Any 427 FE owners regret not going for a small block stroker?

[Jeff mccabe]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

I actually wish I went electric. The gas mileage with the FE is terrible and the sidepipes are too loud.

Here...Here, I second the Electric Idea

Oh, and I actually took out an 1968 FE427 motor to do this, how crazy is that ?!

Jeff

[AC Ventura]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

All kidding and BS aside, your question is an old question. I'd be surprised if anyone here regrets their choice of engine and what your question boils down to is the age-old choice of whether one installs a small block versus and big block. And you're just going to find that each Cobra owner prefers the choice they made for the typical reasons of cost, "authenticity", value, maintenance, reliability, etc.

I'm sure that's exactly the answer to the question that has no definitive answer.

My car is a '93 hand beaten aluminium Autokraft Mk IV which still has the original Fox body 302/5.0 Efi. I don't know if it's common knowledge over there but these cars were sold as new cars only, manufactured under license from AC. Fitting the FE is unheard of over here, but we're not exactly a nation of hot rodders either. In fact any modification to an original car is considered heresy. Engineering wise it is major surgery making space between the 26" (too narrow) moulded fibreglass footboxes and have them looking factory afterwards. They can't be removed with the body on, so they need to be sawn out, then narrowed and then remade so they look original. A big job undertaking on a finished car, but not impossible. Plus there's extensive metalwork inside them (the pedal box frame) that needs remaking and that's just making space, let alone fitting requirements, The factory actually made 11 427 FE powered cars but didn't allow enough space and the engine/cockpit gets very hot as there's virtually no air gap. So it needs another inch each side, which means only a 10" wide pedal box.
Here in the UK, most of the 78 Mk IV owners do not use the cars much and many simply occupy pedestals in multi car collections, If somebody is set regarding tut, tut, modification, the expert recomendation is the bolt in 331/347, but personally that feels a bit of a cop out in the big 427 body.........and well it ain't exactly the legend is it? Also none of the s/b strokers seem to sound like their bigger brother, but have to say only ever heard them on YouTube.
I was hoping somebody would say don't do it, you're kidding yourself that its worth it, but that doesn't seem to be the case....

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by AC Ventura

I was hoping somebody would say don't do it, you're kidding yourself that its worth it, but that doesn't seem to be the case....

Well, now that we know what you're thinking about, I would NOT install a BB in an AC MKIV. Don't do it, you're kidding yourself that its worth it.

I'd import a Kirkham and then install a BB, but I'm clueless about import duties and the vehicle laws of England.

Doesn't Hawk or Dax or somebody make a 427-bodied Cobra?

[Dwight]

can not go wrong with either a small block or FE!

[Dimis]

Ahhh I see... Then I'd leave the sbf in there, but with one caveat...

If my Autokraft Mk IV had a bonnet scoop, I'd change that stock looking intake, for something a little prettier, like webers.

"Purely so aesthetically form can match function" - But I'm all style over substance.

[Dimis]

Originally Posted by Jeff mccabe

Here...Here, I second the Electric Idea

Oh, and I actually took out an 1968 FL427 motor to do this, how crazy is that ?!

Jeff

Now c'mon Jeff - spill the beans... and start a build thread!
I want to know all about it!

[JerseyDanny]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

I think either the small block or big block will get you down to the local gourmet food trucks, where you can get a delicious sushirrito (sushi burrito). Yum!

And as you eat your sushirrito, listening to live music, you can sit and watch either the small block or big block Ford leak, because anyone who thinks small block Fords don't leak also, are kidding themselves.

They leak if you're not careful putting them together . . . have had S/O 427's go out of shop, one was a full-alum build (block/heads/cast oil pan) and before it left it spent an hour on our dyno. No leaks. But, there are also after-market blocks that are Windsor-based and can swallow a bore/stroke for 460 cubes. And it looks like a 351W. THAT is something to keep in mind when considering your next build. 520hp on 87-octane, hyd roller cam & EFI. Turn the key & drive!

[mdross1]

I have to add when first starting the build on my car had all the parts and pieces for a small block drivetrain. Before getting too involved knew I would regret that move regrouped and stepped up to the big block route. Never any regrets.

[moore_rb]

I agree with everyone who has suggested that the best reason to go with an FE is to maintain a sense of tradition (esp. if you are completing an aluminum CSX6xxx car), or if you are planning a no holds barred, crazy-big stroker displacement...

But if performance/weight balance/handling/cost/etc are your primary design concerns, then you can build a better performing, more weight-efficient powertrain using more modern (and lightweight) design baselines...

Funny, but one of the personal aesthetic issues I still have with my own car (yes, the door leading edges bug me too, but that is another issue )

I don't like the 5.0 style intake on my engine, so I've been pricing out options to either change the induction to a carb-style throttle body, or maybe just pull this engine completely, and put in another... Because if I'm going to re-do the induction and re-tune, then I might as well do heads and cam, and if I'm going to do induction, heads/cam and re-tune, then I might as well swap the whole engine.

and if I'm going to swap the whole engine, then I have to decide on displacement...

But whatever I decide, I know it won't be a big block (neither FE nor 385 series), because it just doesn't need to be. I can do a 427 Windsor that's every bit as powerful as a 427FE or 428CJ, that weighs almost 200 fewer pounds to boot.

so, I guess my post doesn't answer your question about regret, but someday, when an aluminum Shelby continuation car drops out of the sky, THAT's the day that I'll be going Edsel-shopping, and on that day I'll have no regrets about putting an FE into a continuation series car, regardless of how heavy it is....

But until that day, I see no reason to consider anything but a Windsor engine.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by AC Ventura

My car is a '93 hand beaten aluminium Autokraft Mk IV which still has the original Fox body 302/5.0 Efi.

The most important fact in the OP's case is to keep it original for resale.

[AC Ventura]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

The most important fact in the OP's case is to keep it original for resale.

Thanks but that's not really the case. This is my time with the car. We can't just worry about resale at the expense of joy of ownership, just because a car is worth X. That'll be someone else's problem and its not exactly insurmountable to return to its original spec. It's not like the body is being customised, plus I'm only thinking about doing what the great man did. I'll keep to OE engine in any case and it will remain with the car.
I'm lucky enough to have three cars, the first two are awesome in their niche, but this one, the MK IV is underwhelming with its wheezy so called 225 bhp. However, I really like the car. It's almost the real thing and the only open car I have and it's a real buzz driving it. Everyone likes seeing it it seems. We did 5000 miles in the Italian Alps last September and it's a great tourer, although we're gonna miss the 26 mpg. Even has room for luggage.
I wish I could drive a 425hp 347 and a 425hp 427 to see what the difference is.
The 427 I've found (for sale) has alloy heads and pump. I think therefore I'm only gaining 100lbs at the front, esp if I move the battery to the rear.
Win Percy the Jaguar Le Mans ace one said to me a 7 litre Cobra is a pusycat to drive and I noticed F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton didnt buy no 331...

[patrickt]

The problem is that if you don't go with the big block FE, you might very well be happy, but you will always question yourself as to whether you would have been more happy had you gone with the bigger engine. Life is too short to second guess yourself.

[Joe's Garage]

Originally Posted by patrickt

The problem is that if you don't go with the big block FE, you might very well be happy, but you will always question yourself as to whether you would have been more happy had you gone with the bigger engine. Life is too short to second guess yourself.

Yup, what he said ...
BTW patrickt, what was the cost to destroke your BB to make it rev and run more like a SB

[Bernica]

I am told I have very big hands for my size, so a SB just couldn't do it for me!

[Large Arbor]

Even with a head bolt that is a pain to get to, small block never came to my mind. I think I was around too many BB's (429 CJ, 428 SCJ) and hence always preferred the big blocks. It is amazing what you can do with the small blocks. The only other thing worth mentioning is it seems like everything is more expensive on BB Fords. Having said all that I love my BB FE.

Phil

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Joe's Garage

Yup, what he said ...
BTW patrickt, what was the cost to destroke your BB to make it rev and run more like a SB

I think the 4.125" SCAT is the same cost as the 4.250" one. And there is a split of opinion on whether the shortening of the stroke does, or does not, make the engine more "revvier." My engine builder said it does, Barry R. says it does, blykins and Keith C. both say it doesn't and that you'd be stupid not to go with the bigger stroke. Who knows. But, what is true is that if you want to rev over six grand in an FE, even if it's just to hear the sound it makes, and not to have the power band actually run above it, you need to make sure the other parts of the engine will support it. Obviously you can't have hydraulic lifters, and you need to match the other components. That meant custom Wiseco pistons, Erson rockers, a light aluminum flywheel, etc. And I'm still under 500HP -- but when it's revving up around 6000 or more, it sounds like a million bucks.

[rodneym]

Physics says a smaller stroke does make it rev faster BUT, how much will you notice on 1/8" difference in stroke on such a big engine?
Considering some builders say yes and others no, it would appear that the difference is negligible.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by rodneym

Physics says a smaller stroke does make it rev faster BUT, how much will you notice on 1/8" difference in stroke on such a big engine?
Considering some builders say yes and others no, it would appear that the difference is negligible.

Well, I don't rightly know. But, if you calculate the piston speed on the two different cranks at high RPM, it is quite a bit more than you might think.

[Bernica]

Here's where a nice SB belongs!

https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail/SC0...n=WU16-3112016

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by rodneym

Physics says a smaller stroke does make it rev faster BUT, how much will you notice on 1/8" difference in stroke on such a big engine?
Considering some builders say yes and others no, it would appear that the difference is negligible.

Is it "Fysics Friday" again?