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KS 429 "SK" parts wanted

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WTBuy_66

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I am looking for Ford 1968-70 429 "SK" or "XE" parts.
Particularly SK 52545 heads, SK or XE exhaust, front engine brackets and original oil cooler setup that was used in 1968 racers.

Any information as to what oil cooler would have been used in my 1968 I would appreciate it. The car is an original Kar Kraft car and when it slipped through Ford's hands the only thing they had removed was the oil cooler, minus the C8 1968 adapter that isn't supposed to exist. ;D

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you
 

capt. bronco

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You could send a friend of mine a message on here he is 68Rcodeman he is very knowledgeable on the 68 stuff he may have some sources for you. It is worth a shot. His name is Dave.
 
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WTBuy_66

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1968 1/2 -69 Galaxie 429 proto

000_0103.jpg
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Just a big 4 door sedan. And happens to be a factory 429, dual 4, 4spd. One of a batch of 10.
Confirmed through Ford with special early parts. Don't want to give to much information till she is ready to go to print as untill this one was found none were known to exist.

But the person that was restoring it started selling parts off of it when I got sick. So would take all the help I can get putting her back the way she was.
 
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WTBuy_66

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Galaxie engine



This is the engine that needs some parts back. Has had some parts put in place of the stolen ones just to keep it running. We never had the air cleaner that was originally used nor the oil cooler components except for the adapter on the block.

Ironically, because they had left the adapter on the engine it overheated regularly and was taken to the dealership for repairs. And why the farmer put it on blocks with such low miles on it.

And as it seems I live in Chevy country I desperately need to find a Ford guy that know how to actually restore something like this.
 

broncosam

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Wow, I know anything is possible,but I've never heard of a factory 429 with dual quads. And what's more, none of the books I have on Ford engines mention anything about that option. That is too neat. Only engines I've ever seen from Ford with multiple carburetors were FE series big block engines back in the 60's,mostly 427's. Although I have seen a few Shelby Mustangs with dual quads on a 428 big block.
 
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WTBuy_66

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factory weirdness

The dual 4 is interesting but the weirdness is harder to see. Keep in mind most parts are C8 not C9 coded.

The car is a 4-door sedan, and was built by them with a toploader 4spd.
But as a sedan it is not supposed to have one.
When the transmission was being rebuilt I was called by the shop and informed the kit they got for the Galaxie GT (2dr coupe and conv, 4spd cars) would only work in the tailhousing of the tranny.

They had to take the gears and measure the front out with the big spline and traced it to a Boss 429 toploader, for use with Mustang and Torino in 1969.
So I ended up with 2 half kits coming back to me and a highly confused and amused transmission company. Final words from them were "If you blow it up, you can't even make another."

When the shifter was being restored it was confirmed it is identical to a Boss shifter body. But the rods are the longer Galaxie and even though this guy is the one that everyone has gone to for over 30 years he couldn't identify the handle and proposes it came from a truck.

The rear-end is 9 3/8 posi, the brakes are disc up front and 12' drums in the rear. SK/XE parts gallor as well as some interesting factory custom work like the clutch setup and driveshaft.

Other than the disc brakes and unknown other things all of the batch of 10 cars built had variations of the wedge 429, all had 4spds and all were sedans.

As I have been told, this is primarily a NASCAR setup over a year ahead of time in the wrong body/car using the SCJ 429 (test unit, as they hoped to build it later).

Build sheets (have two) are typed on blank printer paper from that time not build sheet forms. Think of a regular buildsheet but blank with a few codes.

Ford refused to admit it was built and it still took years after giving them the buildsheets and other documents I got with the car to get them to say, "yup there were 10 built and only 1 with disc brakes... you got that one"
 
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toddz69

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Neat car! Will it be mentioned in the upcoming Kar Kraft book?

Todd Z.
 
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WTBuy_66

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not in print

I had never come forward with the car as I was hoping to publish the article myself as I used to write for some automotive mags. Then came along cancer x2 and a decade slipped by. All the while all my projects and items were in storage getting ready to be sold with my death.

I have not stayed dead yet so I am selling off what I dont need now and putting back together that things I want to keep.

As for where it was built initially is still a question no one has an answer to.

Holman and Moody confirmed the parts and think it was done by Kar Kraft.

Another person thinks it was built in the testing lab for new parts, this is not a named dept but one that simply was to drive testing future builds.

Another thinks it might be of an "engineering" batch that are built to test the specs of the components as a group and this takes less than a few days and the cars are then processed without anyone knowing.

None of the latter were DOT approved and is part of the mystery that is preproduction, as the cars were not supposed to be on the road with regular cars.

Most of the latter are destroyed but some batches that are almost stock are simply thrown into the pool of cars to get sold off and some are snagged by employees.

This one had been left at a dealership in Emporia KS and was supposed to be picked up, instead it was sold on a hand written invoice to a farmer.

So some is still unknown, and until the person that ordered this batch comes forward and says why he did it, we will never know for sure. Heck I would be happy with the paperwork telling why.
 
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WTBuy_66

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paperwork

Yes I have a deluxe Marti report, and letters from him stating the total of 10 and another on my 1 of 10. Which he would not give me for awhile until verification through Ford as he had not heard of sedan 4spds as well, great guy and good work.

As well as the original sales invoice, original tax receipt for state and tags and x2 buildsheets, warranty book with his logged "overheating" issues, engine tag, rear tag and VIN is still in place.

Door tag doesn't show much strange except for an interior deviation code, probably for the 4spd and color change.

As Lee Holman had told me these would have already probably been in the process of being built as something else like base 390-429 cars and then picked off the line and built and converted. He had said more than once he was with his father and done just that, as they walked down the line his father would point to 10 different cars and they would be pulled out of the line, put on trucks and shipped to their facility for being built and used for different testing. Most notably the annual fuel test to show which cars were most economical.

The fuel test cars would have the original tags on them and most of the original paperwork and were sold afterward, however they were built with some special H&M parts to make the cars win every time. He had laughed when he told me this and said "how do you think Ford won every time".

So there are H&M cars sold without knowing they were the same cars shown in Popular Mechanics mag and highly converted. And no paperwork as he told me Ford told their company to get rid of it back in the 80's.

The 4spd is the proof of the special conversion as it is not a simple job and includes a change of firewalls parts and then custom built trans, shifter floor adaption and driveshaft among other things. This was not a normal thing to have done on the sedans.

Another interesting note is other than the side marker lights that say 429 in them, the car has no emblems, no F O R D, no Galaxie, nothing.

All the extra work still begs the question as to why, as Ford would have had invested extra time and cost and engineering?
 
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WTBuy_66

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numbers and codes

Most people think that for a special Ford to be what it is then there has to be a special DSO code, this is a misnomer.

If a car is part of a very small batch or test project then not only is there no code but most likely not really a proper name for the project as well.

This is a common deal across all companies. As I used to write for and design for Chrysler I talked to many engineers that told me of cars that existed but there was little to no proof as it was such a small side project.

For example, until I published the # of steel body street hemis from 1964 they were not known to exist. I only found out in researching an article and ran across an engineer that happened to still have an internal Chrysler document stating the actual number of these cars.

Ironically several years earlier one of these car had been found but deemed a fake by a certain Mopar know-it-all and the car was dismissed. While all the time it was most definitely real.

People have this false sense of knowing that all has been found and all is known. Heck after 40+ years all secrets must be known right?

I have pictures of cars built but never known, like the 1975 challengers and Barrracudas. paperwork for projects never meant for the public...

Shelby is horrible at keeping records and until a lot of people came up with enough proof the initial response to the De Mexico edition was it was a fake.

And at least those have some documentation. And you would have thought by now all would be done to record all cars built but alas this is untrue.

The Shelby (but not marked as one) Terlingua for example from 2007 was supposed to be built as only a coupe but did you know 2 convertibles were built? These were not advertised as being available and there is little to no information on them but from the owners.

I have thousands of pages of documentation and 30+ years of dealing with finding over and over cars that simply are anomalies.

So you may find that one off yet ;D or possibly already have it...
 

rmk57

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Looks like a Galaxie or Custom 500. What's the engine vin code.
 
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WTBuy_66

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Supposed to be a "galaxie 500" but no emblems. I bought some to even put on but decided not to.
Engine code is an "N".
 
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