[fostereast]

Flygirl,

Good luck with your build, My favorite replica is an ERA with undercar exhaust. With respect to engines; keep in mind Shelby used whatever he could get. Sideoilers, 428's and a few Centeroilers also were all delivered in Cobra's. It seems like the Centeroiler blocks are up in price now, and you might find a good Sideoiler block to start with for the same price. One Cobra Shelby built and raced, "Fliptop" I think, even had a 390 in it! But it may have used an experimental aluminum block.

Lots of good engine builders out there, but Barry Robotnick at survival Motorsports has been an Engine Master's winner and done a lot recently to bring broader attention to the FE as a performance engine. He lists some builds on his site that include prices, parts and HP/Torque graphs from dyno tests, so you can get a pretty transparent look at several options.