Thread: 396 Chevy- 390 Ford

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[QUOTE=jerry clayton;533246]I think that if Ford had continued down a high performance road with the 429/460--instead of rolling over and playing dead in the mid 70s---we would of seen many, many improvements -------altho the boss 9er was neat, both it and the 427 cammer were basicly just coffee table foundations at that point in time-------[/QUOTE

I agree 100% but they had other interests.

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

I think that if Ford had continued down a high performance road with the 429/460--instead of rolling over and playing dead in the mid 70s---we would of seen many, many improvements -------altho the boss 9er was neat, both it and the 427 cammer were basicly just coffee table foundations at that point in time-------

Seriously? So 1st, 2nd & 3rd at LeMans sending Enzo crying back to Italy was just a fluke? Hardly a coffee table foundation in my book, but we all have our opinions.....

Good point I had forgotten about their racing team. I retract my earlier agree and stand firm with the mighty 390 and its brothers 352,406,410,427,428 and iits cousins 429/460.
Bottom line is this no 396 ever beat me and they won't. Don't worry Ford guys I got your back...

Bob Tasca got so angry that the Ford brass couldn't ( & wouldn't) come up with anything better than the lowly 390, and his race team was getting spanked week after week, they raided a car in the lot (reportedly a T-Bird) for the short block, a 428, they kept the 390 gt heads and cam, and the next weekend at Epping New Hampshire, they walked over all comers!

Shortly thereafter, Ford rolled out the 68 1/2 Cobra Jets.....

I grew up 30 minutes from Tasca Ford, it was THE place to be if you were a Ford guy in the late 60's.. everyone was welcome to drop in and talk with the crews... The Cobra Jet teams all gathered there during the eastern swing.. it was Nirvana for a car crazy teenager!

For the Ford folks-Phil Bonner just passed away---IIRC he had one of the 68 cj at winternationals that was painted one color on one side and another color on the other side-------pit people and spectators only saw 2 different colors.
There was a hydraulic lifter 427 fe that ford was bring out in 68 but had problems meeting emissions so they moved the heads to the 428 and called it Cobra Jet----
Still have my original invoice around here somewhere and it was less than $4000 with all the registration and licensing think 34 0r 35 hun! Dark green with gold stripes Torino---it ran so good that I didn't even change the engine out to the Holman Moody 427----------

I got to meet Phil Bonner some years back at the first All Ford Carlisle National meet in Carlisle PA. We chatted for a few minutes during a rain storm and he sighed a shirt for me!

I've never worn it! Maybe now???? RIP Phil..

I saw him about a year ago at show in Muscle Car Show here in November--this year its nov 22-23 in Rosemont,Il---got to go to all shows nearby to visit with all the old guys as they are leaving this planet at an alarming rate-RIP Phil and others


IIRC, my cj had a camshaft #c8az 6250 d plus a timing gizmo that had about 10degrees variable timing---------

34/40 Watch it with the lowly 390 comments lol. The 69 might catch wind of it and you don't want that....lol...

Ford v Chevy was the battle for 2nd place about this time in Super Stock..... The Hemi began it's dominance in A/S, A/SS and the wedges took over everything in B/SS. Had the distinct privilege of being the "hired gun" in a Div 5 B/SS for 3 seasons, we could run on or below index most anytime out (except Denver). Ford was factored so badly they didn't even have a fair chance to be competitive in the SS classes but did hold their own in Stock classes. The 427 Chevelles and Camaros did ok, but none of them could run with the Hemi Mopar's.....Though some will argue that NHRA factored and rated all of the top 3 or 4 SS classes in favor of Mopar's, the Hemi cars owned Super Stock, Stock Eliminator through the 70's.....

Yep--those late 60 into 70s era of factoring, weight breaks, indexing ruined organized on track racing and drove the real racers back to the roads------
Remember the 4 door falcon??? wasn't it Gapp & Rosch that did it??
small block vegas? Pintos? and then Gliden went to Mopar and won most all the races that year? pretty much proved the favorism shown to Chrysler-----

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Yep--those late 60 into 70s era of factoring, weight breaks, indexing ruined organized on track racing and drove the real racers back to the roads------
Remember the 4 door falcon??? wasn't it Gapp & Rosch that did it??
small block vegas? Pintos? and then Gliden went to Mopar and won most all the races that year? pretty much proved the favorism shown to Chrysler-----

gapp rosch they ran a four door maverick that i think had motor wheel flys on it for rims with a pie cut boss head that was welded to work on a inline ford 6 i think dick maskins may have work the boss head over . i know he did have a hand on the iron heavily reworked AMC heads with wally booth

any snow over there Pat???

Wow you guys going old school now. You got me there I don't remember anything about 60's wasn't born and almost nothing about 70's only a child. So I will sit back as you all reminisce about the good old days. And I will learn from those older and wiser than me. Thanks

On the other side of factoring and indexing, it's the only thing that kept Stock and Super Stock from becoming "check book racing" like the Pro classes were becoming!!!! A small two car team from Podunk, Nowhere could still be competitive.....I know this because I was there and we were! My opinion on people leaving drag racing and going back to the streets, this was when NHRA began courting all the high dollar sponsors to get them involved, it's a wonder anybody showed up for Stock and Super Stock classes, you had to be able to run at or under National Records and you raced for peanuts because all the money went to the Pro classes......

Looks like they got what they paid for, even to the stage of breaking the Pro teams now!!!! I'll say it one more time, hate bracket racing all you want, but everybody is still competitive whether they have $5,000.00 or $500,000.00 in your car! There's also getting to be a lot of "no brake, no box" bracket races that pay big bucks to win, Bradenton is $10K this month!

For a lot of us poor folk, it's either brackets, Super classes, or just stay home and whine..... I still like drag racing to much to just stay home and whine, I guess!!!!!!

Dave---I like heads up starts, no matter what the class or eliminator bracket---no doubt about it tho, it was/is necessary to run with the index factored in if your racing a different class car in the eliminator finals