Rodknock, you could be a lawyer (or my 12 year old) if you're not already... I did read your posts and drew summary conclusions, and while you didn't say it out-right, I reasonably concluded that EFI is not good enough for you. I can infer this because you don't have it and you stated you would buy it when it meets your criteria. The first of your stated criteria was "if they work properly" - I did use the wording "doesn't work well", but a little literary license could allow a reasonable reader to conclude that "properly" and "well" might be interchangeable? I would submit that your response here would be superfluous not because my assertion was so far off-base, but because you have no real experience or expertise in the subject matter. Hmmm?

Further, I appreciate you would like us both to race like cavemen; it is congruent with your stone-age choice of combustible mixture metering device feeding your engine.. Haha :D

And to follow that, I think you might be surprised... I am likely a lot younger and in better shape than you are assuming. I do run a pretty mean 40. But lets keep it to Cobras on this "Cobra" site, shall we?

Finally, its probably best you don't ever run that car in the 1/4 mile or on any racetrack.

So you didn't read carefully or carefully enough, because I would add EFI to my car, but I have my own criteria for EFI. If it looks great, it's plug & play, runs flawlessly 99.99% of time (even carbs have issues from time to time) and is within the ballpark of reasonableness in terms of price, then I'm a buyer. I thought about buying the old Dynatek system, because it looked like Webers, but all I heard about were the problems, setup, tuning and long term reliability. The other type of EFI that I looked into was the TWM setup, but the exposed fuel rails made the setup less than pleasing to me in terms of aesthetics. After that, I gave up on the idea.

Am I technically gifted or an expert in anything as it relates to cars and/or EFI? No. And I don't really care to be. There's more to life.

And I likely won't hit the drag strip any time soon, but it's not because of ability or lack thereof, or even worrying about hurting the Kirkham. It boils down to time. And the allocation of that precious resource.

If folks bring up their 1/4 times, it what would seem like an effort to brag about themselves and their cars, then hey, I'll bring up other types of racing, including by foot. I could be older than you, but I'm not "old."

The bottom line is, EFI is clearly a better form of fuel metering, but I would have to find a setup that meets my criteria. And while I'm waiting, I love the form, originality and functionality of the carb and turkey pan on my FE.

ItBites makes some valid points about the "Good 'ol boys" not having kept up with the EFI tech.
In their defence, they haven't been forced to. Most everywhere else in the world emissions laws have strangled the carb out of existence and forced our hands at adopting the tech.

I had a local expert take a look at a couple photos (and a couple youtube clips) of the old Dynaformance Dynatek system and they pretty much summed up with just that info most of the problems that have historically plagued this system with its set up.
If I new they could bloody do, that I'd have saved myself a ton of research on multiple forums!!! :eek:

For anyone who cares - efihardware.com
Throttle Bodies, EFI Fuel Pumps, EFI Regulators, Wolf 3D Engine Management Systems, EFI Hardware
Highly recommended and total pros!


Back on to the topic of Roush.
For mine - You're not on this earth long enough to learn from just your own mistakes.
You need to learn from that of others also.
There have clearly been enough people bitten by Roush engine builds that it just doesn't make sense to knowingly select them as the engine builder of choice.
Particularly as there are alternate options who provide better results, better service and at a lower price.
Brent @ B2 Motorsports would be one example.

For those of you who are happy with your Roush, good for you.
But they have little to no chance of getting me to part with my hard earned!


PS:
Count me in! I'm up for that... ;)
Just as long as the race doesn't call for any Yoga poses :LOL:

I think having owned a 540 mid-year Vette plus a KMP done right makes you vastly qualified to have such an opinion. Laps on the 1/4 aren't needed for insight.
Yes it's a superior way to meter fuel Ed (if set correctly) and works well for your satisfaction but it's not for all of us.

No "downward facing dog", but there will be a pre and post race cogitation. :LOL:

My rollercam 540 was an awesome running engine. I truly miss that motor.

But I don't miss my '66 Vette Convertible anywhere near as much, which is where the 540 was installed.

I agree. I think I bought my 482 in 2008 and I believe there was ample anecdotal evidence that a Roush engine wouldn't be a good pick for me. ;)

Yes ERA Chas and Rodknock, you are both vastly qualified to have an opinion. You know the saying about opinions... Hahahaha ;D

On the other hand: A 540 eh? Possibly the best normally-aspirated engine combination ever for bore/stroke and head flow abilities to produce reliable monster street power. Your stock has just increased incrementally.

Dude, you've lost me here... I don't understand your angel??
What does this have to do with either Roush, efi or the price of fish in central Africa?:rolleyes:

FWIW - I highly value ERAChas & Rodnock's opinions.
For mine their track history on cc qualifies them to an opinion on even fish prices in Africa. :cool:

I would definitely value Chas's opinion far more than mine. He's much more learned when it comes to fish futures on the Congolese futures market than I. :LOL:

Back on topic once again. Does Roush still sell engines? Last I heard, I think from the esteemed gentleman from Vintage Motorsports (Backdraft dealer) that Roush engines were not being sold in the same numbers as previous years since there is/was a plethora of other engine builders doing good jobs.

:eek::eek::eek:

And ditto on prior comments about spending my hard earned dough on Roush engines. Not going to happen.

My 427SR/TW was using oil from the get go......Working with Roush Engineering and Warranty and a straight shooting and technically savvy mechanic who is authorized to do Roush warranty work ( Voss Performance ) we acquired new heads. That was 7000 miles ago with no further oily plugs and constant top offs. They covered the new AFR Heads under existing warranty. We could have replaced them with the engine in place ,but I felt doing it on an engine stand was less risk. I paid for the engine removal and installation. Voss gave me a COCOA-OC discount on his labor. With the help of Voss we were able to avoid crating the engine back to Michigan. We sent boroscope and photo evidence and requested an ok to pull the intake manifold. Additional photos followed, and we had new heads being shipped to Ca.....They had switched to Dart heads, however my piston configuration was incompatible with the Darts so I have AFR's again. Long process. Big manufactures have Technical and Warranty Committees.......In addition Voss has had great success in working out the issues with the Roush EFI system. SoCal owners take note.

A couple things I have learned in my short life. Everyone is a liar, and anyone taking your money will make you feel good about giving it to them. How in the heck can it cost more to rebuild than the cost new? Never met a mechanic that wasn't a liar. Cobra replicas are junk and have infinite more problems than mass produced cars. The stock market is plagued with collusion. The best days for the US are behind it.

As a final follow up:

Just got the car back yesterday. The rebuild cost as much as the original engine did.

Needed new pistons and rings, all bearings, lifters, valve guides and seals. At least the bottom end, cam and block were undamaged.

The good news is this: After installation and break-in, the car was dyno tuned. 440 RWHP and 463 Torque at the rear wheels. The engine itself came from Roush with a tag declaring 515 hp and 535 torque at the flywheel. Using anywhere from 17-20% drivetrain loss, I figure I have a few more horsepuppies than I did before.

Speaking from experience as a Roush warranty repair provider, there were some very basic things that I was not happy with from them.

we have seen oil consumption in the 1 per 250 range on more than a few units, it seemed to get better on the SRX motors , but we are now hearing they too are 1 per 450/500.

Spoken to several builders and shared what we have seen.

Bottom line, I wish Roush-Yates spent more time over at Roush-Roush.

Steve