my first disgusted spectator

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by AL427SBF

427w SBF vs. the traditional 427FE BB?
Weighs approx. 200lbs. less than a Big Block 427FE.
Improved internals over factory 351w. (Forged Connecting Rods, Crank and Pistons)
Same Dimensions as 351w.
Approx. 2-3 inches less in Width and Height than 427FE.
Huge Torque increase over factory 351 engine (500+lbs. when built properly)
Runs Cooler than a Big Block Ford.
Vehicle Handles and Corners Better than a Big Block Engine.
Just as Fast or Faster 0-60 or 0-100mph times than a Big Block.
Runs thousands less in cost to a Big BLock.
Still have the bragging rights of a 427 cubic inch engine under the hood.

Partial list of course, the decision is trivial

But does it sound the same as a BB? tin-man

[Aussie Mike]

Just saw your avatar Tin-Man. I spent a lot of time working up in China and saw heaps of those big diesel tillers chugging along the road with a big trailer on the back. Invariably with about 5 ton of rock piled on it too.

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

Just saw your avatar Tin-Man. I spent a lot of time working up in China and saw heaps of those big diesel tillers chugging along the road with a big trailer on the back. Invariably with about 5 ton of rock piled on it too.

Yeah, Mike, they are sight to behold and can hold a lot of stuff. I saw one today with 20 foot long bamboo poles on it stacked at least five feet high

Where did you hang out in China? tin-man

[Aussie Mike]

I worked all over China back in the late 90's. From right up north in Harbin and on down south to Hong Kong.

I was thinking about it the other day and here's a list of the cities I've worked in as best I can remember.
Harbin, Yantai, Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen. There may have been a couple of others. Some of the guys in my team got as far west as Urumqi but not me. I got to go to Harbin in the winter. Everyone assumed I was Russian since it's so close to Siberia.

I was working for a company deploying optical fiber and telephony equipment.

I went back a few years ago and the place has really changed a lot. Cars everywhere and not nearly as many bicycles.

Where are you based?

Cheers

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by Aussie Mike

I worked all over China back in the late 90's. From right up north in Harbin and on down south to Hong Kong.

I was thinking about it the other day and here's a list of the cities I've worked in as best I can remember.
Harbin, Yantai, Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen. There may have been a couple of others. Some of the guys in my team got as far west as Urumqi but not me. I got to go to Harbin in the winter. Everyone assumed I was Russian since it's so close to Siberia.

I was working for a company deploying optical fiber and telephony equipment.

I went back a few years ago and the place has really changed a lot. Cars everywhere and not nearly as many bicycles.

Where are you based?

Cheers

Mike, I'm here in Zhuhai, which is in Guangzhou, just across from Hong Kong and within walking distance of Macao. Spent nine years in Shanghai from 1986 onwards building three aircon factories then on to Tianjin setting up a pencil factory. Spent time in Harbin, Shuafenhur, on the Chinese Russian border, Chong Quing and Hunan. Did three years expanding factories in Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and India and now back in China working on my third expansion for a company engaged in making micro drills for PCB subcontractors. Lotta fun, loads of work, get to work my ass off seven days a week, but still loads of fun, you know the drill, it never ends.

Cheers, John, AKA, tin-man

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by tin-man

Mike, I'm here in Zhuhai, which is in Guangzhou, just across from Hong Kong and within walking distance of Macao. Spent nine years in Shanghai from 1986 onwards building three aircon factories then on to Tianjin setting up a pencil factory. Spent time in Harbin, Shuafenhur, on the Chinese Russian border, Chong Quing and Hunan. Did three years expanding factories in Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and India and now back in China working on my third expansion for a company engaged in making micro drills for PCB subcontractors. Lotta fun, loads of work, get to work my ass off seven days a week, but still loads of fun, you know the drill, it never ends.

Cheers, John, AKA, tin-man

I did some time in Macao too but only at the Casinos

I know what you mean about working your ass off. I did most of my travel in 4 week blocks. You fly in, work like mad and then go home. I used to be away from home about 6 or 7 months of the year. Too difficult now with having a family so my trips are only a week or so at a time and only a few a year. I've done a lot of work around the APAC region over the years. Worked in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Japan as well. Seen some interesting places in my travels and others I never want to go back to.

Cheers (Gan bei)

[AL427SBF]

Originally Posted by tin-man

But does it sound the same as a BB? tin-man

Close enough I think YouTube - Brett-Test-Run-5-12-2011-01200.AVI

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by AL427SBF

Close enough I think YouTube - Brett-Test-Run-5-12-2011-01200.AVI

Only if you don't know what you're listening to, or better yet, what you're feeling as the sound waves hit you. But, FWIW, most people don't and most people can't appreciate the sounds of different bells when they're not hearing them one after the other. But, ring one after the other and even the neophyte will say "you're right, there is a difference." See: Aluminum small block pros/cons? If you've ever taken your car to a show were there were deaf patrons, they will often times ask you to start up your car after seeing your big block engine. But not to hear it, but rather to feel it. And that be the difference between a small block and a big block.

[CobraV8]

Originally Posted by patrickt

[/i] See: Aluminum small block pros/cons?

Interesting theory from an engineering standpoint

So your car is emitting it's exhaust sound off the engine block rather than out of the tailpipe?

Simon

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by CobraV8

So your car is emitting it's exhaust sound off the engine block rather than out of the tailpipe?

Both. Otherwise, a small block aluminum 427CID engine with the same compression ratio, horsepower, and timing events would send out exactly the same vibrations as an iron block FE (which they don't). An aluminum bell, with exactly the same cavity size as a larger iron bell, will sound completely different even when struck with the same hammer using exactly the same force.

[CobraV8]

Originally Posted by patrickt

An aluminum bell, with exactly the same cavity size as a larger iron bell, will sound completely different even when struck with the same hammer using exactly the same force.

That is correct. The natural frequency of an oscillating system is the squareroot of the stiffness divided by the mass, it works this way both for a bell and an engine block.

However if I followed your logic that the mass difference between the blocks makes a difference you can hear I must have given my small block car a deeper exhaust tone by eliminating rubber engine mounts and bolting the engine and transmission directly to the frame. This effectively increases the mass of the oscillating system by a huge amount (engine+transmission before, engine+trans+frame after).

Also what would happen to your car if you installed one of these aluminum toploaders? Would the decreased mass make it sound like a small block

Otherwise, a small block aluminum 427CID engine with the same compression ratio, horsepower, and timing events would send out exactly the same vibrations as an iron block FE

I'd tend to say in that case the aluminum engine block would emit even more sound energy, as cast iron has much better damping capabilities. However compared to the sound coming from the tailpipe the difference in mechanical vibration of the block was absoltely negligible.

(which they don't).

You sure?

[patrickt]

But everybody does not prefer the sound/vibration of a big block. Any more than all people like the sound of high winding smaller CID cars, the F1 cars, or all the variations in between -- Japanese fart cans are the worst, especially when they're faster than your Cobra. On my car, I actually went to additional extremes with the sidepipes to have them built to be "quieter." They are not terribly loud, in volume, as compared to a lot of big block Cobras. But you still feel the sound.