Engine Option (Just For Discussion)

[moore_rb]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Well Hell - lets not stop with a Chebbie. How about a 440 Mopar, or 455 Buick Stage 1, or an R3 306 Studebaker? Maybe we need a poll. Throw in the Tesla electric motor/battery pack too for good measure.

Or maybe a Mopar TEN cylinder Viper engine...

You could call it the "Double Poison", or something catchy like that... Oh, Wait a minute...

Let's go back to Keith Craft's original question - After all he asked for opinions.... And all I've done in this thread is act like a pro-GM dick... (I'm good at that)

Well here's my opinion:

If I was doing a "correct appearing, tribute" car, then I guess an FIA/USRRC replica would mandate running a small block Windsor with Webbers, or an 8-horn EFI, while a Big Block tribute car should have a single carb FE side oiler if you are looking to emulate the full-comp cars, or a dual carb FE if you are looking for the SC pure street-car look.

Now, if you want to run "427" badges on the side of your replica, and you want that badge to accurately reflect your engine's displacement, without all the cost of an FE, then a 427 Windsor seems (to me) to be a fantastic option- Big block cubes, combined with small block weight and cost... I'll bet even Blykins would approve

I've actually been thinking a lot about this topic recently, because the '92 302w in my car is a great little engine, but could benefit greatly by a set of aluminum heads, and an updated induction system (and if I do swap out the induction, I would go with a top-center, carb style throttle body as a nod to historical appearance- I hate the appearance of the dog-leg intake)

But if I'm going to spend 5 grand re-doing the top end, then why not just spend $2500 more and drop in a larger-cube Windsor? (then I could also replace my "Powered by Ford" side badges with "427 Cobra" side badges, and not feel guilty about false-advertising

Sticking with a Windsor offers all the benefits of not having to cut and weld engine mounts, or replace front springs, and all that other misc. blah blah blah...

But regardless, I'd go that way LONG before I'd consider any GM engine (even one that is a technically superior base platform... )