My 428 was rebuilt 2 years ago by the previous owner (2500 miles - some hard) and it is not performing as well as I would like. I have not had it dyno'd so I do not know the horsepower. Since I purchased the car, I do not have specs on the motor - previous owner will not respond to requests for info.
It runs strong, but doesn't scare me anymore.
I have been told that due to the height and look of the heads that they are FE. I believe the carb is a Holley 650 double-pumper and the cam is somewhat lumpy.
Had a problem last summer when the bronze distributor drive gear got chewed to pieces and left a coating of fools gold throughout the motor. Posted about that and the general consensus was to keep changing the
oil and run it with the new cast gear. While the pan was off the motor, a guy with pit crew experience took a look at the rods and the markings/grind marks.... and told me that the engine had been balanced and blueprinted.
It is still short on power and is now running rough after a fairly smooth summer.
Everyone has warned me about Ford's complexities and the difficulty of matching parts.
Don't want to waste money buying parts that won't work, but do want to get a lot more out of the motor.
I have considered pulling the motor (can this be done with the body on?) and doing some exploratory surgery, i.e figuring out the bore size, cam, carb, heads... but don't really have the time or a good place to do it. Can't afford to send it out.
Although I think I know the answer to my question, I would like some input from you guys - What should I do? Where should I start?
Thanks
smith
Complexity
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