Best way to proceed with improving up 427 Windsor street setup

[8litercobra]

I am replacing a 2.32/1.69/1.29/1 toploader with a T56 from Rockland Standard - 2.29/1.60/1.21/1.00/0.84/0.67. My Unique FIA has a 3.54 rear, with 245/15 Avon CR6ZZs.

Previously, I had another cobra with 3.31 rear gears and the 2.32 toploader. I really like the 4 speed CR gearing, and the T56 is very close.

The T56 is a heavy thing....I'm still not over the hard part of the install. But I went from an iron block & head windsor to an aluminum Dart/Kaase headed engine. It will be lighter than before! Brent Lykins gathered all my clutch parts - knowledgable and quick!

I'm booked for the next few weeks so getting this thing running is a ways off. There's always a few more details than I can see.

[Ace23]

9-10-2016 Update
All the things below are on the table to be part of the overhaul. After driving the car for a year I know more about what I want it to be so these are the modifications below that we have come up with. I strongly considering going to a stroked 385 engine but I have convinced myself to upgrade other parts of the car in hopes of it providing sufficient power to hold me over for longer.

The motor was pulled about a month ago. Work has been very busy so I haven't had much time to start on the cleaning of parts but I plan on getting a few hours in tomorrow. Below is a tentative list of some of the upgrades we are kicking around




This picture is all Perry. I've been in the office trying to make the money to pay for all this!
1. We are swapping the cam to what Brent with Lykins Motorsports has specified. The cam that is being replaced is 252/262 at .576 /.576 lift with112LSA at 112 ICL. The cam that is going is 244/248 at .580/.590 lift with a 108 LSA installed at 104 ICL. New cam is expected to peak around 6000rpm and will allow for 6200-6500 shifting if needed.

2. While the engine is out I have a new waterpump that is going on it. I am also swapping the current victor jr to a polished victor jr.

3. It is time for tires.....the 17" wheels seem to pick up most road imperfections are quite harsh on most backroads....... I want to try a set of 15" wheels and I want to run the NittoNT555 drag radials on all 4 corners. This is only a fair weather street car so getting in wet weather isn't a concern. I've spoken with Boby Lacy at Vintage wheels and he can shave the inner hub of the rear wheels to allow me to run the 325-50-15 on the rear as Greg Schroeder did in this older thread I came across Maximum Meat - Fitting Wide Rubber on a Superformance

4. Currently the car has a 3:31 and I would like to put more gear in it but the TKO-600 doesn't allow for what I would call cruiser friendly RPM with more gear. We are currently looking at the possibility of going to a T56 as it would allow for more gear and more variety in speed ranges. Brent says minimum cruise for my new cam is 2000rpm. With the T56 and 4:10 rear the 4th gear looks great for 40mph+, 5th 50mph+ and 6th a nice 62mph+. Some may not be irritated with going down the highway but I've done the 3000rpm maintained RPM and I hate it. A Quicktime bellhousing will be used regardless whether the TKO-600 is kept or a T56 is used. I have highlighted some off the speeds below that look like they appeal to me.

TKO 600-.82 5th and 3:31 rear
Gear 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Trans Ratio 2.87 1.89 1.28 1.00 0.82
315/35/17 rear tire size
1500 12 18 26 33 40
2000 15 23 35 44 54
2500 19 29 43 55 67
3000 23 35 52 66 81
3500 27 41 60 77 94
4000 31 47 69 88 108
4500 35 53 78 100 121
5000 39 59 86 111 135
5500 42 64 95 122 148
6000 46 70 104 133 162
6500 50 76 112 144 175
7000 54 82 121 155 189

T56 with 2.66 1st gear and 4:10 Rear gear
Gear 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Trans Ratio 2.66 1.78 1.30 1.00 0.80 0.63
325-50-15 rear tire
1500 11 16 22 29 36 46
2000 15 22 30 39 49 62
2500 18 27 37 49 61 77
3000 22 33 45 58 73 93
3500 26 38 52 68 85 108
4000 29 44 60 78 97 123
4500 33 49 67 87 109 139
5000 37 55 75 97 121 154
5500 40 60 82 107 134 170
6000 44 65 90 117 146 185
6500 47 71 97 126 158 200
7000 51 76 105 136 170 216

5. With the use of 4.10 gearing and sticky tires we thought that it woud be wise to look into a 31 spline axle upgrade. This would require me to send the differential out.....new bearings, new seals, 4:10 motive gears, Eaton Tru-Trac, Drive shaft shop chromoly 31 spline axles. The T56 will also require a new driveshaft.

6. The flywheel in the car is aluminum......with the 4:10 gears and it being a street car I'm not sure whether we will use the aluminum or go to a billet steel flywheel. I believe the aluminum one is currently around 13lb. Looking at going to a RST twin disk .

7. The 2" headers were covering up a portion of the exhaust port because the bolt holes in the flanges were too far down. Working with GP headers to have the headers modified for the proper flanges. Also considering having my 2.5ID exhaust opened up to 3". Perry had performance engineering modify his SPF pipes and they are about 3 times deeper than mine.....it is what a cobra should sound like in my opinion.

8. The Brodix TRX 1 heads are going to be sent back out to Craft racing to be freshened with new seals ect.

9. I'm going to take the seats to a local shop to get them restuffed......much flatter than other SPF I have been in. Just a wear and tear item.

[vatdevil]

SPF 522 has a new KC 427 with ported Air Gap dual plane, 236/242 @ 050 cam, aluminum flywheel. excellent street manners, cruises at 1600 rpm, instant throttle response, and a very broad torque curve... ample power everywhere.

4.10 is a lot, especially with an aluminum flywheel. my motor unwinds quick, shifts need to be very fast or rpm drops too much. Currently have 3.90s and plan on dropping to 3.27


On the diff, solid bushing mounts will take care of wheelhop, a major contributor to broken halfshafts. Purchased them from Craigs Cobras.

[Ace23]

Originally Posted by vatdevil

SPF 522 has a new KC 427 with ported Air Gap dual plane, 236/242 @ 050 cam, aluminum flywheel. excellent street manners, cruises at 1600 rpm, instant throttle response, and a very broad torque curve... ample power everywhere.

4.10 is a lot, especially with an aluminum flywheel. my motor unwinds quick, shifts need to be very fast or rpm drops too much. Currently have 3.90s and plan on dropping to 3.27


On the diff, solid bushing mounts will take care of wheelhop, a major contributor to broken halfshafts. Purchased them from Craigs Cobras.

Congrats on your new motor it sounds like a great power plant. I can see why you desire a gear change as you probably have a great range of power whey my car did not. With the broad range of power that you have the 3.27 will probably work great for you.

Maybe I am thinking about this incorrectly but when you go from 3.90's to 3.27 isn't your motor going to unwind quicker? My car with the 3.31 would drop rpms very quickly and i was really noticable in the 1-2-3 shift aroud town. I have been advised to keep the aluminum flywheel if I go with 4:10's

I spoke to Craig about his solid mounts and he said he did not advise using them on a street car used for cruising IF the sound of the differential clunking around would be noticed as it could be irritating to some. Have you experienced this with your upgrade?

[Ace23]

Update 9.12.2016

Spent a few hours prepping the block and timing cover to be repainted. The cylinder heads are boxed up and are going out to Craft racing this afternoon.
This is the Ram aluminum flwheel that Oltoff put in the car about 6000 miles ago. I am told new friction inserts can be put in this flywheel if needed. I was not aware of the aluminum flywheel until we pulled it out of the car as I didn't pick up on it in the build sheet. Does anyone see any abnormal wear? .


This is the McLeod Clutch that was in the car also put in about 6000 miles ago. I cannot tell what model clutch this is and the Oltoff reciepts just reference it being a McLeod



Check out the headers and how the bolt holes were not exactly where they should have been to create a good seal on the header which was causing the header to sit too far down. The flanges were overlapping a small portion of the ports but more than anything were not sealed correctly. You should be able to get a good indication by the cylinder head image.

[vatdevil]

Originally Posted by Ace23

Update 9.12.2016

Spent a few hours prepping the block and timing cover to be repainted. The cylinder heads are boxed up and are going out to Craft racing this afternoon.
This is the Ram aluminum flwheel that Oltoff put in the car about 6000 miles ago. I am told new friction inserts can be put in this flywheel if needed. I was not aware of the aluminum flywheel until we pulled it out of the car as I didn't pick up on it in the build sheet. Does anyone see any abnormal wear? .


This is the McLeod Clutch that was in the car also put in about 6000 miles ago. I cannot tell what model clutch this is and the Oltoff reciepts just reference it being a McLeod



Check out the headers and how the bolt holes were not exactly where they should have been to create a good seal on the header which was causing the header to sit too far down. The flanges were overlapping a small portion of the ports but more than anything were not sealed correctly. You should be able to get a good indication by the cylinder head image.

Those are SPF headers?

[vatdevil]

[quote=Ace23;1403250]Congrats on your new motor it sounds like a great power plant. I can see why you desire a gear change as you probably have a great range of power whey my car did not. With the broad range of power that you have the 3.27 will probably work great for you.

Maybe I am thinking about this incorrectly but when you go from 3.90's to 3.27 isn't your motor going to unwind quicker? My car with the 3.31 would drop rpms very quickly and i was really noticable in the 1-2-3 shift aroud town. I have been advised to keep the aluminum flywheel if I go with 4:10's

I spoke to Craig about his solid mounts and he said he did not advise using them on a street car used for cruising IF the sound of the differential clunking around would be noticed as it could be irritating to some. Have you experienced this with your upgrade?[/QUOTE








Yes, there is some additional noise due to the solid mounts. Only noticeable when coasting in neutral, 3 inch mufflers mask it well. I love the aluminum flywheel, but shifting is VERY busy when combined with 3.90s.