[misfit41]

This is getting crazy,,,but,,I was a ford dealer parts manager from 1976 thru 1982,at the same time was a crew member for an arca/short track race team running 427's.. I have seen no evedence the 460's were even close to as reliable as the fe's..all thing equal,,new stuff versus new stuff,I am going by shp visits and warraaantay repairs since both motors were in production at the time,I think there is some what of a generation gap,,as everyone seems to like what they have,,and i admit,,i have never liked 460 style engines,,not sure why,maybe it is because I grew up with fe's and still love them.
I will still argue the reliabilty thing between 460's and 427's,,all things equal,,the problem I feel is largely the fe stuff around ,,other thenthe new dove and sai is 40 yrs old,,worn out,bored,and welded,whata if ford was putting together fe 427 crate motors for 7 or 8 k ,,? what then ?I have a feeling opnions would change.
lets remember,the 427 was a aracing engine from the ground up,that found its way into very few street cars,EVERY other engine is the opposite,,427s had high nickle content reinforced blocks which were exclusive to that engine,as were most other internals,,so it wasnt feesible to produce since ford dumped the racing program in the late 60's.for a few years racers,truck pullers and hot rodders searched out what was left of these parts,c8az service blocks thru 1980 or so,when they were gone that was that,it would be nice to compare a new,motorsport prepared crate 427 to the same in a 460 motor,but that will never happen,like I said..450+ ou tof the box compared tpo the 460 at what ? high 200's ?not quite a fair shake,,the ford crate motors are mediocre parts put together well to generate decent horse power,thats why they have to go to huge cubes to get to the same power as a well tuned 427 inch fe,,which i still contend
iif well built,,and good stuff in the first place are more than reliable,down side is they are pretty heavy,,and cumbersome to work on,,and of course,like all truly great things away from the boring norm,,,I feel a bit qualified to say,,I have owned,wrenched,and sold all the above,,I forget who said it,,but this site does tend to get jealous and vindictive,some how we are losing respect for eachother,all that said,,I doubt any one with an avarage 427 would swap it for a new anything else,, ,,Tk