Pops sleeper
I am going to lead off the the first car feature in the newly revived FE Club of America with the story of the car that got me into FE's. Ted "pop" Cain began racing in Tampa with a hopped up Model A in 1948 , switching to flatheads until 1955 when Y-blocks took his focus . Growing from an A/stock to a C/gas street driven Crown Victoria he ran them quite successfully. But hired as a driver in '59 to pilot a 352 he saw the handwriting on the wall. He sold the Y-block Gas car in '61 and bought a '57 T-bird with plans on a FE. The 427 had made it's debut by the time he had gotten a game plan and a grub stake. Not to be setting idle he first helped one friend fit a new 406 into a '55 bird in '62 then him and a buddy dropped the first crate 427 delivered to Tampa into a '56 Bird in '63. After this came a few others , but always growing in his mind was the plan for his. Early '65 brought a 427 top oiler block into the living room , followed by a low riser 2x4 intake and carbs. A early 352 donor supplied the machined combustion chamber heads and incidental parts such as stamped steel timing cover. While reading a magazine article about the upcoming 428 in '66 he noticed it was a longer stroke and a idea began to grow. In his Y-block gas car he was running a 312 crank offset ground and using full floating Flathead Rod bearings for a final cubic inch of 330 . So after seeing the deminsions of the 428 crank, using one would put him back in the stroker game. A trip to Bill Currie Ford had a 428 crank and 427 rods in hand , making Pop Cain one of the first privateers in Florida to use this legendary combination. If it was going to be fast it should look good, so all parts that could be chromed were taken off and sent to the platers. All the work took place in Citrus Park Fla with engine assembly on the wooden pickup bed of his 26 model T . He was the definition of a shade tree racer to be sure, god bless Florida live oaks being natural engine pullers . During the ramp up of parts , the T-Bird was stripped to a shell and restored but with performance in mind . To eliminate the problem of the FE setting at a high position the frame the cross member was notched and reinforced. New frame stands were fabbed to place the engine lower in a better position. Then the steering box and column were lowered for header clearance . To stop this forthcoming beast he modified A-arms , spindles , and brakes from a '59 Turnpike Cruiser to provide better whoa power . Engine finished and dropped, in the oil starvation problem so common to top oiler racing reared its ugly head. Trial and error ( in the days before internet) brought about a modified oil system , high pressure/high volume oil pump , increased clearance , and for good measure a cross drilled 428 crank.
With the bearing problem fixed Mr. Murphy stepped in , in the form of a wrist pin retainer failing. The wrist pin scored the wall and nessitated a over bore . It was determined that .080 would clean it up . Pop came from the Flathead and Yblock days when a .125 was normal so boring it was no big deal and what the heck new blocks were only $275 . Some comparison found that .0825 would bring it to a 409 Chevy bore and save some money on rings. Back together it was a 465 cubic inch Corvette killer. Backed by a T-85 electric overdrive and a 4.33 equa-loc 9inch he had the best of both worlds , highway speeds or launching outta the hole at the flip of a switch. A few late night speed trials on his marked quarter mile showed all was well , and no Corvette was going to be spared. A few trips to the strip netted some 11.80's on slicks dam fast for the late '60's. Dale Maybry Rd in Tampa saw the proving of this street sleeper many times. A tour of Appalachia followed in it then a marriage all the time it preformed flawlessly. In '74 a new born baby , as in yours truly was born , and a trip from Florida to Ohio to show of the new family member off. So to say it was a streetable is under statement. Well time and a move regulated the Bird to the barn , but as boys my friends and I would talk Pop into firing it up. As aspiring gear heads my twelve year old friends and i would set in awe as flames would erupt from the dump pipes. The sound, the smell of the exhaust, the feeling of that big block vibrating the walls of the barn permanently burnt FE's into our brains. Most of us still race FE's today , but none of them ever seem to compare. A lengthy restoration started in 1997 finished in 2007 thanks to life's monkey wrenches. But the engine was replaced with Genisis Mfg's first iron block they ever finished . It was the prototype they first got running , it was built using Pops rotating assembly. Now ten years down the road now we are putting his original block back together and putting it back to 1969 specs . Pop Cain has a grandson that is 7 and loves to ride in the bird , guess the old girl is inspiring the next generation again.
With the bearing problem fixed Mr. Murphy stepped in , in the form of a wrist pin retainer failing. The wrist pin scored the wall and nessitated a over bore . It was determined that .080 would clean it up . Pop came from the Flathead and Yblock days when a .125 was normal so boring it was no big deal and what the heck new blocks were only $275 . Some comparison found that .0825 would bring it to a 409 Chevy bore and save some money on rings. Back together it was a 465 cubic inch Corvette killer. Backed by a T-85 electric overdrive and a 4.33 equa-loc 9inch he had the best of both worlds , highway speeds or launching outta the hole at the flip of a switch. A few late night speed trials on his marked quarter mile showed all was well , and no Corvette was going to be spared. A few trips to the strip netted some 11.80's on slicks dam fast for the late '60's. Dale Maybry Rd in Tampa saw the proving of this street sleeper many times. A tour of Appalachia followed in it then a marriage all the time it preformed flawlessly. In '74 a new born baby , as in yours truly was born , and a trip from Florida to Ohio to show of the new family member off. So to say it was a streetable is under statement. Well time and a move regulated the Bird to the barn , but as boys my friends and I would talk Pop into firing it up. As aspiring gear heads my twelve year old friends and i would set in awe as flames would erupt from the dump pipes. The sound, the smell of the exhaust, the feeling of that big block vibrating the walls of the barn permanently burnt FE's into our brains. Most of us still race FE's today , but none of them ever seem to compare. A lengthy restoration started in 1997 finished in 2007 thanks to life's monkey wrenches. But the engine was replaced with Genisis Mfg's first iron block they ever finished . It was the prototype they first got running , it was built using Pops rotating assembly. Now ten years down the road now we are putting his original block back together and putting it back to 1969 specs . Pop Cain has a grandson that is 7 and loves to ride in the bird , guess the old girl is inspiring the next generation again.
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