[olddog]

I never owned a 427W, but I do have a 5.0 stroked to 347. At the 400 - 450 Hp range no problems at all with it. I try to keep the RPM below 6500, but have hit the 7000 rpm rev limiter several times. The engine has been together about 15 years. I typically do not like going above 6000 rpm with any V-8.

Truth be told the Center Oiler FE do not live long above 6000 without some work on the oils passages and a good balance job. Things that didn't happen back in the day. The 428 FE with the hatchet spinning on the snout was a very short lived engine at high rpm.

Bottom line, no engine lives long at high rpm unless it is built right. Almost all of them can be made to live if you do the right things.

Look at Brent's thread on what he did with a 390 FE. You can make plenty of power at a reasonable price. Don't get hung up on the magic 427 cid number.