Not Ranked
I am not getting the Dart block because I wanted a local builder that I could trust and go back to for various work on the Cobra. I choise John Vermeerch of Total Performance in Clinton Township, MI. His show is the technical support line for Ford Racing. He currently has at least 40 Cobras that he services (a sideline to supporting Ford Racing).
When I talked about using the Dart, he went out and got one, but he wanted to use it for testing. They had not built an engine using the Dart block before. He said that he would build one for me but he did not want be to be using a "test" engine. If it has anything to do with Ford engines, they know about it. Instead of the Dart, we agreed to a Sportsman block 351W bored and stroked to 400 plus cid. It is being build now. I should have dyno results within the next two weeks -- possibly even installed in the car. I specified that it had to safely be able to run on 90 octane gas, have at least 480 plus torque and hp, and meet some other criteria (e.g., looking period correct).
I talked to McClaren and considered Rousch but thought that John's experience with Cobras was worth going with him. He has supported originals throught all types of replicas.
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