Well this forum has been rather quiet of late so I guess I'll chip in.
1-. Engine cooling is the worst feature, or rather, the lack of. AC knew this and deleted oil temp gauges from the cars as a result. Basically on the auto cars there's nowhere for the heat to go.
I've seen the dog bowl-propped bonnet story and fans installed in the wings to release the heat.
Having had total head gasket failure after a 'professional' engine rebuild at £xxxxx expense, this year I've now found some blokes in a local garage who look at the problem not the value of the car and wallet of its owner. They have discovered that the fan was blowing out not in! The crankshaft had wear due to dirt in the reassembly, the fan thermostat was not working properly and the carb was totally out of balance. So the whole thing has come apart again and been rebuilt.
I've taken to the dark side and gone for Evans coolant. Early test runs show everything looking good with temp gauge at 90 degrees. All for just over £xxx. So fingers crossed I hope to be able to use it after nearly two years off the road.
1+ What's great about the 428 is the combination of styling, engineering and power. Frua's design, AC's chassis and Ford's lump make for a magic combination.
Motor cognoscenti have massive respect for the 428.
Other pluses;
2. simple effective build- Good brakes, great handling, obvious mechanics.
3. parts - surprisingly available if you know where to look (and with under 100 on the road demand is limited).
4. Exclusivity - 29 convertible, 51 coupe.
5. Was cheap, now not so cheap but arguably still undervalued.
Other minuses;
2. that body wants to rust - after all it's 1960/70's Italian.
3. the ignoscenti call it a Cobra. One has to explain, preferably with a diagram.
4. Position of foot pedals is annoyingly offset to the left.
5. If you want one you're going to have to wait and be ready with a fair old chunk of cash.
C.
