For a slightly different view, I did a thirty-over 390 several years ago. I started with a '64 PI engine and added a Comp solid roller, and a set of Dove F-5 heads and a Dove 'spider' manifold. The heads and intake were massaged and matched by Wayne Kuchtyn at 'Headwinds' in Westland, MI. We used Ross flat-top pistons which created about 11.5-1 compression and used 2.100 nailhead intake valves and 1.65 tulip exhausts from Ferrea. We chose the cam specs to approximate the street characteristics you might get from the use of the factory 'AA' cam.

It's more story than is necessary here, but the break-in pulls on a dyno at Roush's Livonia facility produced +/- 500 HP with a fat fuel curve and with only 32 degrees of ignition, so there was likely somewhat more to be had.

Barry's head design is, for all practical purposes, as up-to-date as exists and if you were to use them, or alternatively a pair of Dove's F-5 offerings, your goal is surely within reach.

Good Luck!

KS

Hey Quik---

As you have set the question, the answer may just be as you've concluded. My own experience, at least in so far as the FE is concerned, is as follows:

When my new '64 Custom 427 was only a couple of months old, I went from here in Metro Detroit to Sebring for the 12 Hour Race. In prep, I traded my 4.11 for a 3.50 and installed a pair of 8.20-15s on the back of the car. I disconnected the speedo so I wouldn't run out the entire warantee---only 3000 miles---and decided to run with the tach readings. A little practice helped me discover that with an educated foot, I could get 3K on the tach in 4th and still be in only the primaries on the primary carburetor.

The tire/gear combination resulted in the 3K being about 70 MPH. But being young and hot-blooded, we decided to run at over 100 MPH as much as we could. US 75 was not yet complete and the remaining two-lane stretches made for a deal of frustration as we went along. I achieved 16 MPG for one particular tank of gas, but the trip average was 11.7.

The real answer is to get rid of the carbs and go to EFI! Then you needn't worry about primaries and secondaries and the effects of accel pumps!

KS

I'm sitting with a friend who has a 'toy' '93 Mustang Convert. He is in process of doing a complete restoration for what will be a cruiser. He's stymied by marks on the original top that indicate some padding (rubber of some sort?) that was glued to the top material as some sort of protection from the top frame, and has now virtually disintegrated. Can anyone give me direction to someone who might have a source for this? '93 was the last year when Ford outsourced convertible top installations. TIA!!!

KS

What's the intended purpose? For constant competition you may have a potential problem on your hands, but I'd not be afraid to use it for the street. But as was said, you have a suspect situation due to a lack of bottom measurements. And there is an 'art' to the use of a sonic checker.

KS

Wish you well! Had an intermittent noise such as you reference and ultimately found a small chunk of loose aluminum flash occasionally making contact with the converter. This was in a car with 20 K miles before anything was audible.

KS

I had a '65 Cortina GT. One of the selling features was that the wipers were of the same design as the GT40. Skeletonized and made of little rods held together with plastic fittings. Supposedly very aerodynamic. After about a year the plastic began to give up. Replacements were mundane.

The first GT40 taillights were the tri-part items from the Cortina. I'm not sure when they changed.

KS

It would probably be most accurate to designate the aftermarket taillights as replacements for that chibbie application instead of simply chibbie parts. They were likely made in a foreign country and had no direct link to GM. The comparison to the connecting rods is accurate as well. I have used rods in several FE engines that had some dimensions in common with the BBC articles, but none of them were GM-sourced and in all cases, had some aspects that had nothing to do with the BBC.

KS