[Fred Douglass]

Jimbeam99,

Ditto to everything Captdan said above. It's refreshing to see someone who's open and honest about not knowing as much as the true experts you find here. I know---it's frustrating when you've got rudimentary knowledge but not the details. This is the BEST site I've found since it functions as a tutorial.

I have more or less come to precisely the same decision you have. Most of the SPF owners on this site are incredibly willing to fill you in on the traps, pitfalls and potential troubles when it comes to engine selection. Ron Daveley, Hal Copple, Fred Rice, Mike Eckhaus, JBaird, etc. ALL respond quickly to any inquiry. The all have BIG hp smallblocks. I'm leaning toward a "mild" stroker, maybe the 393 wh/ yields hp and ft/lbs in the 450's. I've had a ride in an SPF with "only" 385 hp (a Ford SVO crater) and the dealer here in Rhode Island says that is all you really need. More hp from only a few more inches tends to make it a bit less reliable (aaccording to him). Moreover, he said that you'll use the 385 hp all the time, since it won't bite you. In other words, you won't be driving around pretending there's a raw egg under the gas-pedal! I've ridden around many miles in Rick Long's 600+ Contemporary and there is a good reason to keep it under 450 hp if you're streeting it mostly. I live in the overbuilt and overpopulated northeast, so that type of monstrous, projectile-horsepower is only going to be used once in a long while. The rest of the time, it'll frustrate you with potential stalling and heating problems, according to the RI dealer.

Good luck and keep us posted.