New member, a year away from starting

[Cashburn]

Never buy an engine first... biggest mistake a lot of guys make.

[tcrist]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

Never buy an engine first... biggest mistake a lot of guys make.

Decide what engine you intend on using and build your car around that. You could pay 7K (small block) and up for an engine and it will just set there while you build. Then when you get the car together and have an issue (hope not though) and you are out of any kind of waranty.

JMO of course,

Terry

[svirfnebli]

Originally Posted by Cashburn

Never buy an engine first... biggest mistake a lot of guys make.

I was leaning towards not getting the engine first, but I had done some reading saying that prices on several used engines are really good right now because of the recession.. Aparrently few people are buying and lots of people are selling.

Is it just that some people buy the engine and never do anything with it? or that it rots while it waits for a car to go into?

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by svirfnebli

Is it just that some people buy the engine and never do anything with it? or that it rots while it waits for a car to go into?

That, or you change your mind on the engine (or the internal specs of the engine). Regardless, make the basic decision of whether you want a big block, small block, FE, etc. and then start your build. You can have just about any engine your heart desires built and delivered to you in a matter of a month or two... or less. Get your build going first.

[svirfnebli]

Thats great advice! I'll take it.

Total noob question - i've read a little about the FE .. what is it exactly and where does it come from?

[elmariachi]

Originally Posted by svirfnebli

Total noob question - i've read a little about the FE .. what is it exactly and where does it come from?

Its a long-since discontinued family of Ford V-8s. This is good starting point about FEs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_FE_engine

and there are plenty of books out there that tell you how to buy parts and build/maintain them.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by svirfnebli

Thats great advice! I'll take it.

Total noob question - i've read a little about the FE .. what is it exactly and where does it come from?

FE is a class of engines that were made by Ford. There were different sizes, but all look the same looking down on them in an engine bay. Two sizes of FEs were used in the Cobras, 427s and 428s. They are not the biggest, nor the fastest, nor the lightest engines, but they lend a "touch of originality" when used in a Cobra replica. Depending on the engine size, and the components you uaw, they can be cheaply and easily built... or pretty expensive.