sure, there's plenty of dressy shit for sale for 289/302/351 motors, but if i wanted a mustang-looking engine compartment, i'd have bought a mustang. so, what's the ticket? find some old 260 stuff? modify some mustang-type crap to make it look halfway decent? i know at least a few of you have had this problem. help me get my imagination going, let's hear/see your good ideas.
well some one stole my computer with my engine pics on it ! but if you go to my user profile and check my posts , look under pics of my detailed engine ! maybee some one can figure out how to get the pics transfered here ! i cheated and had my friend machine me a set of fe valve cover adapters to run thunderbird valve covers which i painted ! i wanted to run an early 260 timing cover so i didn't have to pull holes in my covers but couldn't find one ! any ways theres several ways to do one without breaking the bank , a little paint and detailing goes a long way ! good luck
Well first, what are you dressing up? One of the most ovious things to do to a SBF is to run a pre-65 timing cover with the oil fill in it with no hole valave covers. But as with anything SBF, there are a million parameters you have to be aware of when making a change like that.
Cal Custom style finned covers for starters. ebay item 350220736146 http://www.mustangdepot.com/OnLineCatalog/Engine/valve_covers.htm
AC Cobra 260 / 289 equipment, valve covers and aluminum intake. Can't go wrong with that! Avoid the cheap Chinese flash chrome crap.
I'm running a pair of those on my Comet with an el-cheapo no name chrome air cleaner. It dresses up the engine nicely without being too flashy.
replace it with a SBC it's kinda hard with a SBF because of its year of introduction versus the "traditional" era. Selecting paint in complementary or contrastnig colors is the basis, then how much flash you add after that depends on the look you are seeking
I used some finned no-name covers from Speedway Motors. I know the HEI doesn't look too traditional, but it works good and is simple.
How 'bout this: Just messin' with you, but there actually may be some ideas here. I'm actually searchin' my photo collection on my hard drive. I should be able to come up with somethin' ... hold tight.
Did't the early 260's have black engines and copper valve covers? The Cal Customs are my favorite next to the hollow letter Cobra ones. One of those flat or octopus Distributor caps would be a period piece.
don't hold me to it but yes i believe 1965 and earlier smallblocks were black with gold valve covers ( except hipo motors which had chrome covers ) , went to blue in 66
The black engine with gold valve covers and air cleaner were '65 289 only, 260's and 221's were black with red or blue valve covers and air cleaners. You are correct that the whole Ford line up went to Ford Corporate Blue in 1966.
Where were you in '62? Doesn't that year fall within the H.A.M.B. range? Now that I've vented, back to the subject. As was previously mentioned, any and all Cobra items. They could be purchased, back then, over the counter at your local Ford dealer. They also came in different performance levels (Cobra Kits) as well as individual pieces. Ford factory chrome dress up kits were also available as dealer installed items. Look for finned aluminum valve covers by Weiand, Edelbrock, Pro/Stock, and others around the swap meets. They look good and tend to be less pricey than the Cal Custom ones. The '82-'85 Mustang factory GT valve covers (shown in post above) also have an old time look to them, and are easy to find. 271hp 289 exhaust manifolds are being reproduced, and will get you a few extra hp plus some style points. Even the old Ford Motorsport catalog had some period looking dress-up items included. One example being the finned, cast aluminum air cleaner with the raised Ford oval. That thing is mighty close to the one made by Cal Custom. Also, about any intake design you can think of is, or has been available for the Ford smallblock...just cruise the catalogs and swapmeets and pick one that fits the look you are going for.
i like your valve covers ! are those just speedway type finned valve covers with emblems attached ? emblems off an early fairlane ? and how did you attach them ?
Damn...'56 Ford emblems that designated the Thunderbird V-8. That, my friend, was some creative thinking...I don't care what anybody says!
If you are running a C4 and need a Carb with kickdown linkage I have this in Classifieds.Last of the shiny finish Carters before Edelbrock took over.
Wow, I just posted my plan to use some NOS T-Bird valve covers on my Windsor engine too. The first I ever saw was Dave Lane's build on that George Poteet '32 - looks amazing to me. Anybody know if the adapters are being produced for sale? I don't think I can afford Davee's shop rate ;- )
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