Well, I was building high performance engines over 40 years ago.
I am pretty certain I have forgotten more than I remember. Like the original rods used splash for oiling the wrist pins which caused them to wear prematurely, so a modified rod with a bead running up one side and then drilled to carry oil directly to the wrist pin was done to fix that.
Or how the sodium filled exhaust valves used to crack and do so real nasty things to the engine once the sodium got exposed.
The Boss 429 was a bit of a mess. Had gobs of torque, but horsepower was lethargic, at best. It did not handle worth a darn either.
I remember something about this wasn't there a 428 Boss as well? in the Mustang Cobra jet?... had a similar problem and the motors were switched? Or was it 427 and 428?
My Lady's Father is Al Cadrobbi he was a Porsche guy back at the same time you were a Cobra guy, maybe a few years before.
In the 80's he hooked up with Ted Gildred and they had a small race team in Solona Beach. They had lots of cool stuff 718rs60, 718rsk, 356GT, Lola t70, Tiga mkII, M20 McClaren, Ferrari 625, and the reason for my post a 68 Super Cobra Jet.
Edit: 68 cobra Jet