( not necessarily original ) . Do you have any thoughts on both pictures ?
Regarding  The twin brake reservoir system do you think the introduction ties in with the registration date for COB 6005 1/1/1964?
Hope the pictures are attached !!

You are welcome. I have seen reproductions of the Ford-McCord radiators but I do not know who makes them, perhaps  Nick Acton does.

I do not see any pictures. Sounds like a neat car.

The change to Ford-McCord radiators and expansion tanks occurred during mid 1963 and brake systems about two months later.

Hoping someone can help with the sourcing of an original or pattern expansion tank for my early 289?
Also the brakes have two brake reservoirs which I assume means the car has separate front and back brake systems was this standard?

Coolant expansion tank. Based on what few pictures I have of unrestored COB/COX60 prefix cars I believe your car probably used the same Ford-McCord design tank original street equipment for CSX2141-CSX2589 cars with standard 4V induction system. (In September 1963 a 2-4V Stage II option was added and a revised tank assembly was created for cars using 2-4V induction.) I do not have current contact information for him but I am told Dave Wagner (in USA) has reproduction 4V induction system car tanks made and others create dated assembly tags as required. Originals not in use are extremely rare. (The Cobra specific tank setup was based on similar tank designs used in various Ford and Studebaker sedans. The mounting arrangement was unique to Cobras and installers had to cut a clearance in one area of the mount bracket that interfered with a feature of the engine. Some installations on engines by Shelby American with optional COBRA POWERED BY FORD cast aluminum rocker arm covers required distance pieces between the tank mounting bracket and the left hand cylinder head to obtain clearance for the flange of the left side rocker arm cover. It was a car by car situation, some engines required spacers and some did not. It appears that the fit problem was due to a collection of part tolerance stack ups. The spacers used were bare carbon steel pieces that Ford never offered as a service part. Used parts can sometimes be salvaged from junk 1962 Fords with 221/260 engines. They were used in the Ford to space the remote fuel filter from the cylinder head. I have done drawings for the spacers in case somebody finds they need to make some.  (Anyone have current contact information for Dave Wagner? If not Nick Acton probably does https://www.actoncustom.com/.)






American market cars CSX2001-CSX2164 were manufactured with single hydraulic circuit brakes, one master cylinder and one reservoir. CSX2165-CSX2589 were built with double circuit brakes, a balance bar system between cylinders, two master cylinders, and two reservoirs. Your car sounds similar.

RR,

Thats great information, always learning something new about these cars. You're the first that's responded with any information on the different types to posts on several forums. I've also seen the vinyl ones in 2 and 3 pin variants, and with 1 and 2 sliding sections. I've only found photos of the aluminum ones on hardtop cars and was wondering if the tops required them for some reason. I greatly appreciate your response.

John

In the details, Cobras were very complicated. Just to provide an idea how complicated in consideration of all the companies involved and changes in specifications takes two or three pages of commentary. My file on engines and their details for Cobras is currently 124 pages in length. It takes 12 pages to cover mascot emblems well. The folder covering written information is 1.04 GB in size with 300+ subject headings.

Then there are "restored" and reconstructed cars. Using most of them as a gauge for originality is not a great choice with the exception of the recommissioning work done on significantly intact cars by any of four shops that go to extremes to get every detail they can as close to day one as possible.

[HIGH PERFORMANCE AUTOMOBILE PARTS]

I will admit I do not know a lot about factory option hardtops on Cobras.  I literally gave away the top that came along with the purchase of CSX2551 in 2003. The type side curtains constructed with exposed aluminum frame was called the 'deluxe' version of parts and were associated for use with optional fiberglass hardtops but the May 1965 Shelby American Inc. HIGH PERFORMANCE AUTOMOBILE PARTS book indicates they would also work with soft top. As far as I know, a buyer would order hard top kit with all brackets and fasteners and deluxe side curtains kit as different line items.

"S1CS-7621410 Window, W/Aluminum frame (side Curtains) For Hard or Soft top (boxed pair) Berry BX 99.00 77.00"

Berry = Berry Plastics (USA) as the supplier
BX= the kit came as box packed set
99.00 = suggested retail price (USD May 31, 1965)
77.00 = actual dealer price (USD May 31, 1965)



PS I do know that in fine details, there was more than one version of standard vinyl trimmed side curtains 1962-1964.

This past May 7 through May 11 Tom Cotter and Jim Maxwell hosted another back roads of America driving tour. This year's tour included a number of 1965-67 GT350s as participants. We had eight Cobras, three 427 Cobras, one 289 Sports that was purchased by the owner's father new less engine and transmission new and completed by Holman-Moody in a 427 Cobra style configuration, two 1965 MUSTANG GT350s, three 1966 MUSTANG GT350s, and one 1967 GT350. One of the 1965 GT350s has been in one family since new.

The event called the Blue Ridge Soiree Cobra Tour 2023 included about 750 miles of driving spread over four days along the Blue Ridge Parkway. (North Carolina USA with very short time periods in Tennessee and Virginia.) Altitudes driven through ranged from a low of 1,300 feet above sea level to a little over 6,000 feet.
https://www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm

One of the rest stops along the mountain ridge. AC Cars vehicles wise from left (in the distance) to right (closest to viewer) with some of the longer away from homes mentioned: CSX3204, COX6126 (transported from New York), CSX2045 (transported from Washington State), CSX2551 (trailered from Montana), CSX2321 (trailered from Missouri), CSX2490, CSX2401, CSX3245, CSX3139, CSX2177, and CSX2181 (transported from Kansas). CSX2497 (trailered from Ohio) was also part of the tour but had not reached the car park yet as Shaun and Sue Lowry follow tours with tools to help anyone that may suffer a breakdown during the drive sections.


Sunday evening started out with rain and it rained briefly Monday morning before the day's driving but over all the weather was great and the parkway had not filled up with summer season tourists yet. Most of the drives were under 35 mph or 45 mph speed limits through the park. (None of the cars dissolved in the rain Monday evening.)

Shameless self-promotion, our red car CSX2551, during a stop. Yes, the tour was FUN!

There are all kinds of pitfalls one can trip into while working on Cobras. Not many people in the USA seem to work on their own cars but some of us that do get together and discuss "favorite" problems occasionally.  Some oldies but goodies but not the only ones:

Installation of the bolts in the fastener set used to fix upper ends of rear dampeners (a.k.a. shock absorbers) to the chassis. If someone reinstalls dampeners while the seats and rear cockpit bulkhead are removed, they might install the upper mount bolts in the reverse direction as originally installed. The next person that wants to remove the dampeners, normally a quick and easy job, will find a more significant set of extra steps required as the seats and rear panel have to come back out to remove the bolts from the front side. 


Park brake cables originally were run between lever mechanism and brake calipers without being pulled on by anything except the hand operated lever and associated mechanism. If someone is careless with cable re-installation, they can manage to foul the cables with the rear wishbones (a.k.a. control arms). Having done so, the park brakes rubbing the wishbones will work the park brakes as the wishbones move through their arcs. Left that way, the friction material on the pads wears away quickly and does not do the rear brake rotors any good either.  Park brake cables being worked by wishbones does not do the cable sheathes or the paint  on wishbones any good either.

CSX2001-CSX2589 Cobras and potential clutch system parts compatibility issues.

If you are working on an original CSX2001-CSX2589 Cobra and the car has problems with getting a clutch system back together or it has operational problems, you might want to be aware of some technical topics. All manual transmission American market CSX2 prefix chassis Cobras, which was all but sixteen each late cars (one prototype and fifteen production cars) and one prototype car used with a FE engine, were equipped with some variant of some model year five bolt bell housing design 260 or 289 c.i.d. engine. The vast majority of these cars came with 1963 or 1964 model year 289 High Performance engines.

In no particular order:

1)   Engine cylinder block assemblies of the five bolt design bell housing type must use the clutch release lever made for 260/289 five bolt design original engines. If somebody installs the design of lever introduced for 1965 model year 289 six bolt engines, the clutch system will not work properly as the functional lengths of features are different. I have been contacted a few times over several years where this was a problem when the installer was not aware that not all levers were the same functionally.



2)   Pilot tips of factory original equipment Borg-Warner T-10 transmissions for 260/289 engines and any Ford FE engine are different with the big block model gears having shorter pilot tips. If a input from a FE engine transmission is used with a 260/289 engine, a special pilot bearing is required to capture the tip of the input shaft.

3)   Some Cobras, street and race, used a gear set with an input adopted from a General Motors version of T-10 transmission. The spline count is the same as the Ford part but the diameter is different. A clutch disc assembly designed for a Ford 260/289 engine of any version alone will not fit!


K (high nickel) set = installed into aluminum cased Cobra transmissions, street and race, introduced sometime in the CSX22xx range it is believed, example CSX2246 had a K set originally, our black car CSX2310 was fitted with a K set. (The K gear ratios originated in some high performance GM cars.) Listed as the alternate gear set in the February 1964 Cobra reconfirmation of registration for roadsters and coupes with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (F.I.A.) race sanctioning organization. Application Notes:  1) The Ford 289 High Performance clutch disc will not work with the K set input. A disc that will work with the GM input is required because the outer diameters of the Ford and GM splines are different. I used a McLeod® part number 260240 disc in CSX2310 and it has served very well for decades. 2) The pilot tip of the GM design input shaft is smaller in diameter than the O.E. Ford T-10 transmissions and that requires the use of a suitable pilot bearing in the rear end of the engine crankshaft.


4)   Not a parts compatibility issue but something to consider, a COBRA lettered cast steel safety bell housing (a.k.a. scatter shield).  After seeing pictures of what happens when there is a flywheel or clutch failure in a Cobra using a stock die cast aluminum bell housing, I have zero interest in sitting in a Cobra with the engine running without a safety bell housing in use. The COBRA lettered models, there were several slight variations over time, are wonderful THE FIRST TIME they have to contain a problem. I have seen the aftermath of a flywheel / clutch failure in a friend's race car with a tachometer tell tale indicating the engine was running over 9,000 rpm when the failure occurred. The driver was not injured. The car chassis was not damaged. The engine and transmission were both seriously damaged, but all the major projectiles were contained. The COBRA housing did not fracture anywhere but it was deformed seriously and deemed not useable anymore.


Safety Housing Side Bar: The manufacturer also sold the same design with "WEDGE" (one of their trade names) or "TIGER" lettering. Other companies made their own versions of safety housings in cast steel for five bolt bell housing engines that work fine in original Cobras.


How about COB/COX60 prefix leaf spring car chassis? Based on records available, most of the cars used five bolt bell housing design engines. Some late cars used six bolt bell housing design engines. It would be important stock parts wise to use the correct lever for the type of cylinder block design used.

Wanted To Buy: I am searching for a cast aluminum generator sheave with integral fan for an early Cobra restoration. An original part preferred but an authentic copy would do.

The original for CSX2034 is shown below.



Thanks for looking.
Dan

I am working on repairing a mid 1963 COBRA 4-2V induction system using Weber 48 IDM5 carburetors. The system was handled and stored poorly for decades. I am looking for quite a few very rare parts. Please see list below. I have a file with some pictures and sketches available via email to help illustrate some of the parts. Reproductions of all the parts have been made or are being worked on but I would rather have original 1950s-1960s Weber parts.

Thanks for looking. Dan

Did Cobras use the same tool?

Cobras came with a bleeder fitting tool. (I have never used the original for CSX2310. I use flare nut spanners.) Finding an original in the USA is near impossible. I did drawings for a friend about twenty years ago and he made a few. I still have one of the ones he made that I have no use for.

My sketches.