Aluminum blocks

[azfordman]

Would like to get feedback from anyone who has or is running an aluminum block in their cobra. What brands are best? How reliable is an aluminum engine for a street car? Thanks!

[undy]

You need to tell us what engine you're building.. FE, 385 series, windsor, 302, SBC, BBC, 4.6, LSx, LQ4, LQ9, hemi ....you get the picture.

[RICK LAKE]

azfordman I am being nice. There are 10 threads on this if you search the forum. As undy asked which aluminium block are you looking for?Boss 302, 351 windsors, 351 clevelands, FE blocks, 460+ blocks? The weight is the big reason most of you put aluminium motors in our cars. You can save from 50-175 of weight between Iron motors and all Aluminium. Some specs and what you want to do with the motor would also be a be help. What car manufactor you are looking at? I am guessing you are looking at Ford. The Boss block just came out. There is not alot of these motors on the street yet. Windsor aluminium motors have been around for years, The strokers with a 393 or bigger cube motor are the way to go. For racing on small tracks they are quicker than there big brother, FE. They are cheaper to build and have more speed parts than the FE. FE motors have 4 companies selling Aluminium Blocks. Dove, Shelby, Genesis, and Ponds. Kirkham is working on a special block, not sure on it's due date. Are you looking for strongest, most original, cheapest, or best engineered? When you come back with some more info of what you are looking for, then is will be alot easier to point you in the right direction for which motor to build and builder to build it. Are you going to street only? drag race? auto cross? roadracing? show and shine? combo of all. The other question is ,how deep are your pockets? A good FE motor is about 15-20 grand. A stroker windsor is about 10-15grand. Which every motor you go with, stroke it and keep the rpms down. 6,500 is a save max rpm for any motor. Change the rear ratio is cheaper than replacing motors. Build torque motors. IMO 550 to 600 lbs of torque with an FE motor will keep you changing your shorts. Also GO to a driving school for min of 3 days to learn how to drive. This is the best info I can give you without more info. If you want to talk call me at 732-254-3536 est time. I am in NJ Rick L. Really needs specs first for the car. Cobras are alot of fun, But just like a gun that is loaded and not respected, it can go off and kill you. We have lost a couple of members over the years. Just letting you know what you are getting into. Even the SB cars are no joke and run with the fastest cars like vipers, vettes, porschs. These are also cars with no ABS, airbags, and min comfort and loud (unless you get under car exhaust)

[Slick61]

I had concerns about an aluminum block as well, when I was searching for my Cobra. I ended up buying a Backdraft with a Keith Craft Racing all-aluminum 427 Windsor stroker. It puts out 612 hp & 615 lb-ft of torque, but the all-aluminum engine keeps the vehicle weight to 2240 lbs... not bad, as Backdrafts are a little bigger than most replicas. Mine has the Dart aluminum block, which my research indicated was a pretty stout block.

I don't think there are any overly special considerations to be made... it's not a cheap, garden-variety engine, and I treat it accordingly. I'm probably more cautious about proper warm-up... and I always keep my eye on the coolant temp. So far, the biggest issue for me has been getting in the habit of routinely going around the engine & making sure all the bolts are properly tightened (carb, intake, headers, etc.).

as for streetability, I'd think cam & gear selection would be the primary factors, but I'm no expert. The stroked small block doesn't fill the engine bay like a big block would, but there's more room to get in & work on it... and probably a little more room for the engine to "breathe". Good luck with whatever you decide on...

[RICK LAKE]

Slick61 Smitty Have you thought about adding BLUE loc-tite to your bolts and nuts? This is not as strong as the red stuff. It works about the same. The other idea was going to aircraft nuts with nylocks. They have them in all sizes. I did both to my motors, (knock on wood) no problems with having to retorque nuts or bolts. Don't keep retorqueing the nuts and bolts because of crushing the gaskets in the motor. That motor expands and contracts about .002" from cold to hot mode. Ball park figure. Rick L

[hi-tech cobra]

Be careful with Aluminum...it melts.

[mpanten]

Im running an aluminum Dart block stroked to 427. Runs nice and cool and it will save you a couple hundred pounds. Streatability is all in the details.

[rokndad]

Give Keith Craft a call in Arkadelphia....one of the advertisers on the site and sponsor of the FE forum. He will spend time with you over the phone sorting out what you want and then will be able to give you an accurate quote for what it will cost. A great engine builder and has great service. I'm running one of his 482 c.i. strokers. You know there's something in there....it pops.

[azfordman]

Rick, thanks for being nice. I am sorry if my post somehow irritated you. I did search the threads, but didn't find anything recent that answered my question, guess I didn't look back far enough. I cannot say at this point exactly what I am looking for. In the process of gathering info so when I do start building my car I have some direction of which way I am headed. I am pretty sold on Kirkham for the rolling body. I am leaning towards building a fia street replica. It would be nice to shave some weight if I am going with a small block. I do waiver and might still go with a 427...and even then an aluminum block would be sweet. The car`will be a driver, not to say it won't be run on a track just for the experience. Bottom line is I would like something dependable since it will be a street car. I know you get what you pay for, but there has to be a balance of affordability and quality. As it is I am pushing over 75k and that is a big chunk of change for a "toy" (hope that doesn't offend anyone). Like I said in my original post, was just hoping to hear from anyone who has real world experience with aluminum blocks. Thanks again and I will try to search longer before I post anymore questions.

[RICK LAKE]

azfordman Bad day, my fault. Sorry I didn't mean to come off as an @$$. If you like the FIA and small block, either the stroker motors that are going out to 427 and more or the 302 boss motor that just came out are both good choices. You will need to do your home work on both motors. Asking questions is how we all learned in the end. If you could give and idea of what you want the car to do this would help in the choices for motor, trans, rearend ratio. I fuel system is the big thing when the hood is open and evrybody goes OOOO-MMMYYYY. Shop hard for your parts. If you are going with an Aluminium body cobra I can see the $75K. If fiberglass, you are way too high for price. Even the best clones here are not that high in price. If you want to talk, call me in the evening at 732-254-3536 est time. I live in NJ Rick L. Ps There are trade offs if you are going to do both track race and street drive. 2 different suspensions will be needed to get the most out of the car, mostly springs and shocks. I can do the street to track setup in under 1 hour. At this time I am also checking the nuts and bolts for being tight before going racing. You want a softer ride on the street also. A good set of street tires can be used on the track also. I use Pilots.

[RICK LAKE]

azfordman They are doing a buildup in the magazine for march 08. Using the new boss motor and the better AR heads. 340 cid maken 600 hp. Large solid roller cam. You could drop the cam size .100" and still make better than 500 HP. Something you might want to check out on the web or barnes and noble. I sure the build is done you might want to call the machine shop that built the motor and ask all the good questions, Tell them you are interested in building one and looking for info on their build up. Rick L.