Knowledgeable Builders Debunk Wives Tales

[ItBites]

Pass the popcorn.

[AL427SBF]

Grubby, as this is a Knowledgeable Builders Debunk Wives Tales thread, then what you say should be the wives tale ... now read my post again

[MaSnaka]

I didn't know wives had tails...My wife thought the cobra would land me a new girlfriend. It's more of a guy magnet. Guys who know somebody who knows somebody that has a real one that is.

John

[blykins]

I'm a Ford guy through and through, not only because of the various Ford vehicles that are just awesome, but because of some of the features of the Ford engine. They are more detail intensive to build than a Chevy though, but I think some of the block/head designs are superior (not necessarily in performance, but in just how well they were thought out).

For instance...

1. On a Ford, the distributor is in the front, which just so happens to be the end of the engine where you're looking at the harmonic balancer with the timing light.

2. On a Ford, when you go to a roller cam, you can use the same thrust plate, timing cover, etc, and there's no voodoo to setting them up. On a Chevy, you have to run a lock plate, button, and sometimes a reinforced timing cover so it doesn't flex when the button rides on it.

3. LS engines copied the Ford Cleveland head design, down to the bore spacing and general port layout. ;-)

4. Oil pump pickups have to be pressed in, then welded. Fords bolt to the pump, or screw into the pump with a pipe thread.

With that being said, I've been able to build both Ford & Chevy engines with the same cubic inches, same head flow, same cam specs, compression, etc., and for the most part, if all the specs match, the engines make pretty much the same amount of power.

And when it comes down to it, and you think about it, engines don't know what brand they are, they just know that they have air and fuel coming in, and they make it explode. If head flow is the same, cam specs are the same, etc., they should be very similar to each other.

I built a 427 rat for a guy's '68 Vette convertible resto, reused the factory block and heads, went to a hydraulic roller with about 234 degrees duration, .600" lift, good flowing intake, around 10:1 compression, and it made around 465 hp.

I also built a 427 FE a few months back, and although we used Edelbrock heads, we used them as cast. Cam was a solid flat tappet at 240 degrees duration (you lose a little duration to lash on a solid cam though), compression ratio was about 10:1, good flowing intake, etc., and it made 470 hp.

I've also built a 482 ci rat that made around 550-560 hp if I remember correctly, and it so turns out that a lot of my 482 inch FE's with moderately ported Edelbrocks also hit around that number.

[mr0077]

But what about old husband's tales? There are a lot more of those involving Cobras...

[AL427SBF]

Good post Brent, wasn't aware of the oil pump pick-ups and other flexibilities in the Ford, I also agree with the logic engines don't know what brand they are, they just know that they have air and fuel coming in, and they make it explode.

I was looking at one build house who does both Chevy and Fords (Pro-Formance Unlimited) so as to try and compare similar displacement and build quality between the two.

Chevy Performance Engines
Crate Engines, Chevy Performance engines, 350, 383, 427, bigblock, stroker, 502, 540

Ford Performance Engines
Ford Performance Engines, Ford Crate Motors, Ford Engines, Ford Motorsports

A bunch of motors there and trying to stack "equal builds" in a faceoff comparison a little tedious but I think it can be done. I'll let the Chevy guys* weed through it if they feel compelled to counter some of your assertions.

*What was said about chevy's in so many words ...
- block/head design is inferior
- the distributor is on the wrong side
- the oil pump pickups are a kludged afterthought
- comparable builds don't make any more power