Big Block got smoked by a...

[wireflight]

ROTF LMTO!

I knew the problem was widespread, but I would never have guessed that it had gone *that* far!

I tested a '93 slushbox SHO and found it a lot more pleasant in normal daily driving than the m/t car -- but it was a little weak in the "go" department.

Iirc, either Turbo Engineering (Tacoma, WA) told me in '89 they'd need $3800 plus my car for a few weeks to put a proper hairdryer setup on it. I was waaaaay tempted! FWIW, they did some killer work on GNs and 5.0s.

Also iirc, the 3.0 SHO used the same input shaft dims and bellhousing pattern as the 5.0 Mustang, and I read a story about a guy putting one in his MG (or other British) replica. For some odd reason, he did what I thought was a lot of fabbing between the tranny and the engine.

Anyway, turning the upper intake around proved very much simpler than I had imagined; I don't remember if he used spacers, but it was ridiculously straightforward. I wish someone would do a SHO Cobra; I think it would make a pretty great addition to the turnkey market!

Another sleeper possibility would have been the M-6010-A224 (4.36 bore, 3.75 stroke, pistons & rods from the 460 Ford; 3.7 liters) block with (back then) a TFS head (or, for the gutsy, an ARAO 4-valve head) and a turbo & intercooler setup from a Buick GN. Zippity-do-dah-day! Heck, if you could find the stuff to make one of those nowadays, it would make a killer Cobra package for the "cubic dollars" gofast crowd.

I had an intercooler idea that would likely have allowed the 224 to make 500+ bhp (if the block stayed together) power levels under 6500 rpm on pump gasoline. The downside was that an aluminum 302/351 Windsor could be built to the same power levels for much, much less mulah, and the package weight would be about the same. Oh, well.

I still think the Cobras are sexy as heck -- but the older I get, the more upright (as in "chair-like," not as in "simply make the backbone vertical") I like the seating position. And I like the roof/roll cage well out-of-the-way; I laughed when I saw FFR's GTM supercar video -- the tester's head protruded above the roll cage, and he ducked under it to look behind the car while backing up. My thought: That "roll cage" might as well be made of PVC plastic or exhaust tubing.

Sorry I got so far off topic; I'll try to do better in the future -- ::grin::

Happy motoring!