For the deck I plan to do as light a sanding as possible before coating with Cetol.
My 427s have the main cap side bolts, down by the oil pan, but I'm not sure if that's the defining feature for side-oilers. I'm no expert on these motors, but I believe all of the 427 FEs benefited from Ford's 427 development program, which I linked to in my blog. But apparently there were lots of different heads and intakes used even for Ford cars and trucks, depending on the application. Some of the Galaxy 500s were reportedly scorching hot, though I'm not sure how they'd compare to what went into the GT40s or Cobras. I'm guessing the race program 427s in GT40s were in a class all by themselves.
What I've read (but claim no expertise in whatsoever) is that side-oilers weren't just rerouted oil galleries, there was reportedly a different casting that included an oil gallery 'bump out' running near the main cap side bolts down the length of the block. Neither of mine have that, so I believe I've got the top oilers.
Either way, everything I've read supports my position that the 427 development program benefitted all versions of the engine. And whether you're running up to 7,000rpm and trying to survive 24-hours of LeMans (with appropriate internals) or 300hp in marine configuration with a max of 4,000rpm and 3,600 sustained, these are all very tough engines. What's necessary to survive 7,000rpm for 24 hours may not be worthwhile at 3,600.
Unfortunately, one of mine has developed a smoking problem and low compression on two cylinders. Cylinder 1 is near an oil passage, which I believe is where the smoke is coming from and the compression is going to. So one of my fall projects will be to rip off the top end and do a valve job/head gasket replacement. It's obsurd for an engine with less than 800 hours on it, but when we first bought the boat it had been badly mistreated by former liveaboard owners and had low compression on those holes. For the price, it was worth it. But before selling it I want to make it work right.
