The engine and gearbox

Most people know that the Cobra came with 2 engines sizes, first the smaller engine, followed by the larger engine. In fact although they are both all-iron pushrod V8s, they are each from a different family of engines.

A very brief History of the 289 engine

Ford needed to replace their existing Small Block iron V8 enigne (known as the ‘Y-Block’). This engine had limited efficiency and was large and heavy. The new ‘Small Block’ was released in 1962 and came in a 221 cubic inch capacity (3.6 litres). Later that year a 260 CI (4.2 litres) was released and the following year it was further stretched to 289 CI (4.7 litres). This new design of engine had thin wall castings and at the time was considered to be light weight

These engines are often referred to as ‘Windsor’ engines as they were built in Windsor, Ontario, Canada up until 1968 when most of them were produced in Cleveland.

Ford introduced a higher power version of the engine in 1963 known commonly as the ‘Hi-Po’ engine, and although there were higher power 260 engines (for the Fairlane) the 289 was the first true ‘Hi-Po’ engine. This engine was meant to produce 271hp with a single 4-barrel Holley carburetor. There were in fact a lot of detail changes in this engine and it’s not really possible to turn a standard engine into a ‘Hi-Po’ variant. This is the engine that was fitted to the 289 Cobras.

Later in 1964 the number of bolts connecting the engine to the bell-housing changed from 5 bolts to 6 bolts. This was primarily to increase the stiffness of the combined engine / gearbox assembly, allowing the engine to reliably produce more power.

Some 289 Cobras were fitted with competition spec Weber carburetors, along with a number of other changes. Early GT40s also used the 289 engine in this format.

My Engine

I had decided early on that if I am to own an aluminium leaf-sprung car, aiming to be as close to an original as I can get, then I will need to fit a genuine 289 ‘Hi-Po’ engine. These are available occasionally in the US as they were fitted to ‘K-code’ Mustangs, but after discussion with Pete Knight of Knight Racing Services in Daventry, I realised that the block and heads were actually the only parts he really needed to use, and even then he was able (at great cost) to supply those brand new in the very latest type of non-cracking cast iron, and fully FIA compliant.

So I searched and searched and eventually found the parts I needed. These parts have been given to Pete and he is building me a ‘new’ ‘Hi-Po’ to FIA regulations. He will supply most all of the internal parts (crank, rods, pistons, valves, complete rocker assembly, camshaft, solid followers, timing chain assembly, oil pump, water pump, timing chain cover, flywheel and clutch assembly). I have supplied the following parts: block, heads, valve covers, intake manifold, carburetor assembly, sump pan, distributor, alternator and starter. Pete will supply all the hundreds of other parts I have not mentioned.

The engine will be built to current FIA regulations, and will be painted black as they were before the Ford blue was introduced a year or so later.

So here are some of the parts I have sourced:

This is the block, the heart of the engine. Now this is where it gets really interesting. This is a 1963 cast genuine ‘Hi-Po’ block, but it is to the later 6-bolt design. This is unbelievably rare, as all the early experimental engines were destroyed by Ford and never released into production. The story goes that one of the young development Engineers secreted the engine away for a home-build, it got 5,000 miles of use and then dry stored. Its condition and evident lack of use is quite remarkable.

The heads remained unchanged when the engine block changed to a 6-bolt, and again the heads that came with this block are correctly dated and in excellent condition

So the engine is currently waiting for me to finish rebuilding the carburetors, which has taken time as work has got in the way (sound familiar…?).

The carbs were also really very difficult to find, I wanted a set of genuine Italian built Weber 48 IDA carbs as were fitted to the original cars. In 1992 I believe Weber production moved to Spain and these are avilable new and more readily used. They are slightly different in appearance and the top cover is attached with screws not studs.

I eventually managed to track down a set in the US and they proved in very good condition for their age, being stored in a Californian museum for most of their life.

Currently they are in pieces having been through my ultra-sonic machine, with the help of ClassicCarbs I have almost all the bits I need to rebuild them.

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I did find an original Cobra intake manifold for them, but to be honest it was just too expensive for its condition, although I slightly regret not buying it. I now have a new pattern correct one from Jim Ingelsi, along with all the correct linkages to fit all the way to the pedal and a cast ‘Cobra’ lettered water-neck.

Now I know that most of the recreations will run the fuel log / water-neck which has individual fuel lines running from the fuel log to each carb, but Pete Knight assured me that this will not work very well on a 400+hp engine and urged me to fit a direct feed fuel loop, so Jim’s cast water-neck without the fuel log will work perfectly well. here is an image of what it should look like when finished

Note the thermostat housing in the foreground, this wouldn’t be required on a full-on race car but for road rallies and other events it will be a useful addition to have.

Here are mine at the moment