Bob, Cranky, and others
I am not a racer, too old to start now and didn't have the money to do it when I was younger but I have been watching this BB vs: SB discussion with amazement. When I began to look at building a replica Cobra, one of the first things I wanted to have set was my engine choice. Having not been very heavily involved in high performance cars for quite a few years, I was totally unaware of what had been going on with engines, especially the Windsors.
I sat down with the best Ford engine builder in this area and had a long talk about what engine would be best for me. We went through the whole thing; cost, whether it would be raced, my preferences, etc. He told me that he could/would build anything I wanted but when I was able to get him to express his opinion, he told me that I would be crazy to build anything but a 351W. He listed the various parts, options, stroker packages that were available as well as the expected HP and torque from each setup.
He built me a 357 cu. in. Windsor for $7K Canadian that put out 472 HP and over 440 lbs of torque on the dyno. It starts first time, every time, has more power than I will ever be able to use on the street, doesn't overheat, gets reasonable gas mileage, does not leak or break down, and fills the engine compartment quite nicely, thank you. This whole BB vs: SB issue is bogus. Go with what you like and can afford. This idea that it has to be bigger to be better is based on an attitude that I really don't understand.
Of course I have always been a small block guy so I don't think I will change now.
Wayne