I have a 56 Fairlane Club Sedan with a 390/C6 and a 3.00 9" rear with 28" tires. The 390 is a mild rebuild done in the 80's, .30 over, too much cam, stock small port heads, stock manifolds, performer 390, holley 735 vacuum secondary, with 100 shot NOS plate system. The trans is stock with a 2500 stall converter. I bought this from a friend that did most of the work on the car in the late 80's.
The car has a louvered hood and I made the mistake of parking it outside with no cover on the air cleaner. Now it has had water in it for probably 2 years ( it's been a lost project for a while). I'm finally moving it up on my priority list and after I rebuild the front suspension, add discs and rebuild the steering box, I'll start on the engine. My goals are to have a nice weekend cruiser that I take to car shows, drag race 5-10 times a year, and take on poker runs or short trips to the coast(150 miles each way) with my wife. I'd like to eventually have a 12 second car (with NOS and drag radials).
I'm mechanically inclined and do most of the work on my cars, but I've never built an engine. I have a good friend that has built quite a few, that will help me with assembly. I also have a good local machine shop, I'll have to check with him and see how familiar he is with FE's. I was thinking I'd use the 428 crank I have sitting in the garage, but with the price of an internally balanced stroker. I think I'll sell it and buy a 4.25" stroker setup from Barry R, Keith Craft etc... So now that I know I want a 445, how should I proceed?
From reading this and the other fe forum, this is what I think I want to build. 4.25" stroker rotating assembly with H beam rods, .30 over 390 block, 10.8:1 compression, edelbrock 428 heads, performer rpm intake, 294s cam, 1 3/4"-2" headers, dual 3" exhaust with some kind of high flow muffler. If i put this short block together and put my small port heads on it with the performer 390 and the holley 735, would I be able to use it for a year until I could afford the top end? I realize the compression would be a little high for pump gas with stock heads, I can mix some race fuel in with 92 octane to fight detonation. My other concern is will I have enough vacuum for power brakes? Will I need a higher stall converter? Or maybe slightly higher gears(I'd rather not go over 3.25:1 in the rear)?
