I've been over in the technical forum, but I haven't introduced my setup here yet! My dad used to be into 1/4 mile drag racing back in the mid-late 60s, culminating in a '63 XL convertible he ran with a 1963 427FE "R" code he purchased out of a junkyard. Dad wasn't impressed with the performance and rebuilt the tired "R" code engine in 1968 finding the cylinders were so worn it needed to go to a 0.020 overbore to straighten them up. He swapped in a Lemans crank and rods setup and went back to racing in stock class where he said the engine really transformed, running mid 13s at about 100mph in the big 'vert. Like many times back in the day, the engine spun a rod bearing, probably the result of the self-locking rod bolts used with the Lemans rods. Dad noticed the oil pressure loss while on the road and shut it down immediately, but the damage had already been done. The crank was repaired and my dad had plans to put the 427 back on the road, but new house, kids, etc got in the way. Many years later, I came along and decided to stick a hose into the block as a young kid. When asked if I put water in another side of the block, as a kid of course, the answer was "no." Next spring, the block was dripping water on the ground. The engine sat for another 35 years in the corner of the garage and I decided now was the time. The first shop to magnaflux the block and propose welding had no clue what they were doing. I continued to shop around before I brought the engine to Crow Custom Cast welding in Wisconsin where the hairline crack was welded all the way up the back of the block right to the cam bearing. The block was then fully machined, including boring to 0.030, line honed, decked and squared before reassembly for use as a daily driver. Original OEM block, "H" heads, intake, carbs, vintage TRW OEM replacement cam, with custom Diamond 0.030 over pistons at a true static 10:1 CR, dual point distributor but with the Lemans rods and crank (have the originals parts) went onto the dyno at Tesar Engineering Racing Engines in Long Lake, MN where the break in was done and the dyno resulted in 436 hp at 5800rpm and 458 lb/ft @3600rpm. The dyno was a little tired at the time so it didn't want to pull down lower in rpm and the run was started at 3600. I expect actual peak torque was probably a couple hundred rpm less.
Into the 1969 Mustang sportsroof I bought for the project it went. My dad had always said the 427 had good street manners despite the reputation. I wanted to prove the engine was more than just a high strung, race day only monster unfit for the road so I installed a Vintage Air Gen IV AC system, Unisteer power rack and pinion, 9" rear with 3.25:1 gears, Tremec TKO 600, fully hydraulic clutch and throwout bearing, 3G alternator, 3 core aluminum radiator with dual Contour fans, and eventually, a CVF racing full serpentine conversion and Hydratech hydroboost brakes mated to 4 wheel discs and an LED headlamp conversion from CJ Pony Parts to give the car it's best chance at being a good daily driver with a race engine from 1963 under the hood, that is, haha.
My dad got one chance to drive the car with his old race engine before the project was complete before he passed away so I'm glad I didn't delay longer.
The 427 has seen cross country road trips from Denver to San Francisco and tons of around town driving and has exhibited excellent street manners, but it needs the enhanced cooling system I have. I think the engine may actually house a volcano at its core somewhere... The engine pulls well down to 1600rpm and will tolerate cruising at 1400rpm, but honestly, anything under 1800rpm is of limited efficiency because of cam overlap. I was hoping to prove to my dad the 427 could pull off 18mpg... buuuutttt well, not really, haha. 8mpg in downtown or stop and go. 10-11mpg in typical city, 14-15 in mostly highway and it will do 16-17mpg at a steady 70-75mph on the freeway. The car will run on 91 Ethanol blend pump gas (as was all that was available on long road trips), but I run it on 91 non-oxy with, hypothetically speaking, about 5-10% Sunoco 110 as the added octane showed the dyno numbers smoothing out. I've run lead substitute as well because I'm not willing to risk anything.
It's my goal to continue to run the car on the street as a 3/4 season daily driver, and (maybe slowly) document the modifications on my youtube channel to help folks out from somebody who isn't sponsored and telling all the good without any of the bad, and there's plenty of both.
