Rollie,

If you could talk a bit more about what a "Trailer Mover" is, I'd much appreciate it.

Also, I've got a smidgen of literature on propane/nat gas carbs which utilize 2-barrel FT intakes. I'm not aware of any which use 4V intakes.

Shoe.

I suspect that any "non-performance" FE head from mid-1958 thru 1965 should be equivalent to your B9 casting, both in chamber size and runner config. One exception might be one type of 1965 352 truck head with anti-reversion tabs in it. I've only seen one of these, and don't know it's part number.

Shoe.

the 350 chevy is lighter both in overall wieght and in the rotating assembly. as i recall it also has smaller bearing surfaces so there is less friction. otherwise with the right parts the 352 can be competitive but more expensive to build.

When you go into a store buyer's office representing the distant second brand in a category, you preach the benefits of competition: "without us they'd charge the moon...you need a second supplier to keep them somewhat in line. And what about the customers who only shop based on price, not brands? You need something for them."
But sometimes a store only has shelf space for one brand so you're out, and the few consumers who for whatever reason prefer your brand, learn to live without it.
Something like the above reasoning was needed for the FE block market. Genesis came along and basically said Shelby is grossly overcharging for the product and we can make them toe a more reasonable line with our much lower-priced product.

Initially their pricing structure sounded good.
My personal opinion now though:
Buy Shelby.
10% savings on an unproven product is worth supporting a second supplier, especially if that means Shelby has been charging a reasonable price all along; heck, for supporting the FE aftermarket his charity deserves the 10%.
As for Genesis:
they've been talking for literally years. They've been talking, but not responding. That would be a major flag in my book. Repeatedly, I have heard people say they have made inquiries of Genesis and gotten no response. Think of what that portends if you have problems with your casting.

But as always, this is solely my opinion. The final decision is up to you. Maybe $500 means more to you than me when discussing $5500+ blocks. But I'd go with proven product, not promise-ware in this particular situation.

Then there's the resale consideration. Your widow sells your parts: the Shelby parts will command more than the Genesis pieces, no matter what the actual quality/facts of the casting are. Consider it good estate-planning.

JMO

Thanks for the reply. I contacted genesis and was assured that they would be ready to ship in January 02. They also honored a lower price as I was on the list for a while as an FECA member. I dropped the deposit. I'll let you know how I make out. Thanks again.....

I take it you mean it won't turn over when hot, not that it cranks and won't catch. Mine can turn over pretty slowly when hot, although starter and cables are nothing special, but it always catches and starts. I think one answer might be to install an electric fan on the rad. Once the engine is shut off, the water temp goes up pretty quickly as heat from the engine continues into the water. A temp switch (install one in the lower rad hose) should then come on and start the fan for about 5 minutes or more. By the time you come back to the car, it should start. I thought mine might be because the pistons had expanded when hot, but later during a rebuild, there were no marks on the pistons or cylinders due to scoring. A different oil pan...an aluminum one with fins for example might also help.

The heavy dampner with the single line requires a timing marker that is incremental to show where you are setting the initial timing, you need to have that dampner indexed and lined/marked to show timing marks up to, say 42 degrees, in this way you are able to see what the timing advance is at any given rpm. I usually worry about total advance only and set my timing at 38 degrees which is nearly always correct. If you get any spark knock you can always back the timing down a degree or two to suit the fuel you are using. The heavy 427 dampner is designed to compensate for internal vibration due to harmonics that are inherent with reciprocating mass. If your engine is properly balanced you should not need the heavy flywheel or dampner. Basic Rule: light car = light flywheel, heavy car = heavy flywheel. A heavy flywheel will help to promote uncontrollable wheel spin in a really light car. I strongly suggest that you have the assembly balanced with the dampner and flywheel "0" balanced separately. This way you can do some changes at either end of the engine by simply having the new/replacement parts "0" balanced and not the entire assembly. Any decent machine shop should be able to handle the job competently.

By all means start your rebuild now, I am going through the process right now, and looking forward to a new rebuilt motor. I am planning to spend4500.00
This includes all the FE tricks.

From my limited experience, the main bearings are the problem, so as long as the engine is apart, you might as well go for the hardened valve seats. Only the exhaust valves need to be done, however if you are going to use the car for daily driving and don't plan to run it hard, you don't need to do the stellite valve seats. An acquaintance who works for an oil company tells me there is other additives that make up a lot for the absence of lead that are already in gasoline when you buy it, but if you run the engine hard it won't provide the same protection. Read up on all the oil gallery mods and do them to the block. The consensus is to use a HV oil pump (about 75 psi at revs or cold idle, about 20 at hot idle) Some people say to use a stock (cast iron, not aluminum housing) oil pump, but they are in the minority. Defiately don't use a HV/HP pump. Read up on bearing clearances...I say about 0.0025" for all bearings for a street motor. Use the specs that the pistons come with for them...add 0.001" for high performance use. Good Luck.

In boats it's 3000 rpm range 3200 being about the highest sustained rpm you would care to run.
In my cars I usually try to stay under 2800.