Thread: 351 W Overhaul (Where are the Horses)

Tweet

Just finished the body work of my beloved 69 Mach 1 and am looking at either rebuilding / replacing the engine. I currently have a 351 W a Holley 650 cfm, dual exhausts, aluminum intake manifold, msd ignition but can't seem to get the horses out of it.
It's an old engine which I don't believe has ever been rebuilt. I looking to pull between 300 - 350 horses and am looking for reccomendations. Should I overhaul the old or drop in a crate engine. Any reccomendations on engine overhaulers in the So. Cal area. Looking to spend around 2500 to 3000. Many Thanks for any help here....

Keep what you got and rebuild it!!
Here's a good artical for you to read
on rebuilding a 351W. Hope this helps
you on making up your mind. Good artical read it.


~ Vegas ~

Here's the site!!

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles...sh/index4.html

Just get yourself a 390 330hp out of an old T-bird and be happy.
either that or go big block.

He said he's got a buget of 3000 and with the engine rebuild, that does'nt leave much for a new big C-6 tranny to go behind the big block engine! buddy


~ Vegas ~

I go with Denny on the stroker kit, best power for the buck anywhere. I've bought them from Flatlander Racing before, seem to be about as good on price as anyone. Try "Ford Stroker Kits" on a google search.

Thanks for the feedback here that carcraft article was great.
Outside of changing the originality of the car is there any downside of these crate engines? Thanks again to all...

Originally posted by Thunderbucket
Just get yourself a 390 330hp out of an old T-bird and be happy.
either that or go big block.

Um....a 390 IS a big block

if you want a rebuilt engine with a lotta horses for a decent price by some of the best engine builders in san diego... try JBA ... those guys will treat you right, build it in your price range, and get it to the most power it'll possibly put out... they've always treated me right...

Sounds like alot of fun. I have always liked the looks of the 69's- look much more muscular than the 70. Id like to see a few pics of it.

Anyway, $2500 to $3000 should net you a damn good running 351W. If it were me, id rebuild the 351. How and how often do you expect the car to be driven? Decide on what you expect the car to be driven, and build it accordingly. In other words, if it's a daily driver that you drive to and from work everyday sitting in that infamous California traffic, a tunnel ram and 2 750's probably arent the best choice. Just cruisin' the strip on a Saturday night, you have some room to play. Then again, I know Cali has some funky laws- some of this may not apply.

This is just me, but the first thing I would do is run a compression test on the engine just to see exactly where you stand. Once you open it up, turn it over to a qualified machinist to check everything over. Don't skimp on the bottom end, do it right, and spend the rest on go-fast stuff. If the heads are 69's, you already have a pretty good set of heads, unless your dead-set on aluminum. That will eat up about 1/3 of your $3000 budget.

Again, this is just my opinion, but unless it's an all-out race motor, i'd spend the loot on the obvious things such as intake, pistons, valvetrain, ignition, exhaust, etc.. Spend what you can, then tweak what you've got. And even with a healthy 351, the Holley 750 should be more than ample.

Good luck,
Greg

oh, by the way.... if you decide to go crate instead of rebuild... i'll gladly buy that 351 off of you for a reasonable price... i'm considering cramming one in my 66 mustang.... a 302 just aint enough

thesals; You'll have to spread the shock towers out to get that 351w in your 66 mustang. Or go with a mustang 2 front end.


~ Vegas ~

Originally posted by vara4
thesals; You'll have to spread the shock towers out to get that 351w in your 66 mustang. Or go with a mustang 2 front end.


~ Vegas ~

yes i know, i can be done without spreading the shock towers, with a set of custom headers and a little massage work... its a very tight fit but it does work.... and its mmm mmm good... its either 351w or a supercharged 302, and i prefer all motor....

Thesales nice 'stang - you part of the San Diego Mustang Club?

nope, bought it from Gary Gunter though, former owner of the mustang shop on el cajon blvd. and also former president of the san diego mustang club.... it came with a 6cyl and a boat load of problems... its got a 302 in it... and a few less problems now... but I'm workin on it

Hi. Just my nickel's worth, but the original post was looking for 300-350HP. Ford rated the 351W in the '69 GT350 at 290, and they underrated things pretty well at that point. I'm guessing the engine is mostly tired - the Shelby came with an Autolite 470CFM according to one of the books I've got (though I suspect an error - that seems awfully small). The heads on the Windsor weren't that great, but were okay. With a budget in the three grand range, a solid rebuild and change back from your dollar could be had.

While I like the big blocks, if the car was an original 351W car, it would be nice to keep it that way. If you swap parts, two comments. Keep the originals - iron intake, exhaust manifolds, carb, all of it. You never know when you'll want to go for the points in a show. And keep the carb and engine tags. Photo the engine before disassembly, to document the paint marks and so on. I've looked all over to get pictures of the engine in my car, so I could get the marks right.

The 351 should be good for some RPMs with a decent balance, so you can look to match components (cam, heads, exhaust, intake, etc) for a desired RPM range. The original 290HP was a 4800, so shooting for something in the range of 6000-6500 as a target top RPM would be good. You don't state trans type, but would want a wider power range for an automatic, just to get the most out of it.

I prefer hydraulic cams. You can get plenty aggressive with them these days, and they are lower maintenance. Just match the cam to the rest of it. First engine I ever built was a 327 in an old El Camino. I undercarbureted it, and it was a dog. Used a 600 Holley Q-jet (spreadbore) replacement, should have gone in for a 3310 780CFM. Heads were too small, too. I spent the money on the stuff you could see, and didn't think about the ability to breathe. It loped and sounded good, and never won a race. My 289 Ford in the '65 GT350 was a different story - but it was a better starting point (things matched from the factory).

Anyway, My opinion is that a 700-750CFM carb is plenty for a 351. A friend runs a 780 on his mild hot rod 350 pickup, and an 850 double-pumper Holley on his very hot 327 Camaro. I think he's over-carbureted, but it must not be too bad - the think has always run great.

Sounds like you've got most of the basics. Freshen it up, get a good shop to clean up the heads, match the components to breathe at the RPM range you want, and you should get your 350HP pretty easily. Just my opinion...

Should be good machine shops all over SoCal. Shelby is in Gardena, unless he's moved everything to Vegas, but he does the FE engines.