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Messages - speedreed

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FE Technical Forum / Re: I Need to Tame a Cat
« on: April 16, 2019, 12:06:20 PM »
@ YellowTruck - Fair questions. The 2 barrel had me scratching my head too.  Apparently the "X" code is relatively rare. One story I read had something to do with a loophole in insurance rates at the time.  Another said it was marketed as a fuel-efficient big block, but not many people bit on that offer.  The goal I had in mind was to get as close to original as possible, while making it driveable with todays available (93 octane) fuel.  I don't want to completely de-claw it.  In fact, my first thought was to ditch the intake and carb until I found out about the rarity of it.
Are Jay's heads available yet?  I guess I missed that.

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FE Technical Forum / I Need to Tame a Cat
« on: April 16, 2019, 09:55:16 AM »
I inherited a 1968 Cougar XR7 with a 390 2-barrel.  The car was in storage for quite a while, and the engine was seized.  The VIN says it has an "X" code engine with 10.5:1 compression ratio and requires Premium fuel.  My research showed that Premium fuel in 1968 was 100 octane.  This is not practical for me.  I would like to rebuild it to run 93 octane pump gas.  So the question is: What is the best way to do this?  I assumed different pistons would be in order but I am also wondering about the cam, rods, crank, etc.  I read somewhere (forget where) that 9.6:1 compression is a good fit for this.  The engine is completely torn down, so all options are on the table.  Any advice would be appreciated, and part numbers would be awesome.
P.S. The heads are C8AE-H.

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