Well the it sounds to me like an alloy block and heads is NOT what I had in mind when I bought my car. I wanted a vintage 427 side oiler WITH iron heads.
I'd take a modern iron block over an alloy block as well. I don't know, alloy just doesn't 'sound right' to me for MY 'time machine'.
When I rebuilt the motor I also went with a flat tappet cam, because, well, a 'roller' cam just didn't 'sound right'.
As far as 'true side oiler' goes, the Shelby blocks are not really 'side oilers'. Perhaps they are even better, but thats not the point. As for HM, Pond or Genesis, I don't know if there true side oilers or not.
Yeah, I KNOW it's a replica, so what does it matter? Well if it doesn't matter to you why don't you run a VW engine and put an auto trans behind it? After all, it's 'only' a replica, put some nice 20" chrome wheels on it, maybe a big air foil in the back and some cool neon lights under the side pipes while your at it. After all, it's only a replica. Where do YOU draw the line? I wanted a side oiler, period, my car my choice, do what you want with yours (as so many screwed up replicas attest to)!
If you can't appreciate a side oiler, you might want to follow this guys lead (warning VW powered):
