'60s 427 FE 425 Hp side oiler......mpg?

[AC Ventura]

Originally Posted by olddog

I have no clue the value of your car or what changing the engine would do to that value. That said you could pull the original engine (after fogging it with oil), then properly store it, so it could be put back later, thus preserving the value of the car.

Now you can install another engine for fun. However to keep with planning to re-install the original engine some day in the future, you need to minimize changes required to fit the new engine.

That would tend to make me go for a 347 stroker. If your budget would allow, I would go with an aftermarket 4.125 bore block which gets you a little over 360 cid. Go with the best heads you can afford and keep the cam more to the mild side. You should be able to make somewhere near 400 Hp and still get decent MPG.

Is the car EFI now? If it is, stay EFI. If not, stay with a carb.

I'm not unduly worried about value, other people are. It took me 22 years to be in the right place at the right time to be able to acquire this car. It won't be sold and my kids will inherit it.

Do you think the 347 can be made to sound like a big block and still keep 17" of vacuum? Or do you guys not run power brakes?
Is the argument about the 331 being a better set up from an engineering perspective, nonsense?
EFI is obviously already installed, but as nothing on it can be used, what's the difference?

[1795]

I cannot speak to the vacuum issue, but I can let you know that it is rare for a cobra over here to have power brakes. Just no real need for power brakes in a car so light. Good luck in your decision making process.

[olddog]

Originally Posted by AC Ventura

I'm not unduly worried about value, other people are. It took me 22 years to be in the right place at the right time to be able to acquire this car. It won't be sold and my kids will inherit it.

Not "Unduly" worried. Hmmm. I take it, it is still a factor in the equation. Plus the ease of staying with the same block.

Originally Posted by AC Ventura

Do you think the 347 can be made to sound like a big block and still keep 17" of vacuum? Or do you guys not run power brakes?

I do not have power brakes. My engine idles around 13-14 in Hg. I have had many people swear my 347 is a big block, when they hear it. Plenty of folks on here will say they can tell a BB from a SB by sound without fail. Personally I cannot do it without fail. Generally BB will sound like they have a fairly mild cam at the London Ohio Cobra show, when compared to SB engines. Partly because you have to go more radical with a SB to get the power, and Partly because a BB will sound milder with the same cam.

Originally Posted by AC Ventura

Is the argument about the 331 being a better set up from an engineering perspective, nonsense?

I think the concerns about the 347 is all theoretical. When a bunch of people who never assembled an engine in their life are sitting around trying to sound like they know something, long stroker engines are junk, but they seem to work just fine.

Originally Posted by AC Ventura

EFI is obviously already installed, but as nothing on it can be used, what's the difference?

I'm not sure it cannot be used. My EFI is from 1989 - 1993 Mustang GT manual transmition. It is an EEC4 A9L box code. You can put a Moats Quarter Horse chip on it, and tune it to do anything you want. Then burn the tune onto a EPROM type chip. If you have an older set up that was Speed Density, but multi port, you can do the same thing, but you have to be much more careful on the cam shaft with speed density.

[Dwight]

most people mistook my 347 for a big block.

a little over 400 rwhp - rwtq

.590/.595 lift cam EEIV processor with a SCT chip to make all the mismatch parts work.

20 to 22 MPG

Classic Cobra Pack 3" side pipes

I put 30,000 miles on the 347 with no problems

Dwight

[Bernica]

It's all in what you want. There are no rules. I have seen and heard SBF's roar like a BBF and wasn't sure until they popped the hood. But then, we go into the entire other discussion, which will just dilute this thread.....

I would say "bring what you have and be proud of it, it's yours". Plenty of both recipes out there and many more ad nauseam...

[patrickt]

The trick to telling the difference is to stand with your butt facing the engine. This allows the vibrations to hit the back of your ear flaps, as opposed to entering directly in to the canal. When done this way, the distinction is readily apparent to the trained ear.

[Bernica]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The trick to telling the difference is to stand with your butt facing the engine. This allows the vibrations to hit the back of your ear flaps, as opposed to entering directly in to the canal. When done this way, the distinction is readily apparent to the trained ear.

I can tell the sound of a Chrysler or Chevy from a long ways away, even the sound of them starting. But the way guys are building the Ford SBFs now with the "Ca-Chunk, Ca-Chunk" noise and big stuff makes it harder. I will try your scientific method!