Originally Posted by Bill Harris

Terrance,

My car is a SCJ which is the 375 HP with ram air combination. It uses the Holley 780 and solid lifter cam. The 370 HP combo is the Q-Jet with a hydraulic cam. NHRA took HP off the SCJ combo a few years ago and it is now factored at 360 for stock and 371 for S/S. This latest NHRA adjustment for S/S only applied to the CJ which was still at 380 for S/S. Now the SCJ and CJ are both at 360 for Stock and 371 for S/S. In S/S the difference between the two engines boils down to the carburator. I don't know why anyone would run a Q-jet when a 780 Holley could be used without any penality.

The HP penality for having ram-air was taken off a while ago so now ram-air and non-ram-air all have the same factored HP.

I have given serious consideration to doing a '71 429SCJ Mustang in S/S, but have pretty much given up the idea. I couldn't use my car since it is an original J code SCJ/4-speed/Drag-Pack car and I would be crazy to tub it. The NHRA isn't going to take any more HP off the S/S factor until someone runs the combination, and at 371 I think it is too high to be compe***ive in class. Since no one has been running the engine in S/S there is a ton of development work that needs to be done on the heads and I don't want to be the guinea pig. I know there is one person working on the engine for use in SS/GT. It will be interesting to see how it comes out when he gets it on the track. If there was an aluminum head approved for it, like the Edelbrock or the original A-429 Ford Motorsport head, it would be a LOT more attractive.

I'll be in Bradenton and Gainesville in February. Stop by if you are at the track.