1969 Motor Sport 428 article

[cliffordl]

Looks like a re-write of other reviews but hopefully of interest
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Apologies to Classicus if you have this posted elsewhere.

[Emmanueld]

Great article, I had not seen it. You can see from the photo that the car is too soft and leans way too much!
   
   Emmanuel

[Classicus]

Hi Clifford, haven't seen this one before thanks.
   
   Very interesting they also mention that the fastback was at the time of writing four times as popular as the convertible, and the automatic four times as popular as the manual. After all being deliberately designed by Derek, especially in view of his racing experience at Le Mans, to be by complete contrast nothing more than a lazy, luxurious yet comfortable long legged GT, I've always thought the fastback automatic was the most desirable option as well.

[AE413]

The photo of the car with the pond in the background is at West End, a mile or so SW of Esher.
   
   John

[Emmanueld]

Paul,  allow me to disagree, the manual transmission car is far superior to the automatic for several reasons,
   
   1) Performance
   2) Driving pleasure
   3) heat in the cockpit.
   
   The fact that more automatic were ordered than 4 speeds is probably due to the type of customers interested in the car. It's the same for other similar cars like the Jag XJS or the big Aston V8.
   
   Coupe vs roadster, the coupe is much more spacious and comfortable than the convertible. In addition, I presume most cars were sold in the UK where the weather is rather humid.....
   
   This I think explains why more automatic coupes were sold. I still maintain that if AC had turned the car into a Daytona killer, way more would have been sold to a different demographic, and most of them would have been manual cars.
   
   Emmanuel

[Classicus]

quote:Originally posted by Emmanueld
   
The fact that more automatic were ordered than 4 speeds is probably due to the type of customers interested in the car.

   Perhaps the whole project was the cheaper option to begin with as they must have carried out considerable market research beforehand....

[lyonheart84]

I partly agree and partly disagree ( ! ) with Emmanuel about the 2 gearboxes pro's and cons. The problem was that the 428 was developed in the UK market and intended mostly for the UK market. Here in our cooler climate the automatic gearbox did not generate appreciable heat in the cockpit ( except for a handful of days a year ) and the clutch of the original toploader was considered far too heavy by UK standards. There was also more space in the footwell with only 2 pedals. With our smaller roads and heavier traffic than America the automatic was generally preferred, after all a good automatic gearbox really came into it's own with a huge V8 developing massive torque at low revolutions, an ideal equation. Having been fortunate enough to have owned both manual and automatic cars I actually find myself preferring the automatic, provided that the gearbox is in good condition and changing crisply. A driver of any ability could turn in zero to 60 times of about 6 seconds with the auto simply by flooring the pedal, the manual was slightly quicker to 60 but you would have to be more abusive with the clutch and accelerator. The car was more than quick enough for the tiny and winding roads here in the 1960's. Of course fitting a more modern manual gearbox with lighter clutch as Emmanuel has would change the character of a 428 these days.
   The fact that more coupe's were sold than convertibles was probably purely down to our miserable climate! As Frua's were probably bought as everyday cars when new, the soft top variant was not so ideal for winter use. These days of course the Convertible is more valuable as it is rarer, and also most classics are bought for occasional weekend Summer use so open air motoring is desirable. I remember that both the convertibles and fastbacks misted up very badly on cold wet winter days on the occasions I used them in those conditions ( dreadful heaters for such a big engine ), something our fortunate Californian cousins do not often have to tolerate!

[Emmanueld]

I agree. Both Jeffrey and I have installed Tko600 gearboxes behind an original Ford late 60's 428 top loader Cobra Jet  bellhousing. Originally, we wanted to use a steel bellhousing but since the cars won't be raced, the original bits are much better. Steel bellhousings almost always are misaligned and create clutch problems, they are useful in racing to preserve the driver legs in case of a flywheel explosion. We used a Genuine Ford clutch external actuator system I think  from a pickup truck. The clutch is extremely light but the travel is too long. Jeffrey likes his clutch actuation but I don't like mine. Upon putting the car back together, the clutch lever will be replaced by a McCluskey made replica of the original MkIII lever which is much shorter. This will result in a much quicker actuation with a  heavier clutch.  One  way to reduce the clutch pedal pressure is to reduce the master cylinder diameter. We are using SFI rated McCloud clutches and flywheels which are much better quality than  originals, they  are also all metal. In other word, no asbestos or any organic material.
   
   Once I am done with this car, I will probably start hunting for a coupe to restore. I love both cars equally.
   
   PS: I offered Jeffrey to buy his car at what he paid for it but to no avail.[:D]
   
   Emmanuel[:)]

[lyonheart84]

LOL Emmanuel, Jeffrey told me what you cheekily offered him for the blower motor as well !

[Emmanueld]

He is short of room in his garage! I am being charitable!
   
   The only bad  thing with the fastback in our climate is the heat in the cabin. Installing air conditioning is about mandatory. There are various units such as "vintage air"  which may fit behind the dash. These provide air and heat as well. I think the problem may be the heat generated by the condenser which will be installed in front of the radiator blocking much needed cool air to the engine. Once Jeffrey is done with his, we will see how well  it works. I think this is the best single improvement one can do to a coupe.
   
   Emmanuel

[J Jones]

We are working on getting better airflow through the radiator. I now have a full shroud (and a discrete chin spoiler), that collects a great gulp of air and forces it through the radiator. Next step is getting all that air out of the engine compartment, reducing the under bonnet air pressure. If we can improve the airflow sufficiently, I don't think the A/C condenser will be a problem, and should work well in hot weather. There is abundant room for the condenser forward of the radiator.
   
   As it is now, my engine coolant and oil temperatures are under control. No overheating even on really hot days.
   
   We've been working on re-routing the fresh air supply through the fenderwells rather than through the engine compartment where it was placed on earlier cars like mine.
   
   Emmanuel lent me his fibreglass fenderwell  thingies which we've copied in aluminum, so hopefully the "fresh air" won't be 150 degrees by the time it gets to the passenger compartment. That should help (I hope). I've always put "fresh air" in quotes, because it comes into the car like a blast of air from a hair dryer on "high".
   
   Emmanuel thinks the travel on the clutch pedal is too long.  It doesn't bother me, but I'd like to try your clutch when McCluskey does his thing.

[Emmanueld]

By the way guys, I forgot to mention it before but  it looks like the car in the pictures above has some kind of a small chin spoiler? Jeffrey, What do you think?
   
   Emmanuel[:)]

[Rheinubung]

The car in this article is almost certainly CF-8 now owned by Chuck Maddox; it's color at the time was a medium blue.
   
   I doubt there is a spoiler on this car, but the factory had developed a neat little scoop which reached down from the radiator and made a 90-degree bend to face forward. It was perhaps a 2-inch opening and perhaps 10-inches wide and could be described as a sort of schnorkel. I saw one at Thames Ditton when I went to pick up CF-21 in 1976. I'm skeptical of its efficiency.
   
   The factory also had machined aluminum spacers to fit at the top of each corner's coil-over-shock which would raise the car about 2 inches for slightly better ground clearance. Four of them were given to me by Mr. F. Laremore, the service manager.

[J Jones]

"Spacers". Interesting.
   I'm proceeding with Air conditioning my Fastback.
   The guys will fabricate a bracket to mount a small rotary compressor lower on the engine, so it will be unecessary to change anything up top where the old style piston compressors were located on 428 engines.
   There is sufficient room to mount the heat/cool exchanger in place of the original heater.
   My original heater (and the controls) look absolutely new, by the way. Dusty, but probably never actually used. It wasn't even hooked up when I bought the car.
   I might list it on Ebay. Factory Fresh!
   The "fresh air" ducts have been moved, and are now running in the fenderwells rather than through the engine compartment. Another improvement in fighting interior heat! The old set-up made the "fresh air" really toasty - not in the least refreshing. More like the hot end of a paint-stripper. The air intakes are now isolated from the radiator, so that should help as well. (What were they thinking!?)