No, just kinda daydreaming about a dead-reliable, 200-ish hp motor that would fit without moving too much metal. I spent too much of the year dealing with less interesting issues, like a whole house re-pipe and a new AC, and a bunch of other stuff I didn't fully expect.
I haven't even started the motor yet. I found a local shop who maintain and service road racers near COTA, they agreed to take it in for a proper looking over and motor assessment. I think they want to drive it
My intention was to swap the timing belt before taking it to them, pretty simple task usually. Not unsurprisingly, I discovered the timing belt on the motor is no longer produced, it's an early trap. tooth, wide belt system. The car even came with a spare NOS Ford Racing belt, with what looks like a 1992 date code. No bueno, maybe but no thanks.
So yesterday I ordered the updated timing kit from Esslinger, seals and a few other items, supposed to be a direct swap...fingers crossed. Luckily the car came with 4 of the 5 special Ford tools needed to R&R seals and pulleys, just lacking the cam gear holder/puller, but that seems easy to improvise.
I'm working my way up (psychologically) to pulling the motor and carefully taking it apart to see what's what. According to the notes its a long-rod stroker, ~2.6L with ~12.5:1 compression. I spoke to Esslinger and they still do machine shop services, the car came with just about everything to rebuild the motor and my almost-retired brother has had his own cylinder head shop for over 30 years. This motor seems like an 11 on a 1-10 scale, I'm thinking it might be more 'civil' around an 8.