My folks gave me a DA Speed Sport racing jacket for my 16th birthday (1966). It was black with gold and black trim on the collar and sleeves and the DA insignia across the back . My mom sewed a 427 T-Bird patch on it for me. It was the coolest piece of clothing I owned. Living in S. Florida it was seldom needed but I wore it anyway (sweated my ass off). My Dad had one just like it and my mom still has it. Oh the days long ago. ww

I have used Brad Penn Oil for a long time but have not purchased any in a while. I see that DA Petroleum purchased Brad Penn a while back and it looks like their product has changed. Their multi-grade oils are semi-synthetic?

I'm hearing that Joe Gibbs Hot Rod mineral based oils are the ones to use with flat tappet cams. I used Brad Penn break-in oil for my new engine but I'm wondering what to use going forward, it has solid lifters.  Thanks. ww 

SCAT 445 with Diamond pistons, ED heads massaged by JDC, BT MR intake,  Comp 270S cam, POP/Harland Sharp rocker arm system, QF 600's, Tim O Conner distributor. Hope to have it sitting between the frame rails within the next week. Been a long time coming. ww

I achieved a nice 825 RPM idle with 15 deg of initial timing with this method. I also have 15-16 inches of vacuum at idle. I took very small steps and did not have the progressive linkage installed during the tuning. Having the engine on the run stand made constantly removing and installing the carbs easier.

I'm glad to see Barry's comments about having any throttles completely closed. On my last adjustment of the secondaries I had 650 RPM at idle and that was too low. Just an ever so slight turn in evenly on both primaries off of the closed position brought me up to 850 RPM.

I was going to make another adjustment so the primaries would be closed but I will leave it as is for now. Obviously more tuning will be required once the engine is in the car and it's driven.

Since I have 15-16 inches of vacuum at idle and 6.5 power valves, should I change them to 7.5's?

Thanks for every ones input. ww

I wanted to kick this out and get others experiences. I have my new 445 on the run stand and after some teething issues I'm going to start tuning the carbs. They are custom QF 600's on a BT Medium Riser intake, ED heads and a Comp 270S cam.

I have read over and over the FORD TSB's on setting up dual fours and it says on the bench to turn the secondary adjust screw in 1/2 turn on both carbs from a closed position and the primary adjuster in 3 turns from a closed position on both. Then turn in the idle air screws in till seated and then back out 1 1/2 turns. This is your base line setting.

But I have been talking to Joe D. Craine and Woods Allen about using the secondary throttles of both carbs for engine idle. With this method you adjust the secondary throttle blades on both carbs so 0.012-0.014" of the transfer slot is showing. The primary adjusters are set to a CLOSED position. The idle air screws are turned out 3/4 to 1 turn. This is your base line setting. If the idle needs to be adjusted up or down it is done by making small adjustments evenly to the secondary's of both carbs, the primaries remain closed at idle.

It was also discussed about the need for the throttle blades to be centered in the bores if not already.

Obviously this is a more time consuming process but eliminates the potential of activating the power valve circuit at idle, especially with big cams.

I'm going to set mine up like this tomorrow and get it dialed in. I was wondering if others are using this method and had anything to share. Thanks. ww

I was curious if there is any data on the effects the various factory FE cast iron exhaust manifolds have on power output. We are all familiar with the shorty and long tube cast iron exhaust manifolds. But it seems starting in 65 with the new Galaxie chassis and the unibodies of the Mustangs & Fairlanes the factory manifolds became more restrictive (except the 65-67 427 manifolds in the Galaxie).  Yet factory power ratings didn't seem to suffer?

Case in point is the 64-65 330 hp rated 390 Police Interceptor engine. I believe both engines are mechanically identical with the exception of the exhaust manifolds. The 64 used the shorty Hi-Po manifolds where the 65 used the same log (pancake) manifolds found on the 300hp 390 and the 250hp 352 (the shorty manifolds do not clear the 65 chassis configuration).

How could both engines have the same power output?

I was wondering if Jay (or anyone) had any data on this or had entertained doing some dyno comparisons of the various factory exhaust manifolds. ww

Here is two exhaust sounds of my 445 with a comp 294s solid flat tappet cam, .605 lift with 248* duration intake & exhaust.

Here is open headers before installation in the car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ii1I0Q-A8

This is the same engine in the car with FPA Shorty headers into a 3" H-pipe with 3" two chamber FlowMasters. They feed into 2 1/2" pipes over the axle and out the back with 3" Meg's tips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Aj4g12Lc1M

It's loud, just the way I like it.  The bigger the cam in an appropriately dressed FE the better it sounds.

ww