Hello from Idaho

[Bearair]

Hello to the forum from the Boise Idaho area. I'm currently getting ready to acquire a 2002 build Unique 427SC, and will hopefully have the deal done shortly. The owner and I have already agreed to the deal, just need to get something fixed on my car before the swap.

The Cobra has a 351W and Richmond Superstreet 5 speed. Nice car in solid silver that I'll be massaging over the winter.

The car currently has 6800 miles on it, so I'll try to leave the bottom end alone initially, but the top end comes off over the winter for work. I'm an engine builder with a flow bench and porting experience, so I can't leave it alone!

Looking forward to being part of the Unique community!

[davebetts]

Do you know who built the engine? What's the plan to improve or fix the existing one? Does this engine have issues?
Just being nosey.

[Bearair]

The current engine appears to be an SVO crate motor w/aluminum heads. It was installed in 2002, so I'm not sure which crate motor it is. Paperwork from the original build shop says 400HP, dyno sheet the current owner has says under 300 to the wheels. It only has 6800 on it, and runs quite well. The issue is, it's not powerful enough! I build engines, so I can hardly run around with "okay" power. I have to work on it until it's either "fantastic" power, or "too much"! "Way too much" is later down the road...

Once I identify which version of the SVO heads they are, I'll be milling, porting, flowing and setting up the valvetrain for a bit more RPM. I'll be taking a look at the pistons and deciding if they have too much dish to keep in there, or if I can get enough of a compression bump with head work. The specs for the crate motor say 9:1 on some sites, 9.4 on others. Either way, it needs at least half a point and a better cam. It's way too mild for me as it's a smooth idle and doesn't have the sound or the nature I'm looking for.

For right now I want to wake it up considerably, then I'll drive it for a bit. Eventually I will build a much more aggressive motor but still keep it a small block.

Once I'm done putting it together this winter, I'll be putting it on the dyno here at work and tuning it.

Thanks for the interest!

[Slither]

Welcome to the club! Keep us posted on how the rebuild works out.

[Bearair]

Thanks! I'll post some pictures up when I take delivery. Had an issue develop with the supercharger on the car I'm trading for the Cobra. Had to send it back to Vortech. As soon as it's back I'll re-install it and then we'll do the swap. Should be about a 3 week turnaround, so I'll probably need to use the heater in the Cobra to bring it home.

Things always seem to break when you really don't want them to...