I'm late to the party on this thread, but wanted to chime in.
Has the timing been verified and tested on the dyno? I have a DynoJet, and have tuned several Cobras. One guy had a Keith Craft, and swore it was installed just as it was delivered from K.C.
First pass read 408hp at the wheels. I checked the timing, and his initial was at 33BTDC! I kept reducing the timing, and the power kept going up. Finally, at 11.5 degrees initial, power was up to 439. Tweaked the jetting a little, and got it to 442rwhp.
Main Point: SOMEWHERE his distributor got tweaked, and nobody caught it before I worked on it.
As for
oil capacity, just because you have a "7 quart" pan, that doesn't mean you NEED 7qt.s in the pan. As has been stated, too much
oil WILL cost you HP. Having
oil coolers and remote oil filters makes it harder to read the dipstick - reading immediately after shutting off a running motor can show a different level than the reading after letting the motor sit overnight. A dyno is a good place to test for optimum oil fill quantity. Start off with two or three quarts less than you "think" you need, and make a dyno pass - if you see the oil pressure fluctuate, then stop immediately and add a quart. Add a half quart, and make another pass. Repeat until you see the power drop.