Updated my website with a dyno results page....

[blykins]

What I've learned over the years is that there are varying degrees of "streetable." Some guys like tow truck torque, right off idle, some guys like 5500-6000 rpm horsepower peaks, and some guys like to spin the engines up to 7500.

With the exception of the one 11.5:1 427 FE on my page, all of those engines are street engines. That 427 was for an FIA road race '63.5 Galaxie.

Days of .450-.500" valve lifts are long gone, especially in the past 20 years, where leaps and bounds have been made in valvetrain technology. Very rarely do I build an engine with under .575" valve lift, and most street hydraulic rollers are .600-.650" lift at the valve. Those engines have very mild cams and will last forever. Now granted, I don't use NAPA valve springs and Autozone lifters, my engines get high quality valve springs from Comp, PAC, PSI, etc., and lifters are Ford Racing, Morel, etc.

On the solid roller engines, there is a degree of maintenance not present with the other engines. However, lifter technology has also jumped by leaps and bounds, and now we have pressure fed and bushed lifters that will go 20-30k miles before inspection. Adjusting valve lash every week is also a wives' tale, and with the quality of parts that are available, it's essentially a "set it and forget it" mindset. Obviously race engines should get checked more often due to the amount of abuse they take.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Originally Posted by blykins

What I've learned over the years is that there are varying degrees of "streetable." Some guys like tow truck torque, right off idle, some guys like 5500-6000 rpm horsepower peaks, and some guys like to spin the engines up to 7500.

With the exception of the one 11.5:1 427 FE on my page, all of those engines are street engines. That 427 was for an FIA road race '63.5 Galaxie.

Days of .450-.500" valve lifts are long gone, especially in the past 20 years, where leaps and bounds have been made in valvetrain technology. Very rarely do I build an engine with under .575" valve lift, and most street hydraulic rollers are .600-.650" lift at the valve. Those engines have very mild cams and will last forever. Now granted, I don't use NAPA valve springs and Autozone lifters, my engines get high quality valve springs from Comp, PAC, PSI, etc., and lifters are Ford Racing, Morel, etc.

On the solid roller engines, there is a degree of maintenance not present with the other engines. However, lifter technology has also jumped by leaps and bounds, and now we have pressure fed and bushed lifters that will go 20-30k miles before inspection. Adjusting valve lash every week is also a wives' tale, and with the quality of parts that are available, it's essentially a "set it and forget it" mindset. Obviously race engines should get checked more often due to the amount of abuse they take.

My race engine was a solid roller cammed engine with 625 lift and around 280 duration in a 331 stroker and could have easily been in a street car,it idled nicely at 900 rpms and had plenty of low end grunt,but yet ran up to 7000 rpms without a hitch.....I'd check the valve lash once a season, usually about 30+ hours of run time and barley had to adjust 1/2 the valves.......

My street engine is also a 331 stroker with a hydraulic roller cam, 525 lift and it idles nicely at 800 rpms and pulls like a freight train thru 6000 rpms....that's what I wanted in my street car,but could have made more power with more camshaft...

As you said Brent,engine technology has gone leaps and bounds since the 60's & 70's........

David