02-04-2004, 08:34 AM
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CC Member
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Crystal Lake,
IL
Cobra Make, Engine: Everett-Morrison, 434 cid
Posts: 977
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Not Ranked
Speed,
Yes the SBC is a 50-year-old design. Yes, with all the Chinese parts available for the SBF you can build one on the same budget as a SBC. Yes, recent SBF cylinder head development has resulted in equal or better street performance than the SBC, despite other architectural deficiencies of the stock block. But, the closer you get the SBF to “serious and competitive” the more it looks like a SBC.
It is no secret that the SBC, which is still based on its original 50-year-old architecture, is the stronger engine in Cup racing. To try and close the gap NASCAR approved a new head for ’04. It is also no secret that Ford cloned the SBC in every way they could to make the SBF competitive with the SBC. It is to the point were dimensions for bore, stroke, block deck height, journal diameters, rods, pistons, etc are nearly identical and in the case of some components they’re interchangeable. The SBF is still handicapped be its bore spacing though.
So, if SBC guys “suffer from “flatheads forever condition”, what do SBF guys suffer from? Copycat syndrome maybe? For sure lack of market share in short track racing.
I have nothing against Fords anymore and I have my favorite SBF combination. It’s just that internally it looks an awful lot like a SBC. For my purposes the std 351W isn’t anywhere near competitive no matter what it’s stuffed with or what heads are on it.
Scott
Last edited by scottj; 02-04-2004 at 09:28 AM..
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