I'll try to answer your questions in order, Rob:
I chose a 4.250" bore, 4.125" stroke (468 cu in) engine that develops 558 HP @ 6,000 RPM and 535 lb-ft of torque at 5,000 RPM.
The torque curve rises fairly rapidly from 2,000 to 3,000 RPM is fairly flat after that. Not a ton of torque at at 1,500 RPM, but enough to get under way smoothly. *Lots* of push from 3K+ RPM
and it gets 515 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 RPM.
Shelby ordered the crank from LAE PANKL(?), material type: EN30B.
The engine was fairly easy to get, as it was already built for another customer. The hard part was cutting the check.
I'm pretty satisfied with the engine (other that the fairly standard rear main seal leak), and the 10.7:1 compression ratio. I was assured that it would run fine on pump gasoline (91 Octane locally), and that just isn't so. I add
Amsoil Series 2000 Octane Boost, but still need to use my clutch to shut the engine down. I would go with just under 10:1 next time. Also, I went with the stroker because there was no charge for it. Otherwise, I would've gone with the standard 427 cu in. But my engine runs good and sounds simply marvelous!
Rich