All,
As Roush is providing many motors for SpF cars, and they offer a 427-inch stroker Windsor, the confusion is understandable. But they also make a 'proper' 427, i.e. an FE block 427 side-oiler crate motor, one of the only outfits that has them in production (they have only been marketing them for a couple of years, so they are relatively new).
I am partial to the Mk 1 body, but if I had a Mk 2 I wouldn't consider anything but an FE motor, as I am interested in a true replica, as opposed to an homage car. The T44 gearbox is a bit hard to swallow though, so I might relent and go for a ZF.
The Ford GT gearbox is HUGE. Panteras by Wilkinson is attempting to shoehorn one into a Pantera, and it is a massive (literally) undertaking. The clutch is enormous, the gearbox itself is much taller and longer, and the car will have to be substantially butchered to accept it--and for what?
The -2 ZF is a wonderful piece of kit, and should easily withstand whatever you choose to throw at it. I only know of two Pantera owners who have broken their gearboxes with their right foot--one of them was at over 200 mph in the Silver State race, got airborne, the car rotated slightly and he landed slightly sideways with his foot still buried in the throttle; the shock snapped the input shaft. The other has a 750+ hp race Pantera, drives very fast, but (quoting Lloyd Butfoy, a good friend of mine), he is 'an animal' behind the wheel. He does full-power clutchless speed-shifts and God knows what else, and he breaks gearboxes rather routinely, in ways that Lloyd has never seen--broken gears, broken synchro rings, broken sliders, broken everything....
One doesn't have to take any special care to preserve the ZF; all you have to do is drive 'normally', which isn't to say 'gently', but rather, 'not like an idiot'.
Linear Mode
