Today after a closer inspection, I found the main caps had wear indentations from where the main cap bolts where tightened on the caps.  And because I am going to be running ARP main cap studs that use washers, the washers require a flat surface so the studs can be properly torqued.
It was a simple procedure to machine the top of the caps so to have a flat surface.

When my 406 was being built I remember this taking place as well, I would think it should be done with Bolts or studs! Like you I ran Studs so it was a must but probably a good idea to have it done regardless.

Like Any stock N/A engine, it will take more then 1 item to really wake it up! Bolting on a set of headers, or an intake, or a new cam isnt going to give you all that much especially with a car that weighs as much as the old FE  cars did. So my suggestion would to be save your pennies and come up with a plan for a full rebuild if the HP game is what you want to get into.

Thanx Jayb

Sorry for the distraction!

One can clearly see the advantage of these for the every day engine builder/Dyno guy!

I sold a SOHC 427 powered 57 Bird for a friend last year. Those engines are really wedged in there and you have to get pretty creative to make everything work. His was done with a brand new crate engine in 1972 when he pulled out a twin Paxton supercharged 312.

That is quite a job I will agree, and I loved them both.

My 07 shelby was hard pressed to get 20 mpg on the highway , combination driving was about 16-17 , had a v-10 as well  11.5 mpg , i know what your say ng though new vs old .. BUT an fe can make awsome hp and maybe Jay needs to make an adapter for the mod motor super chargers out foe the fe ...... Bud   

Then you would actually have something, a intercooled Twin screw on a FE! No more heat generating Roots style superchargers. Drove my Lightning from Portland Oregon to Pamona california through the mountains and still averaged 20.2 MPG! Street tune was north of 600 at the tire the only major difference was I went from 3.73 rear end gears to a 3.55!

Somebody has got to tell my v10 about this 20 MPG stuff.   5 is all it gets now.

I had a Crew Cab dually 4x4 about 9 yrs ago with a Kenne Bell Supercharged V-10, and it did about 12 on the freeway..................Hard to understand the 5 but I guess its possible. That was a cool rig, Dyno'd at 575/830 to the tires on 8 lbs of boost................was pretty cool tow vehicle!

Hey Jay

Not really looking for big numbers on this particular project, just making a general statement about the lack of HP per cubic dollar spent. Running a Supercharger on a FE and make it run on 93 isn't what I would call very reliable unless you willing to fork out $40K to $50K and I might as well put a Proline BBC in it and stomp the FE's guts out. This is probably why I am such a mod motor fan.....................For $25K I am dancing with 900 to 1000 HP motor and trans and driving it to work every day!

No I am good where I am at, I just need to ditch the whole carb thing, run the Fast 2.0 and call it good. It surely isn't going to win me any titles in the 1/4 mile...............But with the set-up I have I will surely stomp a civic or two! LOL