You're exactly right. Outward appearance was Identical . The dealer said it was a 326 ( but it was a used car), it just had chrome factory valve covers and an 850 cfm Holley spread bore on it. With factory exhaust manifolds..
I was 16 and clueless.
When I finally cracked a piston 3 years later...
I hear ya.. My first car was a 67 Firebird, it was marked "326" on the hood. It ran like a scalded dog, smoking big block Camaro's, Chevelle's, Mopar and even a 70 GTO Judge. We'll I finally blew it up and come to find out it had a 70 Ram Air III Judge motor in it. That was one fun car !
Never too old for a manual gear box and decent HP.
I'm 57 and my first Ford is my 18 GT PP1. Absolutely love this thing ! I've always been a GM guy and still own 2 old muscle cars. They have their place but will never compete with the new Stangs. We could only dream of our old cars feeling...
I don't have the alignment report on it but they are running slightly negative.
Funny because I can't find any obvious wear difference, at all but I notice in my black marks their slightly negative.
And thanks, I do love the stance on this setup. I've had 4 people in this thing and not so much as a rub or anything. That actually surprised me. We were pushing 800 lbs.