The Inside Story of Ford's Incredible 427 SOHC
by Tom Shaw
It’s doubtful that Ford was aware of how strong NASCAR’s resolve was, and having been irreverently bounced from the top by a rival manufacturer so soon after launching a major “Total Performance” campaign in mid-1963, regaining its lost position was a high corporate priority.
Executive Engineer Gus Scussel had a frank discussion with Bill Innes, the man who held yea of nay power over the SOHC project.
“I sat down with Bill Innes and explained the project to hi. I said, ‘Look, I think we ought to have this because if we intend to stay in racing, we’ve got to do two things; we’ve got to build a small car like they build…” He looked at me and turned his nose up. I said, ‘I have no control over that because I’m in engines, but from an engine point of view, I can give you the engine you need with this overhead cam.’ Innes said go ahead.”
Hence, in early 1964, with the sting of the Chrysler Hemi still a fresh wound, Engineering was given the go-ahead to create the Hemi killer. It wasn’t enough to equal the Hemi — this new creation had to surpass it by a decisive margin. Ford’s best creative minds went to work.
Dramatic Changes
Inside the Ford Engine Engineering building, the Indy car program had already broken a lot of important ground regarding overhead cam V8s. Though the Indy engine was a 255 CID small-block utilizing a much different DOHC (double over head cam) valve train configuration, the groundwork had already been laid. While the Indy program was given great latitude in spending money, the 427 program was to be conducted on a much tighter budget and a far more accelerated schedule.
“We had to come up with something for that season,” remembers Norm Faustyn, Ford engineer in charge of the SOHC 427 project, “and we should to do it in a hurry. The single purpose was to whip Chrysler that year.”
Ford was not about to throw in the towel on the ’64 NASCAR season. Though the Hemis had the longer tracks all sewn up, fastback Fords, with aces like Ned Jarrett and Fred Lorenzen at the wheel, were still competitive on sorter tracks, and if a Hemi-beater could be brought out early enough, there was a good chance that Ford just might repeat the Manufacturer’s Championship for ’64 — in spite of Chrysler Hemi. The crash program operated ‘round the clock.
Within days of the Daytona disaster, Ford filed papers with NASCAR, as per their requirements, to allow the technical inspectors time to review the plans and rule on their legality, or lack thereof. NASCAR issued no immediate determination either for or against, so work progressed, with each day critical.
“By designing a conversion type overhead camshaft package around the basic production 427 engine,” wrote Faustyn in a 1965 report to the Society Of Automotive Engineers, “we hoped to utilize proven hardware wherever possible to reduce cost, development time, and tooling time.”
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