Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickt
Put another way, if I could wave a magic wand right now and turn my original iron 428, which I am happy with, in to an original iron 427SO, and every other aspect of the build stay exactly the same, with no change in any performance characteristic, or anything else in any way, I would certainly pay the magic wand fairy $3k for that, and, if she caught me in the right mood, I might go to $5k... but I don't think I'd go much higher than that.  |
This to me is representative of what's been lost sight-of in the last decade of replicas.
So many newer guys have no concept of the differences between SO's and other FE's--
Other than it's cost, and what value it will add to their cars. And many just have SO's built to go to the lawn shows on Sunday and wow the sheep with the magic 'SO' word.
You Pat want to saddle an SO with a 400HP combination so you can just say it's an SO-or possibly increase the car's re-sale. Your 428 is ideal for your usage. But SO's, being priority main engines with over- square architecture, were made for more power and abuse than top oilers with long strokes. A 4.23 bore is ideal for 2.250 valves but is wasted on an engine built entirely for mild street use. There's nothing wrong in a well built 428 for street use and amazingly some are built by pros to run 9's in nostalgia racing.
What's lost on many is their intended usage does not include a steady diet of 6500+RPM in a properly geared car. All the threads are about what cruising RPM is comfortable on the highway.
The OP doesn't state but I'd like to know why he's considering a Nascar Tunnel Port (NOT a street engine unless emasculated with low compression and soft cam) for what I assume is a replica. Will he compete in a venue that requires top-end power or ET's? If it's for a Nascar Galaxy vintage racer-great.
I'll go a lot further and piss-off a lot of guys now-but it's my honest opinion.
Only four (427) replicas should have SO's (provided they're used as the design intended): KMP's, CSX's, ERA's and CCX's.
All the others, do fine with Windsors-or Chevys. The serious guys that race have proven Windsors are superb and (often preferred) track engines. All the others have demonstrated (by their acceptance of the compromised car makes) that they're totally unconcerned by the original nature of Cobras and just want a hand-built roadster for fun street driving. The mania about putting a numbers-match, date coded SO with points dizzy in a replica with (as example) a 96" wheelbase or other parameters alien to the original car is for talking points only. With those totally unfamiliar with the subject in the first place.
Disagree but don't bash-it's my
opinion, just like you're entitled.