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

[kevins2]

Originally Posted by Thor maine

I am not going to say anything!

No need to. I think we could all write what you would say!

It's all good, you start it up, it roars and shakes and you drive down the road feeling good regardless of your engine choice.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Thor maine

I am not going to say anything!

Chevy's leak too. In fact, Chevy's get recalled.

[Dimis]

For me, the appeal of a cobra was replicating the appearance and experience of the 60s.
I passed on many Cobras because they didn't have an FE.

Would a SB be more practical? Possibly. Cheaper? Almost definitely. Better allround? Maybe.
Could I get more power out of a 385series bbf then? Again, almost definitely.

To some these are more than enough reason to choose something other than an FE.

But for me, if given the option, I'd go FE all day, everyday, in a cobra. It's the big bad engine/legend they banned because they feared its dominance. The fact a SBF could probably whip my a$$ around a track is irrelevant.

So in short, no regrets on the FE, even if one day I wake up and decide a nice little 289 slabside would look good in my garage.

[AC Ventura]

Originally Posted by Dimis

For me, the appeal of a cobra was replicating the appearance and experience of the 60s.
I passed on many Cobras because they didn't have an FE.

Would a SB be more practical? Possibly. Cheaper? Almost definitely. Better allround? Maybe.
Could I get more power out of a 385series bbf then? Again, almost definitely.

To some these are more than enough reason to choose something other than an FE.

But for me, if given the option, I'd go FE all day, everyday, in a cobra. It's the big bad engine/legend they banned because they feared its dominance. The fact a SBF could probably whip my a$$ around a track is irrelevant.

So in short, no regrets on the FE, even if one day I wake up and decide a nice little 289 slabside would look good in my garage.

Finally an answer that doesn't involve food outlets...........

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by AC Ventura

Finally an answer that doesn't involve food outlets...........

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.

In Dimis case, he was out running one day near the local park and saw an FE engine lying behind some bushes, or maybe it was "the bush" (he lives down under), not sure, anyway, so that's how his engine choice was made.

[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?

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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?

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Is it "Fysics Friday" again?

Yes it is, and now it's time for you to graph the path of a Quesalupa that is dropped from a moving Cobra that is accelerating at a rate of 50 feet per second squared. And if you can't do that, surely you can come up with a wise ass response.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Yes it is, and now it's time for you to graph the path of a Quesalupa that is dropped from a moving Cobra that is accelerating at a rate of 50 feet per second squared. And if you can't do that, surely you can come up with a wise ass response.

That'll be an expensive graph and Quesalupa, because littering has a fine between $100 to $1,000 plus community hours for litter cleanup here in CA. And I don't look very good dressed in a neon yellow vest. Just in case I want to prove that theorem.

[dallas_]

I've had both and like both.

Just get what YOU want, not what someone else thinks you should have.