Frank, could they be the later version Cal Custom-Hawk ? Those have more fins and are a close match to their Ford oil pans. The closest thing I've seen to the original Cal Customs are these very early sand cast covers, this set had a single center breather hole but they might have been offered without. These were sold by places like J.C. Whitney and Honest Charley but by the casting marks and engine designation plate cast inside I believe them to be made by Holmes. The only vintage aluminum covers without breather holes I know of are the early M/T's and the Ansens. The Ansens look similar but with a sticker in the center with the Ansen name on it. The Surf Woody had a set of those on it. Here are few shots of mine painted but in need of final detail. Trick Flow script will be hidden.
Stare at the following picture and repeat this phrase one thousand times: "Yes Muttley, of course I'll sell those M/T valve covers to you."
That set up is very cool. It was released in 65, they are less common than a standard dual quad but they are for sale on a regular basis if you look. One on a running engine is what I'd call rare and nice to see. Edelbrock was very popular then too so I'm not sure there is such thing as a "rare" part with their name on it, those that may have been are now currently being reproduced such as the block letter heads and 348-409 covers. The M/T power ram that came out in 64, is much harder to find, but I do know of one in the original box for sale.
So you want my covers huh? There is one little problem with that... You know that blown SBF you first saw them on right? Well those are the same pair. Long story that spans years but you'll laugh. I got a guy to sell them off his dead Sunbeam Tiger project after about five years of looking to start with. Made a deal, and planned to pick them up at a swapmeet, but his wife put them on Ebay and sold them the week before for less money. I got a lucky reply from the guy who bought them years later. They were slated to be cut up to fix a pair of SBC's of all things but he backed out on it. I asked another guy about a M/T timing cover to match them and let's just say he wanted the covers bad as I did before I bought them. I have found only one other pair so far but I'm still looking. Not that it will matter to most but those are poorly made and the notches in the cover for the bolt holes don't even line up which is one reason they were with replaced with the 65 version. Then the 65-68 version leaked on most heads because the gasket rail is wider than the head leaving a 1/6 to an 1/8 gap. They seal great on 5.0 and modern aftermarket heads but on early heads you really need a reinforced gasket or alot of sealer. The best part was my buddy Mark I got the my Algon from was standing there when I paid for the covers at the Thompson Gas meet hunting the swapmeet himself. Mark is very knowledgeable and I have alot respect for him which why this is so amusing to me... He looked over while I was peeling off hard earned cash for them and candidly told me how bad I just got fucked for a lousy pair of covers. Telling him the out come of the deal changed his opinion a bit at the next weekend meet. Sorry man...
There are tons of options for sbf's. I have 2 different style M/T's, Weiand, and even Mr Gasket cast aluminum for a different look. All depends on what end result you want.
How far do you want to go? On my own I needed clearance for roller rockers and cobra covers didn't have enough. So I took plain steel 351 cover, cut holes for vac-u-pan breathers and painted them black wrinkle. looks perfect to me on a competition oriented car.
my friend and i who made them for me are going into buisness , if there is enough interest we will whip up some sets !
Here is an idea, a buddy just build this engine setup for a customer's F1, looks pretty nice in my opinion. Also have a set of the later M/T valve covers with the breather holes and an old holley intake manifold.
Depending on price I might be interested in a set. I have a pair of super nice "FORD" FE valve covers and a real nice (albeit dirty) set of "MERCURY" FE Valve covers both from about '61 or so. I have found a couple sites that sell the plates. These guys sell them for $135.00 which is the cheapest I've found. http://www.fortesparts.com/catalogDisplay.cfm?cat=12 I found another place, but they were $150.00 and I didn't bother savinf the link. Personally I think any retail price above $75-80 bucks is a rip off. On any given day theie is at most $20-25 in materials (retail prices). Add labor (which is mostly machine work) and packaging and you're still under half my retail price.
i have a 289 in my 64 galaxie.. stock 2bbl for now.. but, i ave pertronix, old edelbrock intake and valve covers blasted ready to go on with an edelbrock carb, and a stellings 4bbl air cleaner.. combine that with hopefully a quick dose of black paint on the block and manifolds, and id like to think it will look nice and clean after i swap everything over this winter..
Dirtbag13, which car was that red FE covered engine going into? I'm thinking I could fit that into my '62 Fairlane.
Cool beans! Thanks. Mercury valve covers painted yellow on a black block in mine would have a few scratching their heads, lol.
I am not sure if this thread is dead or not, but I finally got my 289 put back together. I used Cal Custom rocker covers with a 1" cast spacer, I cleaned the timing cover down to the bare aluminum, Weiand Stealth intake, and a 2" spacer with a cast aluminum finned air cleaner, and Mallory dual point. In the engine bay, I mounted the bracketmaster coil on the firewall, and the dual oil filter adapter on the inner fender on the drivers side. In my opinion, it looks super clean, and the whole top half of the engine looks like its cast aluminum. The spacers provide just enough height to hide the wires, but let the headers poke out as you look down on it. I am VERY pleased with it. The only thing that sucks is....the engine is covered 99% of the time!
I will post pictures soon, but I got a Weiand Stealth alum intake, Cal Custom valve covers with 2" cast alum. spacers to clear the roller rockers, white painted headers, Ford Racing blue block and heads, holly 4bbl, custom air filter, and I cleaned off my timing cover. I put a Mallory Unilite dizzy in, and left my wires long so they tuck around the front of the engine rather than draping over the top of the valve covers. The air cleaner almost reminds me of an old tattersfield (check spelling) for a flatty but it's bigger....also cast aluminum. The dual sump pan is making it interesting to use a dipstick since my dipstick is in the timing cover....but other than that I think this is the cleanest engine I have ever built. I used a cast aluminum dual oil filter relocating setup, and the coil is on my fire wall. I plan to sink 3 gauges into the firewall, and hide as many wires as I can.
Can you even fit your cap and wires on? Hard to tell in the pic. Beautiful though. What intake are you using? Is that a 4:71?
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