Dove's 427 aluminum block

[d_ford]

I have a dove aluminum block and dove tunnel port heads. It's stroked with a 428 crank and rods. I had it in my first ERA cobra and it gave me years of trouble free service even though the previous owner used it for autocross and other hard driving events. I drag raced it for a couple of years and when it let go it didn't have anything to do with the block, a head came off a valve and did some internal damage. I had the block punched .030 and it's back together now waiting to be dropped into my 68 fastback mustang. I have been impressed with how well it performed for many years and highly recommend dove.

[bret a ewing]

David,

Please re-read my post, "street tires" were specified. Traction concerns......well, in a lightweight car like the cobra, hooking all that torque to the pavement is another matter, as most of us know.
Launching from a stop, or a badly mismatched-rev/gear downshift will produce tire slippage.

I guess if the driving duty example (of the cobra) was a lot of high rpm, to immediate hard downshifting, the failure rate would be higher. But I believe that type of driving is the exception rather than the rule.
Mind you anything is possible and I'm sure folks have examples of every type of scenario. But for 99% of street driving a cast crank will hold up just fine. KC puts them in his 600+hp crate motors with excellent results.

Morg,
I talked to the engineering dept at Scat. According to them, their cast crank will handle 600#s tq +.

[Zoom This]

Originally Posted by DavidNJ

Why would traction affect the crank? Do cranks break on launch? With drag slicks, it should be possible to get quite a bit of traction.

Cranks can and do break on launch. Big slicks and a big launch in a high HP motor put incredible torque strains on the block. High torque strain has a twisting effect starting from the rear axel right thru to the block. That's a good reason to have splayed 4 bolt mains and/or a stud girdle.

[Cobrasnake427]

I have nothing to add with regard to crankshafts, but I thought I should say that I have had terrible experiences with Dove. It took more than 6 months to get the Aluminum Med. Riser heads I ordered and then they leaked. I also used a set of their roller tip rockers which broke. When I replaced them with the far superior Harlan Sharpe rockers I found cracks in half of them. I will not buy another thing from Dove. I have since sold the car with the Dove Heads and now have a Pond Alum. Block, Edelbrock Alum Heads, cast Scat crank & Erson Rockers.

[Michael4yah]

CobraSnake427, 1)What cam, springs, and pushrods were you using? 2)Did you assemble the heads and where did they leak? When I bought my Dove Hiriser Alum heads from Dennis Carrico @ DSC Motorsports they pre tested them for leaks. Ive heard some bad things from people who didnt like Dove for one reason or another. Several on their blocks but your the 1st Ive heard that had trouble with their roller rockers. Thanks Michael

[Cobrasnake427]

Crane 282 solid lifter cam w/ spring rates matched to cam card specs, chrome moly pushrods & no interferance issues. Heads were assembled by a competent pro who like Robert Pond has been building and drag racing FEs for 20+ years. He warned me against the Dove Rockers but I didn't listen. I should have, but I assumed he was running extreme valve spring pressures and very high RPMs and that I would be OK. I wasn't.

[Cobrasnake427]

Buying them from Dennis was a good move. I dealt directly with Dove. I would reccomend buying from a reputable source like Keith Craft or DSC whether you are talking block or heads. I should have bought my Pond block from Keith. A lot of unexpected machining was required which Keith knows about and will do for you.

[Michael4yah]

Thanks , Dennis has already prepared me for the prepwork needed on the Pond block. Id rather it be done this way instead of by the mfgr. When the guy assembling you Motor does the machine work they're aint no one left to blame! Dennis is very knowlegable. Raced FEs in Boats for years. A good guy. Michael

[Cobrasnake427]

When I bought my block about a year ago there were some prepwork issues that went beyond normal block prep/machine work. The crank hit the block in 3 places. Robert may have sorted these out by now but we had to grind a couple of spots to get the crank to turn. All in all I am very happy with the block. It was just a little frustrating because we only found the interference after the machine work was done and the block was cleaned & ready(we thought) for assembly.

[Kwik]

Back in the day, I've heard that the many of the drag race guys with factory connections would run just typical 390 cast cranks in their 427's. They went faster. They could have had any crank they wanted.

[Barry_R]

I have run the plain jane small Dove rockers with up to 700 psi springs for many, many years with no breakage. I broke one pair, on one cylinder, back around '97 when I spit a head gasket and filled that hole with water.

Those same rockers were on my EMC motor at 759HP and 6500RPM. You had something else gone astray....

Should add that the same engine has a Scat cast crank - 4.25 stroke - and hit 672 for TQ....no holes in the pan yet...