Cobra Lads - building a JBL ford 427 shelby cobra kitcar

The Butcher and The Engines

How many engines has the butcher melted? The correct answer is "three". Hee hee. Here is the story. My very first engine was a CHP 427w crate engine. It was years ago and at the time I think it cost right around $6k. If I had to guess, I would estimate it at the 435hp range. I had a lot to learn back then and accidentally reversed the lines to my remote oil cooler. It's amazing how long an engine will run without oil! I always had great oil pressure, but none was circulating in the engine cavities. My first engine blew on the back stretch of the big track at Willow Springs. Tears in my eyes as I limped in, one piston missing. Dean Woodruff from House Of Cobras was always very kind to me and had the engine torn apart at the track less than two hours later! The Trickflow Twisted Wedge Heads were fine...I basically needed a new block.

Cobra Lads Redesigned

It's been at least a couple of years since I posted to Cobra Lads and I wanted to give the site a new look and move it from my home server to TypePad. I'm hoping the new look is a little more professional and modern. The old site was me blogging by hand kind of before blog software existed. lol There are some pros and cons that come with the move but overall I think the new layout should work out well. Some of the old links will not function and my 50 old Butcher story pages will not have active links in them so the stories won't make as much sense, but all the pictures are in the photo albums. There are now over 50 videos posted too! Sadly I can't put them into a nice category or they disappear...seems to be a beta bug with Video Egg and TypePad.

I hope all your cobra builds are going well and I hope you enjoy some of my stories and adventures on this site. I was the first person to build a JBL stage one. I think I built it around the years 1999 to 2001 and I sold my cobra around 2002. I really enjoyed the learning and testing and engineering aspects of such a project.

427w Test Starts

Checking out the engine bay and letting the engine run. American horsepower with a deep lope!

Now that's Nascar Sounding!

The Butcher's Ford 383w Stroker with Trickflow Twisted Wedge heads sounds mean!

Westech Slowly Increases the RPMs

Dyno day takes time and preparation. John takes the 383w CHP stroker up in stages.

Westech John starts to test

John easy the Butcher's JBL into the testing. This is my second engine I believe, the 383w stroker rebuild. I had a bad habit of reversing oil lines as old time readers may recall. hehehe. More on that in a future post.

The HOC Powerplant Sings

The Robnell gets revved high on this test run and the House Of Cobra powerplant performs flawlessly.

The Big Fans Keep the Robnell Cool

Ryo's Robnell is being put through the paces.

Ryo's Robnell at Westech

Ryo and I used to live at Westech. It was always an education taking the cobras to the dyno.

The Fords Lined up and Ready

Everyone waits patiently for their turn. This group is ready to go.

The Big Track at Willow is Scary Fast

Willow is the fastest road in the West for a reason.

More Ford Fun at Willow

The Fords were out in numbers during this track event.

Fast Fords

The Fords crawl onto the track, getting ready to blast off.

Three Cobras Make a Hard Left Hander

The great sounds of big block and small block horsepower.

Racers Racin!

High speed action around the track. I filmed this too many years ago with and old digital camera. I wish the quality was smoother.

Willow Springs Raceway

I think this was either a TCRA event or an open Ford event.

Hoods Open at Cobra Univer

Some of the cobras on display at the end of a hard running day at Cobra U. The wind was howling that day.

Spring Little Cobra

Into the throttle on the straight away.

Cobras Tearing It Up

Great engine sounds as the lads get into the throttle.

Willow Short Track

I think that is John working his magic in the Johnex near the end of a lap.

Cobra University

I believe these next videos are from the short track at Willow for Cobra U or Cobra University. Jumping John Brooks and I attended two or three times. It was awesome.

Cobras ready for tracktime

The lads are getting ready to race around the track at Willow.

Number 96 gets ready for the track

Cobras and Willow Springs on a sunny California day!

Cobra Track Time at Willow Springs

The cobras are lined up and ready for a spin on the big track.

Cobras at Willow Springs

The lads are lined up and ready to Giv'r! A sunny day for cobra racing.

Wayne's Very Cool GT40 at Knott's

I believe this is Wayne's GT40. That engine sounds trick.

Neat exhaust setup at Knott's

This cobra sounds great and has hidden sidepipe exhausts as described by Swifty Scott.

A red 427 Cobra at Knott's

A roaring red cobra meets the sounds of a purring blue cobra

Knott's Fun In The Sun

A Gordon Levy powerplant at Knott's Fun In The Sun.

I promise, this is the last actuator video

Hee hee. This is kind of the engineering section of the vids. Engineers may appreciate the injenuity of electronically cockpit-adjustable rollbar stiffness settings.

Actuators Retracting

I know these videos seem dull lol, but you have to remember that Richard the Engineer had just invented them for my JBL and we had no idea if they would function as we had hoped and they did! They did what they were supposed to do perfectly. You can see much better pics of how the rollbar system works in the picture section of cobralads.com

Cockpit Controlled Actuators

These badboys are electronically controlled rollbar actuators. They connect to the rollbar via a metal component that looks like a knifeblade. When the blades are flat, they are soft, and when the blades are verticle, they are very stiff. Rotating the blades allows for on-the-fly rollbar stiffness adjustments for varying track conditions.

Around The Block We Prowl

The Butcher shifts gears as the lads take the 427w on a leisurely stroll.

The Viper Red Cobra on the move

This is just a short clip of driving in the finished car, test driving.

Keeping an eye on the gauges

In the finished JBL cobra, Swifty Scott and I drive around the block while he keeps an eye on the Autometer Gauges.

Checking the Manifold Vacuum

I'm not positive but I think it was around 12 lbs? It was so long ago I forget but I do remember it was right in the range it was supposed to be. I made that vacuum tool with a dial pressure guage from McMaster and hoses from Jegs.

Intake Manifold Alteration at the Machine Shop

Jorge at Zapco Engineering in Upland is drilling and threading the bottom of my Super Vic. Richard and I liked to use this area for a breather tube (on top behind the carb). Anytime you can let air out of the engine easily, you can help reduce back pressure and gain a horsepower or two.

The Butcher takes the fiberglassed JBL for a spin

At this stage it felt good to drive around the block. Yay! Bodywork and paint and I would be too cool for school. LoL It really felt good to have all the hard work finally turn into an automobile, even though it was grey and primerish.

The Butcher has a rough start, then goes for a spin

At this stage I was really excited since the car was finally starting to look like a JBL cobra! The rolling chassis rolled, the engine ran, and the fiberglass was coming along. I thought I was 95% done, when really I was probably only 66% to 75% complete at this time.

The 427w is revving a little fast

It was time to set the idle high and break the engine in over a series of rpms. We kept an eye on the temp and additional guages.

The Butcher and his friends dial the engine in

Tom the Coroner keeps a watchful eye as the sidepipes lope. Engineer Scott works the throttle manually.

Swifty Sign Scott Presses The Start

Scott learns the trickery of the Painless Switch Panel and brings the ford stroker to life.

Trickflow Twisted Wedge Heads and the sweet sound of dual sidepipes

The engine runs and idles high as we begin checking for leaks and dial in the carb.

I thought they were burn proof?

The big crate engine roars at a high idle until Engineer Scott calls for me to cut the engine as some of the sparkplug wires are on the header. I believe we also had two of the wires crossed and might of been firing out of sequence at that point.

Ignition and Start!

The CHP 427 Ford Small Block stroker takes its first breath of life!

Where is that screwdriver?

I nervously get into the cockpit as Tom, Jim, and Scott prepared for gas and oil leaks.

Clicking the buttons

My wife always says "you click too many buttons!" LoL! The four of us mill about the Coast High Performance 427 windsor beast as we get ready to attempt a start.

Fuel Pump is Pumping!

Me (the long-haired butcher) and Scott, search the engine bay to insure the Holley red fuel pump is pumping.

Gotta Run The Fuel Pump

This was early on in the JBL build on the day we first started the CHP 427w stroker beast. Richard the engineer, Scott the engineer, Scott the Swifty, and me, attempted to bring the powerplant to life.