I belive that during the early sixties Ford developed a 4.5L Twin Cam V8 for racing, particularly at Indy. I belive Lotus was one of the most proeminent users of this engine.
My knowledge on this particular engine being (very) limited, I would like to know more about it, in particular:
. Was this a purpose built racing engine, or was it based on a stock block (more probable I guess) ?
. Did Ford do the design and development on their own, or did they get outside help (Weslake ?).
. Was this engine ever used in sports cars racing ? I'm particularly thinking about the GT 40, after the CSI limited the capacity of sports cars engines to 5L in 1968.
Thank you in advance.
Info on the Ford V8 Twin Cam engine
Started by
Alvega
, Dec 21 2000 23:58
4 replies to this topic
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#2
Don Capps
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Posted 22 December 2000 - 01:57
Doing this just off the top of head, so bear with me:
In 1963, Ford did use the castings of the 260 production engine -- but in aluminum, and also retained pushrods. It was not remotely a "production-based" engine after the engineers got through with it.
However, it was already evident that another engine would be necessary if Ford wanted to be successful and beat the Offy. The result was the 256 for the 1964 season. It was designed from the ground up by Ford as a racing engine: dual overhead cams, fuel injection, tuned exhaust -- which was in the vee to fit better into the monocoque Lotus was running at Indy. The initial batches were built by Ford. The tools and dies were then given to -- tada! -- Meyer-Drake to build the production batches and serve as the maintenance facility for the engines at first.
The 256 was later used in a turbocharged version and then AJ Foyt bought out the rights to the engine was known as the 'Foyt' in its waning days.
I left out a bunch of the juicy details, but this will get you started. Don't forget that Bruce McLaren did a massive destroke job on one to use in F1. While not very successful, it sound great...
In 1963, Ford did use the castings of the 260 production engine -- but in aluminum, and also retained pushrods. It was not remotely a "production-based" engine after the engineers got through with it.
However, it was already evident that another engine would be necessary if Ford wanted to be successful and beat the Offy. The result was the 256 for the 1964 season. It was designed from the ground up by Ford as a racing engine: dual overhead cams, fuel injection, tuned exhaust -- which was in the vee to fit better into the monocoque Lotus was running at Indy. The initial batches were built by Ford. The tools and dies were then given to -- tada! -- Meyer-Drake to build the production batches and serve as the maintenance facility for the engines at first.
The 256 was later used in a turbocharged version and then AJ Foyt bought out the rights to the engine was known as the 'Foyt' in its waning days.
I left out a bunch of the juicy details, but this will get you started. Don't forget that Bruce McLaren did a massive destroke job on one to use in F1. While not very successful, it sound great...
#3
David M. Kane
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Posted 23 December 2000 - 21:49
Dan Gurney had a lot to do with get Chapman to Indy in the first place and secondly in getting Ford to do these two engines, first the stock block and then the twin-cam. Sometimes we forget just how much Dan Gurney did in his heyday.
#4
Alvega
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Posted 31 December 2000 - 00:01
Thank you guys for the info, and sorry for the delay.
#5
Ray Bell
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Posted 31 December 2000 - 05:15
Gurney was also instrumental in getting the Weslake heads done for the Can-Am Fords based on this block, and Ford gave him blocks with the taller deck height for this use.
This became known - at least in some circles - as the Cleveland block. I think the block was 1" taller.
This became known - at least in some circles - as the Cleveland block. I think the block was 1" taller.
