Thread: Blank Canvas

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Have posted this on another forum but wanted to get more opinions. Got a question for ya. First, I am not a mechanic, just learning.
I am building a 1946 Ford Tudor. It will have a 3.73 posi rear end and an AOD transmission(to old to do theshifting thing). My goal is to be able to SMOKE the rear tires once to get a picture then just drive around with "that" grin on my face. I am now the proud owner of a C90E 351-Windsor, bear block. Given a low to moderate budget, what would you do to build up this motor? Thankx :confused

"bear block"..............does that mean it'll be hybernating all winter?

Here's a link to Southern Automotive's site. They give a good description of what they do in building a 351w. I've got one and it cranks some serious hp (I'm not prone to piles of BS like some). Mine dyno'd at 385 hp with Dart aluminum heads, looks like they're using Edelbrocks now, and claiming 410. If you don't want to spring for the aluminum, the GT40's from Ford would work well, though cost some hp. You may think what they do to the block isn't completely necessary, but if you intend to keep the engine and "play" with it from time to time, it would be a waste of money (false economy) to short cut the quality from the block prep

http://www.southernautomotiveengines.com/

......... I've got one and it cranks some serious hp (I'm not prone to piles of BS like some). Mine dyno'd at 385 hp...........

Thanks Bob, I get a little tired of reading the HP figures that get thrown out by people who have never seen a dyno in their life.


I'm currently building a 351W for my 77 Mustang. This car is going to be a keeper, so I'm not scrimping on what I want. Currently the short block is built and includes a .040 over bore, resized rods, .010/.010 crank, new cam bearings, having the line bore on the mains checked, new balancer,and the rotating assembly balanced.

The top end of the engine is going to be made up of Edelbrock Preformer RPM heads (1.90/1.60), cam (.448/.472 270-280 (equivilant to an edelbrock Preformer Plus)) and Edelbrock Preformer intake with a carter 650 AVS. This combination is based on my particular experience with SB Ford and what I see from Edelbrocks and "independent" car magazines dyno testing.

I based my decisions on a total car package concept, how the car is going to be primarly used (mostly highway driving) rear end (3.00 posi), transmission (srod 4 spd), and RPM range the engine will realistically see (cruising 2600-2800 RPM and keeping the redline realistic at about 58-5900 RPM for when I want to play).

My "low to moderate budget" is $3000. The only thing keeping me from completing the car at this point are the heads (I'm waiting on some cars to sell and that ...family, X-Mas coming, responsibility thing is going on). Now I could have scrimped and just done a valve job on the stock heads (saving about $1200) and had an engine that never would have lived up to it's potential, found some earlier castings with the bigger valves and then sunk a ton of money into them for magnifluxing, new valves, guides, hardened seats, springs and maybe a little porting (talk about false economy) or wait until I can do it right and the way I want.

Keep in mind when you "just drive around with "that" grin on my face" you have to live with the engine you build, and if costs a little more now, you won't be sitting there saying "I wish I had... "

for a decent but even less expensive method, buy a gt40 valve kit on Ebay, next, have a machine shop professionally shave your block( raises compression a bit and costs a good $200) next get a non roller cam that will work with a stock valve train, i reccomend crower(might be because they're based where i live) you can get a good ammount of HP and torque gain, with an AOD you'll want to get a high RPM shifting torque converter if you want to smoke the tires(if it shifts too early you'll most likely grip too quick) all these ideas i gave you will probably cost about $1000 plus you can always add on a few more things, such as better pistons, or maybe even a supercharger, but watch your compression levels, i hate to see superchargers take flight

Hey Roper,

You might want to peak at some crate motors or short blocks already built. You could pick up a stroked 351 and have 380-430 cubes depending on the kit and bore. Also, you should look at some AFR185 or AFR205's. I've seen guys find used aluminum heads and sometimes have problems. By the time they get some new valves, springs, get the heads cleaned up, some guides, valve job and possibly the heads milled, then maybe some light porting, you can have a set of NEW 185's. I haven't priced the 205's but the 185's can be had for $1300.

You can focus more of your efforts on the brakes, suspension and drive train and body and paint and get a good top notch engine builder to get you a crate motor.