boss347convertible wrote:
I can tell you from experience that the high rise heads and manifold would not fit under the Superformance Cobra hood for me. Today's professional engine builders with modern components are able to coax remarkable numbers out of their products. I utilized quality components available to me at the time and enjoyed the car. Rocker shafts were snapping like twigs until I located a specialty manufacture selling gun drilled rocker shafts whittled out of a material I can't recall. After that, I never snapped another rocker shaft.
I remember years ago when I was in college there was a guy named John (can't remember the last name) up around Allentown, PA that ran an outfit called D&D Performance. He had a BOSS 429 that he had raced and a '79 or '80 Fox car with a 351C in it that ran low 9s. I got a 390 out of a truck from a friend for free before I left for college and I was considering an FE swap into my '67. He basically told me that it was a bad idea because all the FE stuff was old and worn out, or guys wanted WAY too much money for it. I could get the same power out of a stroker small block for less money and in a package that fit the chassis better.
Years later I was reading Barry Rabotnick's book on the FE and he discussed why the FE was a killer factory performance engine, but went through a period where it was widely ignored by most guys looking for performance. His contention was that the factory support at one point was very good, so good in fact that the aftermarket largely ignored the engines because they really couldn't do better than what Ford was already selling. When Ford got out of racing they had already gone to other designs in their performance street cars like the 351W, 351C, and 385 series. The FE had become old news. This left the FE in limbo where the only real parts, aside from simple stuff like cams, were factory parts that were increasingly old and had been used extensively for racing. So at the time (mid '90's) John was right about why an FE build was not my best option, and Barry had explained why.
Where we got lucky was that eventually when guys started to harken back to the nostalgia of the '60s that meant FE power and the demand existed to make aftermarket parts worth developing. There was a real FE renaissance in the 2000's and now its hard to remember how tough these engines once were to build.
I've still got that 390, and a soft spot for the FE. Maybe one day I'll build that 445 and drop it into the '67.
Oh, and on those rocker shafts, if I remember what I read right, they break because they ends are unsupported between the last stand and the rocker on the end. The aftermarket now has heads and rocker gear that puts a stand on the outside and fully supports the shaft to prevent failure. I think maybe the factory HP stuff had this figured out as well, but that was one of the other issues with the FE: too many variations of parts. 3 riser height configurations, etc.
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