rookie question bout engine rpm
 

hi guys, two quick questions for this new cobra owner here.

1) my engine is a 351 stroked to 413 ci. . ford ho svo crate. i don't know all the internal workings, but do know its a roller motor(rockers and cam ect.). what is my red line?? engine has 5,000 miles on it, as does car.

2) also i think i'm running a little rich. odor of gas even after car been running for a while. there is no choke on carb(750). also a little black smoke from right side pipe when ideling. i do know i have to replace the key and tumbler(loose). is it carb adjustment, plugs?? any help is appriciated... thanks ken

Ken, my stroked 351/418 red lines at 6,000 rpm; the roller cam I selected is more of a torquer than a high rpm screamer, and is therefore a bit convservative. Your plugs are easy enough to check - if they are black and oily looking, I'd start with a new set, but it sounds like carb tuning to me.

Terry

My 425ci Windsor makes all the go-power at 5400 revs....so I'll probably shift it thereabouts....maybe a few hundered over that...it's got a stout bottom end...It was spun to 6500 on a dyno....it could have went higher without any worries..

It all comes down to what cam you're using....where the engine makes its power.....and what your bottom end looks like....

Ken, do you know if there is a rev-limiter in the ignition? If so, creep up on it with throttle application and see where the flat spot starts. If you get to 8,000 rpm, I'd back off!

Terry

Probably your best bet is going to be to contact Ford SVO's "Tech Line" at 1-586-468-1356. Having said that, I offer the following:

I can't find my old SVO catalogs, so I can't confirm that Ford offered a 413 version of the 351W through SVO; however, it does sound vaguely familiar. Although I seem to recall such an engine being offered through non-SVO sources, but I can't find anything on them worth mentioning -- except, perhaps, their existence.

The current SVO "stroked 351W" crate engine features a Crane hydraulic roller cam -- but ... unless I simply didn't know where to look ... neither the information available at fordracingparts.com nor the information available at cranecams.com indicates which of the Crane cams Ford uses in that engine.

Although it might be an off-the-shelf bumpstick, Ford may have specified different lobe centers to be used with an "off the shelf" lobe (a common way of getting a "custom" cam grind). On the other hand, Ford's claimed lifts (.566/.576) don't directly correspond to anything in the Crane Cams online catalog. Perhaps more significantly, it's bigger than the M-6250-Z303 camshaft that SVO touts as ""CamZilla" the biggest and baddest camshaft that Ford Racing offers."

The Crane Cams "PowerMax" HR232/352-2S1-12 features the same duration at .050 (232/240), with lift of (.563/.584). Advertised duration of said PowerMax cam is 294/302; all this is on a 112-degree LC.

Crane doesn't specify a redline -- and even if they did, it would probably be based on the use of Crane valvetrain components. The 392 uses Ford/SVO's -X303 heads and valvetrain. The -X303 camshaft features (.542/.542) lift and (224/224) degreed duration at 0.050 valve lift, with (286/286) degrees "advertised" duration for "power to 6200 rpm."

Regrettably, "GT40" has become such a marketing slogan for Ford that it is as meaningless as the term "big block" (see my rant elsewhere).

Tom Lucas!
 

Go see Tom at FE Specialties, he'll tell you whats wrong.

jdog:cool:
P.S. You'll find a link here at CC, he knows Ford engines!

awesome information.. this is a great website.. thanks guys.. jdog i was trying to remember that guys name and shop.. thats the guy in sac right?

terry, there is a ignition box that says rev limiter on it.. ive had it up to 6k and did not kick in yet...

Yeah, here in Sac.
 

You'll find a link with the address & phone number here in the 'advertisers' section. Check it out!

jdog:cool:
P.S. Tom is good people, and say Hi to my engine while you are there!:rolleyes:

i will.. looks like i have to see him sooner than planed. i think i have a leaky valve guide or worse. the second cylinder from the front, passenger side, has an oil fouled plug, when i pulled the plug and turned it over w/out coil wire, it shot a bit of oil out of the hole. darn it, i just bought the car two weeks ago. i'm going to post and ask for advise on troubleshooting..