Having built both original Ford 427 side oilers and a Genesis 427 side oiler I have to disagree with the premise that the original Ford blocks were, in your words "ready and machined properly for use right out of the box". This is a mistake rookies often used to make. Ford NOS 427 blocks often had a few minor problems or even major ones. Lets face it, the 427 side oiler block is a difficult part to make even with today's technology.
In the old days union guys who were about to or just had been on strike were not subject to drug testing and they were not happy about their jobs. Ford's tooling was not always the best, some of the equipment at DIF was ancient and outdated even in 1966. They had a difficult time making enough 427 blocks to meet demand, despite the support of one of the world's biggest car companies.
Today you have (in the case of the Genesis, Shelby and Pond 427 blocks) a small group of dedicated professionals soberly building a product using better technology than the originals, including better machine tools and better control of cores and better iron mix control. You still find some quality issues, but I find they are no worse than Ford and possibly not as serious as some of the problems I have seen with original NOS 427 blocks.
The same is true of cylinder heads. An out of the box set of Edelbrock 427 heads is likely good enough to be considered better than an out of the box brand new set of 427 MR heads from 1967.
The only drawback I see to the new blocks is the additional 32 pounds in a Genesis block compared to the original Ford part.
Finally, bear in mind that the Ford GT-40 427 engines run at LeMans won without ever exceeding 6800 RPM.
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Originally Posted by undy
I'll have to agree, "as cast" the OEM s/o blocks are ready and machined properly for use right out of the box whereas the Genesis/Pond/Shelby requires skilled prep prior to it being useable. I guess my point would be that after proper prep by a skilled, properly equipped machine shop the aftermarket block would hold up to more abuse than an equally prepped OEM block. I think I read that the Shelby block's good to around 2000 ponies. It's not a side oiler design like Pond and Genesis though. We won't even talk Dove, as they wouldn't be a consideration.
The valve train info's very interesting. I'm sure spring loads, cam ramps, which oil, RPMs etc impact on the valve tip scuffing issue. Are you saying this applies to street driven engines at reasonable (6500 and below) RPMs? Fascinating though, thanks for the info. |