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Thanks, it's a wonderful car, but I've come to the realization that I have to own and restore a '66 GT350 before I die.

SOLD SOLD


ERA828  427 Cobra replica
Street car configuration
Ordered 11/2017
Delivered 05/2020
The car is painted Silver Mink, which is a color Ford used on Lincolns and Thunderbirds.  About 25 of the original 427 Cobras were painted this color, as well as a number of 289 cars.  While red leather was a common option for the leaf spring 289 cars, only one 427 (CSX3336) left AC with red leather.  I built this as I would have wanted a new one had I been old enough to buy one in 1966.  Having seen several original 289 cars that were Silver Mink and red, I knew this was a beautiful combination and fitting of a car of the era.
I built this car with drivability in mind so that I wouldn't constantly be fighting with a high strung beast, and it would be easy for my wife to drive if she chose to.  A car that doesn't wear out your left leg, was hard to start, needed special fuel, and overheated if you weren't on a long highway cruise.  I've owned an ERA before and have been around the Cobra hobby for many years, so I've seen many cars that were drop dead gorgeous and made a jillion horsepower, but were not nice cars to drive. 
Brent Lykins spec'ed the engine for me with that in mind, but assured me that even though drivability was key, it would still make north of 500 horsepower.  The block I chose was a late 391 truck block, which has very thick cylinder walls and extra webbing in the main bearing supports.  Cross bolted main bearing caps were added that are much thicker than what a 427 has, as was a 4.25" SCAT crankshaft and 6.7" connecting rods, as well as forged Race Tec pistons.  The roller camshaft is Brent's design and features Morel roller lifters as well as Brent's proprietary rocker shaft and aluminum arms.  This late block has very thick cylinder walls, but was only bored to 4.080".  While we still got 445 cubic inches and all the power the car could ever need, it preserved the thick cylinder walls and allows the car t idle in the garage all day and never exceed 190 degrees.  From the outside, it is virtually indistinguishable from a 427 block, but it didn't make sense to me to build an engine from a 427 block that had been sleeved or hade some kind of other major repair.
While everything looks correct under the hood, a Holley Sniper Stealth EFI system is hidden below the correct air cleaner.  Timing is controlled by the MSD distributor that also looks stock.  The car runs perfectly from first start to wide open throttle thanks to the tuning at Mad Dog Motorsports.  I chose a McLeod RST double disk clutch which is light as a stock Honda, but good for 800 horsepower.  The brakes are the optional Wilwoods from ERA and have the three Girling reservoirs as original.
The transmission is a TKO600 5 speed with the 0.82:1 overdrive and the differential is 3.54:1 with the powerlock.  The exhaust system is a custom built 2.5" setup with SpinTech mufflers and has been Cerakoted.
The 15" x 7.5" Sunburst wheels have Avon CR6ZZ tires that are camouflaged as original Good year Blue Dots.  In the rear they are pushed out just a bit thanks to the custom length suspension pieces that ERA built.
ERA also fabbed a custom trunk floor to make room for the in-tank Holley returnless fuel pump, so the trunk floor is about 1" shallower than normal.
Inside the car you will find Smith's gauges, an NOS Trico windshield washer button, and the correct mirror.  The red leather was selected from a hide to compliment the Silver Mink paint and to replicate what was delivered in the original Cobras.  Other options include a remote battery hidden in the trunk, bumpers that have been contoured to match the body, and the correct bumper overriders.  Under the hood you will find the correct windshield washer reservoir that took me two years to track down, finally finding one in Germany.

Will be listed on Bring a Trailer, link to follow.

The YouTube video with details of the car can be found here:

https://youtu.be/GQdXAwm8bfQ

It's been a couple years since I've updated this post, but have had many of you send me work, which I appreciate. Here's a photo of some '65 GT350 parts that I finished today.

Re-issue S2MS-9510 715cfm carburetor and reproduction 289 Cobra hi rise intake from the early '90s with only about 200 miles. Was used to get a garage find started, then pulled for a new Inglese Weber setup. Will vapor blast intake before shipping.

Carburetor - $1000 plus shipping from 77573

Intake- SOLD

Wow, that looks fantastic!  Those Avon's are wonderful tires aren't they?  The only issue with them is that they will occasionally throw a pebble or two, but a small price to pay for the performance and safety that they offer.

Rex,

When I'm cleaning aluminum pieces still on the car, I like to start with WD40 and a toothbrush, followed by an all purpose cleaner diluted about 10:1.  The WD40 works surprisingly well to break up the oily coating and is nowhere near as harsh as carburetor or brake cleaner.  Following each application of all purpose cleaner, rinse it well with water and when it finally looks clean, blow it dry with compressed air.  You will likely see a few spots that you missed, so hit it again with the APC until you are happy.  Once it is clean, it can be brightened up a bit with the hydrofluoric acid based chrome wheel cleaner, but it will etch the aluminum, so leave it on no more than 30 seconds at a time and cover your valve covers while doing it.  After the 30 seconds, flush it good with water, blow it dry and see how it looks.  It can take a few applications of the wheel cleaner to get it where you want it.  Also, immediate rinse off the wheel cleaner from anything that it gets on so that the finish isn't damaged.  The wheel cleaner is an optional step and not necessary if you are happy with the appearance after the cleaning or are uncomfortable attempting it.

Obviously you will need to seal off the carburetor bases since so much water will be involved.

Nice '68 four barrel intake, 12/20/67 date code.  $225 plus shipping from 77573.

Must've been a bad week for GTs.  While picking up our car from the dry ice blaster yesterday morning, saw a Gulf liveried Heritage on a rollback truck that was muddy and appeared to have the front control arm(s) broken loose.  Guess it left the road and found a ditch, but all things considered could have been much, much worse. 

Hello again, haven't posted in a while so thought that it would be a good idea to give an update.  I have recently retired from my job of 30 years and now get to spend all day at home in my shop blasting parts for customers and working on old Fords, which is as wonderful as it sounds.  The pay is much worse, but life is certainly better.

Anyway, wanted to remind everyone about the service for those who need it. 

Feel free to PM or email with any questions.

www.houstonvaporblasting.com

Thanks,
Bobby

That is incredible!  For those of us not lucky enough to have a real artist in the family, www.fordimages.com has some fantastic historical photos in the form of murals and other formats.

I ALSO HAVE 2 1962 FERRARI GTO'S AVAILABLE. ONE AT 75MM, THE OTHER AT 80MM.

Uhhh, I can't afford an $80 million car, so let me have a look at the one you got listed for $75 million...

Scott,

I can't give you advice on fitment, but can tell you that many people use the Avons on Cobra replicas and that they are universally loved (except for the price).  Despite the 80 treadwear rating, people are getting about 10,000 miles out of them, so not too bad for a true performance tire.

Quote from: JohnHouston on August 27, 2020, 01:11:55 PM
This is probably for someone who has done a returnless system. . . Do you just replace the sending unit with the supplied pump/sending unit assembly?  Do you have to drill the tank for it?  Or is it just better to replace the tank???

Thanks,
John

They make one just for stock Mustang gas tanks.

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/fuel_pumps_regulators_and_filters/fuel_pumps/muscle_car_efi_modules/parts/12-305

Quote from: mygt350 on August 26, 2020, 04:48:47 PM
Is that the Holley Sniper Stealth? Thought that was a 4500 series.

Yes, that's the Stealth, but it does look like a Dominator with the air cleaner removed.

It supports up to 650 horsepower, but don't know that there's a minimum since the fuel flow is not tied to the vacuum signal, so I think it would work on most any V8.  The do offer a 2bbl version, and just came out with an Autolite 1100 style for inline sixes.