514 Ford Crate Motor or 408 Stroker

[ByronRACE]

I have no comment regarding arguments based on "sound" and "soul" and "color". I'm not into the Zen of Cobra-ology, you win on all counts.

Power per dollar; 385 series is hard to beat; school bus motor or not; 150lbs or not. My post has nothing to do with anything else.

I don't care about what motor is technically or socially correct for a "cobra". I'm not building a replica, show car, and honestly don't care about trying to hold on to the heritage. I'm bulding a purpose built hot rod that resembles a cobra because I like the way the body looks; nothing more. And, I also don't care about road-racing. I've done my share of it...and at my level of involvement, you could put 200lbs on my front bumper and it would make zero difference. I don't drive on the road course enough to feel comfortable pushing ANY car to it's limits in the turns whether it's on the street or a road course. I don't race professionally, don't pretend to, and never will. So, no point trying to pretend that 150lbs is going to make a difference in my case. For you guys that make a living racing; or really care about shaving that last .10 seconds off the track, sure I can see the point. I don't think most cobra guys are pushing the cars to these extremes. The few that are, ok, I can see it.

For me, it's all about building something unique and extremely powerful that I have fun with without breaking the bank. I'm satisfied. If money was no object, I'd have an identical engine with a billet crank and an aluminum block. I wouldn't change anything else.