A little history lesson

[blacksheep-1]

255 cubic inch and 9500 rpm in 1968

 

[Dig-It]

Crazy cool - thanks for posting!

 

[Dave_W]

Cool story.

Anyone else spot the E-Type Jag in the background of the B&W pic of the Mustang in front of the shop?

 

[xr7]

What an engine, as a kid I remember building several models with this engine in it, lots of little pieces for that exhaust system.
IIRC A.J. Foyt bought the Indy car engine rights from Ford. Wonder if AJ has a few of these laying around? I believe this engine was also going to be used in the Ford GT?

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Thanks for posting Blacksheep, GB899 texted me this story on Wednesday and I did not think to put it on the Forum so very thankful you did --- such a cool bit of Mustang history.
Of course Rob's 67 Fastback is the same color and he jokingly wondered if he should put decals on it to resemble this beast, ha!

 

[Mad Hatter]

That was fun to see!

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

There is one of these engines on display at The Cobra Experience in Martinez, Ca. It is well worth the time if you have any interest in Cobras. Should I ever get back there I will put a bit more diligence into studying it and take more photos.

 

[Dave_W]

If I get back to Solo Nats in Lincoln, NE, I'll have to look for one of these engines at the Speedway Motors museum.

 

[KazarS197]

I think this might be the history of the engine design.

Indy Engines -- The Ford V-8 Engine Workshop

Man I would have loved to see a video of that beast screaming across the flats!
Listen to the glorious sound in an Indy car.

 

[Dave_W]

Nice overhead shot of the "bundle of snakes" exhaust headers. I believe the primary reason for "reverse flow" (intake ports on the outside & exhaust ports on the inside of the heads) was to easily create a true "180 degree" exhaust header that had primary lengths appropriate for the engine's rpm range.

Plus they sound great

Bundle of Snakes - 180 Degree Headers

Many of you have seen the so-called “bundle-of-snakes” headers on the infamous Ford GT40s of the late sixties, but you might wonder. Are they still relevant today? Those beautiful works of art built by English craftsman on the Lola-designed chassis where two tubes from each bank of the V-8 are...

burnsstainless.com

 

[blacksheep-1]

Nice overhead shot of the "bundle of snakes" exhaust headers. I believe the primary reason for "reverse flow" (intake ports on the outside & exhaust ports on the inside of the heads) was to easily create a true "180 degree" exhaust header that had primary lengths appropriate for the engine's rpm range.

Plus they sound great

Bundle of Snakes - 180 Degree Headers

Many of you have seen the so-called “bundle-of-snakes” headers on the infamous Ford GT40s of the late sixties, but you might wonder. Are they still relevant today? Those beautiful works of art built by English craftsman on the Lola-designed chassis where two tubes from each bank of the V-8 are...

burnsstainless.com

As I recall, those heads were reversible, I think I remember AJ Foyts sprint car had the headers on the bottom

 

[xr7]

One more piece on A.J. Foyt, only driver to win Indy in a car and engine he built. I'm sure he had a bit of help. One of my fondest memories of A.J.'s driving days was the year at Indy when there was a new transmission used by some teams, including A.J. The transmission case was cleaned up compared to other in the hope it would have less aero drag. Well the transmissions began overheating during the race and shifting became difficult or impossible. A.J.'s was stuck when he came into the pits. IIRC A.J. got out of the car and grabbed a wrench or hammer and started beating on the transmission. Unfortunately A.J. was done. Always enjoyed watching Super Tex drive what ever, sprints, Indy, stock cars, sports cars.

 

[blacksheep-1]

One more piece on A.J. Foyt, only driver to win Indy in a car and engine he built. I'm sure he had a bit of help. One of my fondest memories of A.J.'s driving days was the year at Indy when there was a new transmission used by some teams, including A.J. The transmission case was cleaned up compared to other in the hope it would have less aero drag. Well the transmissions began overheating during the race and shifting became difficult or impossible. A.J.'s was stuck when he came into the pits. IIRC A.J. got out of the car and grabbed a wrench or hammer and started beating on the transmission. Unfortunately A.J. was done. Always enjoyed watching Super Tex drive what ever, sprints, Indy, stock cars, sports cars.

I watched that happen, I haven't missed an Indy 500 since Bobby Unser won it in 68.
I am a Foyt fan myself