Ford Logic
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Melting Slicks
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From: Monroe Twp, NJ
Ford Logic
I posted this question in the off topic section with no luck for a answer. When the Corvette engine was put in the 57 Chevy the valve covers said Chevrolet on them. I am not sure about the 1958 car. Why did Ford with the 406 and 427 put Thunderbird on the valve covers and the side logo of the car showing the Thunderbird emblem when such engines were never offered in the Thunderbird. There was nothing Thunderbird about these engines at all as far as I can tell. By 1962 the Bird was a full Luxury car with a 390.
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Why do you think there was anything "Corvette" about the engines that went in '57 Chevy pass cars? Corvettes used Chevrolet engines. Chevrolet never referred to Corvette engines used in pass cars to my recollection.
Ford always called some of their performance V-8's "Thunderbird" or "Thunderbird Special" engines starting at least with the '56 312 engine when used in pass car applications. I think this ended when the FE series engine went away. I don't remember any of the 260/351 or 429/460 engines tagged as "Thunderbird".
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Why do you think there was anything "Corvette" about the engines that went in '57 Chevy pass cars? Corvettes used Chevrolet engines. Chevrolet never referred to Corvette engines used in pass cars to my recollection.
Ford always called some of their performance V-8's "Thunderbird" or "Thunderbird Special" engines starting at least with the '56 312 engine when used in pass car applications. I think this ended when the FE series engine went away. I don't remember any of the 260/351 or 429/460 engines tagged as "Thunderbird".
Ford always called some of their performance V-8's "Thunderbird" or "Thunderbird Special" engines starting at least with the '56 312 engine when used in pass car applications. I think this ended when the FE series engine went away. I don't remember any of the 260/351 or 429/460 engines tagged as "Thunderbird".
I really don't remember as I am getting old. But, did the 57 Bel Air with FI come with the Corvette valve covers or were they the stamped steel ones like all the other engines? Maybe someone here can remember.
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Melting Slicks
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From: Monroe Twp, NJ
Thats my point. The 390 was in the T bird. The 406/427 never was, yet they display Thunderbird on the valve covers and on the side lower fender the numberals are inside the bird.
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Melting Slicks
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From: Monroe Twp, NJ
Why do you think there was anything "Corvette" about the engines that went in '57 Chevy pass cars? Corvettes used Chevrolet engines. Chevrolet never referred to Corvette engines used in pass cars to my recollection.
Ford always called some of their performance V-8's "Thunderbird" or "Thunderbird Special" engines starting at least with the '56 312 engine when used in pass car applications. I think this ended when the FE series engine went away. I don't remember any of the 260/351 or 429/460 engines tagged as "Thunderbird".
Ford always called some of their performance V-8's "Thunderbird" or "Thunderbird Special" engines starting at least with the '56 312 engine when used in pass car applications. I think this ended when the FE series engine went away. I don't remember any of the 260/351 or 429/460 engines tagged as "Thunderbird".
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As I recall, the 427 engines coming down the line past me in 1966 looked like this:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1
Chrome valve covers. No mention of Thunderbird but had the Thederbird on the air cleaner. I believe the 406 had the plain, chrome valve covers but I really don't remember.
Some of the same basic engines that were referred to as "Thunderbird" engines were also referred to as "Interceptor" engines. I can't seem to grasp your drift.
What is the difference between the Thunderbird emblem on the fender on a Ford and the crossed flags on a Chevy that had an optional engine other than that signifies an optional engine?
Then, you can take a peek at this:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1
Ford also called the 332 FE version of this engine the Thunderbird engine even though it wasn't available in a Thunderbird(I don't think). There was also an FE high performance engine available in 1960 called the 352 special. Didn't say anything about Thunderbird.
Last edited by MikeM; Apr 26, 2010 at 04:57 PM.
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Why do you think there was anything "Corvette" about the engines that went in '57 Chevy pass cars? Corvettes used Chevrolet engines. Chevrolet never referred to Corvette engines used in pass cars to my recollection.
Ford always called some of their performance V-8's "Thunderbird" or "Thunderbird Special" engines starting at least with the '56 312 engine when used in pass car applications. I think this ended when the FE series engine went away. I don't remember any of the 260/351 or 429/460 engines tagged as "Thunderbird".
Ford always called some of their performance V-8's "Thunderbird" or "Thunderbird Special" engines starting at least with the '56 312 engine when used in pass car applications. I think this ended when the FE series engine went away. I don't remember any of the 260/351 or 429/460 engines tagged as "Thunderbird".
The "thin wall" 221, 260, 289 cid motors bore none of that and became the domain of Shelby and Ford leveraged its image off his success, eventally taking it to the big FE engines after the 427 Cobra was introduced in March of '65.
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Melting Slicks
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From: Monroe Twp, NJ
The T-Bird was really the only performance image that Ford created during the 50s. I would assume that were simply leveraging off the success of the early cars, despite the fact that it had become a full fledged 4-seater by '58. As early as '59 they had the 430 cid engine which was almost 80 cubes more than the standard Ford 352. They set the standard--if you want to call it that--in the Ford engine line up.
The "thin wall" 221, 260, 289 cid motors bore none of that and became the domain of Shelby and Ford leveraged its image off his success, eventally taking it to the big FE engines after the 427 Cobra was introduced in March of '65.
The "thin wall" 221, 260, 289 cid motors bore none of that and became the domain of Shelby and Ford leveraged its image off his success, eventally taking it to the big FE engines after the 427 Cobra was introduced in March of '65.
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From: Greenville, Indiana
They had the Mustang/Fairlane engine package called "428 Cobra Jet".
Then there was the Shelby GT 500 that used the 428 engine.
I don't recall any regular production Ford 427 engine badging saying anything about "Cobra". Maybe a real Ford historian can tell you. I know there are probably some watching this thread.
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From: Extreme NW Alabama Roll Tide
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I tried to explain this to you in post #2. Guess I did a poor job.
As I recall, the 427 engines coming down the line past me in 1966 looked like this:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1
Chrome valve covers. No mention of Thunderbird but had the Thederbird on the air cleaner. I believe the 406 had the plain, chrome valve covers but I really don't remember.
Some of the same basic engines that were referred to as "Thunderbird" engines were also referred to as "Interceptor" engines. I can't seem to grasp your drift.
What is the difference between the Thunderbird emblem on the fender on a Ford and the crossed flags on a Chevy that had an optional engine other than that signifies an optional engine?
Then, you can take a peek at this:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1
Ford also called the 332 FE version of this engine the Thunderbird engine even though it wasn't available in a Thunderbird(I don't think). There was also an FE high performance engine available in 1960 called the 352 special. Didn't say anything about Thunderbird.
As I recall, the 427 engines coming down the line past me in 1966 looked like this:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1
Chrome valve covers. No mention of Thunderbird but had the Thederbird on the air cleaner. I believe the 406 had the plain, chrome valve covers but I really don't remember.
Some of the same basic engines that were referred to as "Thunderbird" engines were also referred to as "Interceptor" engines. I can't seem to grasp your drift.
What is the difference between the Thunderbird emblem on the fender on a Ford and the crossed flags on a Chevy that had an optional engine other than that signifies an optional engine?
Then, you can take a peek at this:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...26tbs%3Disch:1
Ford also called the 332 FE version of this engine the Thunderbird engine even though it wasn't available in a Thunderbird(I don't think). There was also an FE high performance engine available in 1960 called the 352 special. Didn't say anything about Thunderbird.
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56 Chevies ordered with 2X4 carbs and solid lifters came from the factory with aluminum Corvette valve covers, with C-O-R-V-E-T-T-E on them and staggered holes. 265 cu in, standard 3-sp only.