Don't want to throw a wet blanket on things but the way this thread is running a 390 may not be the right motor to give you what you want. 500+ HP with reliability will not come cheap or easy (not in Australia anyway), if it did I would have rebuilt mine.
I went for the stroked 428 for a number of reasons.
1/- I have to agree with brotherdon that there is no substitute for cubic inches.
2/- A lot of my 390 parts can be used in the 428
3/- I wanted a motor that would match the car (67 FB Mustang with some Shelby cosmetics)
4/- I wanted to match the performance of a car that Shelby raced in the '60s which was producing 530 HP
5/- I would have been happy with less HP because of the inherent Mustang problem of lack of rubber as mentioned also by brotherdon, but the HP in this car will be used to produce a high top end speed rather than blindingly fast 1/4 miles.
So I guess it all comes down to budget & personal preference. I know I am paying a lot of $$ to get a particular result, but its what I want to give me the car I have always wanted.
I will publish the Build Sheet on the motor for anyone interested in a similar project (along with the name of my Psychiatrist) once the motor is finished.
There may be a few little tricks in it that we Aussies do that may help others.
regards
David
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