OK, let's talk about "crate" engines for a bit. All projects of any kind require compromise. That is a fact of life. The biggest problem is that Ford, (or really any business entity) is trying to satisfy a market segment, and not necessarily YOU. So the things that are compromised are interesting to some, and irrelevant to others. BUT some things are certain. And it makes sense when you think about it.
1. Ford wants to use Ford parts to build their Ford engines.
2. Ford camshafts are designed by committee... and are proven in the field to be "good enough."
3. Ford assembly techniques, clean room, and equipment is unrivaled. Their work instructions, training, manufacturing aids, and process checks are world class. Quality is Job 1. But Quality leads to reduction in variation. But this also leads to resistance to change. And you cannot have improvement without change. So you can conclude that high quality results in stagnation, and lack of improvement. There is an entire career segment of people who get paid to lie to management and tell them that isn't true, and "quality enables improvement." But it's backwards. "Quality prevents Improvement."
And THIS is the problem with Ford Crate Engines, and dare I say...Blueprint. But it's any corporate mentality. And I'm not blaming anyone. Believe me when I say that you want your Toyota Camry or F150 to have minimal variation, no experimentation, and you don't want guys on the production line "fixing things"
Now when we talk about Ford Crate engines, Notice that I didn't say "good." I said "good enough." I have thrown away more Motorsport alphabet cams than most people ever buy. Ford Camshafts are designed by committee, and I'm not sure that they are actually designed at all. I think they are made, and shipped, And once Ford gets one that "doesn't really do anything" it's a winner. Again, don't get me wrong. I'm talking about Ford Performance, or Ford Racing, and not Ford Production. It is NOT a coincidence that guys like Roush, and Yates, Shelby and Edelbrock, and Offenhauser get selected to parter with Ford. Watch the Ford v. Ferrari movie, and you get a taste of it.
So what you find is that a Ford Racing Crate engine has no soul. Everything is just slightly not good enough...and worse, when a vastly superior product is available...Ford will STILL use their catalog parts. We talked about camshafts, and I wouldn't use a Ford racing camshaft as a door stop. Same thing with heads. When AFR came out with their 165 heads, (or even better, when Twisted Wedge built their heads!) EVERYBODY at the track knew that the AFR heads were better. So any decent builder would START with AFR heads. Every decent builder except Ford, because of arrogance, hubris, and boot licking. Ford engines got SVO heads. So when you buy a Ford Racing engine, the FIRST thing you do is take it apart and build it over. Which kind of defeats the purpose.
Eventually Ford Racing got around to cloning the DOZE-6015-B Trans-Am block for all of their 8.2 deck builds, and that was a winner. It was the M-6010-Boss302 block, and came factory at standard bore, and with a 1 piece rear main, and a clutch pivot boss, 4 bolt mains, screw in freeze plugs, WOW. what a foundation. It took Ford about 20 years to catch up to the Dart block, and then it took Blueprint another 15 years to catch up to Ford. I am still convinced that the Blueprint crate short block is the best you can buy on a budget. Before they cast their own blocks, they were peddling .040 over "seasoned" blocks, and selling them for big money. I could buy a good used 87-90 5.0 HO shortblock for $300 all day long. And the factory forged piston HO block at STD was vastly superior in every way.
Again, anything I buy comes back apart. And then gets built. Because I am a stickler for balance, and my engines are balanced, and then balanced again with the junk. So yeah, I pay twice. BECAUSE I make my balance guy confirm bobweight, and balance the rotating mass, and then balance the flywhee, damper clutch. And yes, if I'm going to all that work...it's going to be forged. And it's going to be stroked to 327, and it's going to be neutral balance. AND it's going to get AFR's or maybe Edelbrock's RPM heads. And then you start to wonder why you started with a crate motor.
So if you need a foundation for your build, and you want it to run "good enough" and you are going to use it to drive your Bronco to Safeway...fine. It will run, it won't self-destruct, and it will look pretty. But if you want performance, value, and economy...well, now you are in no-man's land. Because EVERYBODY knows that you can't build a small block Ford and make big power. That ship has sailed. Anyone that tries to get more than about 1.3 HP per Cubic inch is just a moron. Stop now. If you want power, you need displacement. If you want power AND you want streetability, you MUST have VVT. VVT gets you up to 2 HP per cubic inch. (and yes, the Chevy LS has VVT, as does the Coyote.) Otherwise, if you try to make power in a small block...you end up here. Now if somebody wants to do something fun...Let's see some VVT on your SBF crate motor. (oh, wait...that would make it a gen 4 LS swap.)
I'm done.
