I got my car back with the new engine! Bill brought the car up himself on Friday ... in Atlanta rush hour. Now THAT is customer service far beyond expectation. Thanks also to Chill for running over to help with delivery and share in the first ride.
The "Super FE" not only looks and sounds awesome, but it is MUCH stronger than my "old" 406. I think the original thread was lost, so here are the details:
Take a Southern Automotive 406 (FE 390 block) and mix in:
- roller rocker arms with end stands
- Edelbrock aluminum cylinder heads with larger valves
- crankshaft windage tray
- aluminum water pump
- billet aluminum water pump and crankshaft pulleys
- aluminum remote
oil filter adapter w/ steel bracket
- Victor Jr. intake
- 750 cfm double pumper carb
- Scat 4.250" stroke crankshaft
- Scat H beam competition rods
- custom pistons
- 9.8:1 Compression
You end up with 452 c.i. and about 510-530 horsepower. Other things I added are a remote
oil filter and
oil cooler, all with braided lines.
After a test drive a couple weeks ago and then driving this weekend, some observations: (1) huge jump in both low end torque and high rpm horsepower from the 406, (2) switch from vacuum to mechanical secondaries helps that kick in the pants feeling, (3) big power curve starting around 2800rpm from the victor jr intake and it winds up REALLY fast, and (4) the car has a much louder and more aggressive exhaust note that seems different from other FE's I've heard. Besides getting used to the new (and increased) power curves, I'll need to get used to the rougher idle from the victor jr intake. Thanks to Southern Automotive for building the "beast" I was looking for!!!