Reply to "B. Goyaniuk's motor questions"

There are so many options these days, it can be quite overwhelming for someone to know which choices to make. So much has been written on the DTBB in the recent past about the Cleveland block's weaknesses, which, are overblown to a degree. It's really boils down to informed & intelligent engine building, not about the block itself. We throw numbers around like 500 bhp & 500 ft/lbs of torque like thay are nothing! Damn, that is more power than any show room musclecar from the '60s ever made! No other Ford small block could approach that kind of performance, so the weakness of of a "thinwall" cast block was never understood until the Cleveland came along. The production 351W block that the 427 Windsor strokers are based on are thinwall castings too and are not any stronger than the Cleveland.

The FE motor was Ford's newest big block motor when Ford initiated the total performance era, so it got a lot of development for high performance usage. The Cleveland was to be Ford's newest mid size performance engine, but it came along as corporate Ford abandoned the total performance era. In the case of the FE motor, good timing; in the case of the Cleveland, bad timing.

An advantage of today's inexpensive stroker crankshafts is that we can make those big torque & bhp numbers without resorting to as many RPMs or as much valve lift, which is easier on the motor & valvetrain.

Bohdan is an engineer, he needs info so he can make an informed decision for himself. He's asking a lot of questions & doing his best to be informed & base his decision on reason rather than emotion. He'll get there eventually & when he does he'll be sure he's made the right choices. I'm glad to help anyway I can.

George