| Quick inspection `66 Ford Fairlane GTA Owner: Bill Barnes Engine: Bliss Performance in Spanaway, Washington, screwed together a 427 for Bill's street-oriented intentions. Sporting the same 3.78-inch stroke as the 390, 427s were always heavily race oriented and built cubes using an application-specific block with 4.23-inch bores. Bill's block is a pre-'65 casting-meaning it's a top oiler rather than a side oiler-but all 427s sport race-bred cross-bolted main caps. Edelbrock aluminum heads, a modest Comp Cams hydraulic bumpstick, and forged pistons yielding a 10.5 compression make up the basics of this build, while an MSD distributor, an ignition box, an Edelbrock aluminum water pump, and a Milodon high-volume oil pan fill in the gaps. Induction: West Coast Restorations supplied the NOS Ford Medium Riser intake, but rather than fit it with 1300 cfm worth of dual Holleys as the factory did, Bill opted for a pair of Holley 390s. The resulting 780 cfm may be a little shy for all-out power production, but Bill reports throttle response and driveability as excellent. For what it's worth, there are still 65 more cfm than Ford fitted to its single four-barrel version of the 427. Exhaust: Headers from Ford Powertrain Applications are metallic ceramic coated and hug the floorpan like few others. The remainder of the exhaust consists of 21/2-inch aluminized pipes with an H-pipe and Flowmaster mufflers. Transmission: The original floor-shifted C6 automatic remains, though rebuilt by ... |
