Thread: made my engine decision

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hey guys thanks for the reply on my previous post on what engine i should go with. im going to get a 351 cleveland for a few reasons one reason is everbody goes with 351w because of the availibilty of parts and its cheaper to build but i like to be diffient i havent heard of anybody haveing one in a 63 comet my 2nd reason is its not going to take much to hit my goal of 400 to 450 hp considering they start off with right round 270 to 320 hp. But my main reason is my father had a 4v 351 cleveland in his 72 torino and still talks about that engine. for what ever reason when was 6 im 29 now i remember that him and couple of his buddys took me to old cloverleaf race track thats not there anymore here cleveland it was the last race of the season and who everone season had to race a spectator for fun. my dad had told me he had to go to the bath room after the last race. next thing i know i seen him his torino pull on the race track and pull up to the season winner. I dont remember how many laps but he was winning the race ontill the last turn when he got hit from behind and hit the wall and he lost the car was totaled.when we was leaving the driver of the race car stop us when we was in the towtruck and said SORRY I COULD NOT PASS U AND I COUND NOT LOSE TO A SPECTATOR.... BY THE WAY IT WAS A WOMAN DRIVER

351 cleveland is a great engine, I've had a few that made excellent power

I've got one that I have about 10 grand in to.
It's going in to My 65 Ranchero if I ever get well enough to finish it.
The motor is done but the car is not.
Kurt

Like Steve and Kurt, I also ran a 351 C in our 68 Mustang bracket car. Great engine and it responded very well to modifications. Only question I would have is will it fit between the shock towers in the 63? I know in the 67 up cars it will go, but the earlier ones are a little tighter in that dimension. They are a little wider than the 351 W, and certainly wider than the 302's.

Don

Well Don I can tell you some of the stuff it won't fit in with out spreading the shock towers.
66 mustang and earlier
73 mavrick
65 Ranchero and back to 63 not sure before that.
Pinto's which I love for Racing and they look cool.
My frame rails inside to inside is 28 inches just infront of my crank pully.
This is the same as the 66 Mustang and 73 Mavrick or 65 Ranchero in my case.
The back of the cars have differant frame width's so you have to measure in the front.
28 inches inside to inside will not fit and shock towers must be spread to fit.
Kurt

well the 351w will fit i heard of them in a63 comet but i dont know if 351c will fit but i sure will try everting i can to make it fit and if i cant i will save my pennys to change the front suspension to something to wear i can remove the towers.unless u guys know how i can remove the towers for cheap

The best way that I have found is to just remove the towers and install a rod and custum front end. Even if you spead the towers out you will still have header issue's.
Plus you might have to install a remote resivor for you master cylinder because the valve cover may be in the way of your brakes master cylinder.
Here is my buddies web site It may help you with what exactly you'll need to do.
http://loco4fomoco.com/
I hope this helps you out. Kurt

It just ain't easy to remove the spring towers and bolt in a different suspension - unfortunately. Once you totally remove those sheet metal weld fabrications, you have lost most of the engineered front end strength of the car. That car has a unitized chassis/body which means that to successfully install that kind of IFS (MII clone) and make the car reasonable functional, you will have to come up with some sort of sub frame that extends at least under the floor pan and even better, to the rear end. This of course ends up with a full frame as the rear part of that chassis is....a bent up sheet metal frame for - that original screaming 165Hp 221 or 260cid engine or that overwhelming power from the 144 or 170cid I6.

A Cleveland engine is a great choice - but it just doesn't fit every car without LOTS of design and physical work which isn't for the faint of heart

would your choice be because the cleveland was built in cleveland ?

Originally Posted by IC2

It just ain't easy to remove the spring towers and bolt in a different suspension - unfortunately. Once you totally remove those sheet metal weld fabrications, you have lost most of the engineered front end strength of the car. That car has a unitized chassis/body which means that to successfully install that kind of IFS (MII clone) and make the car reasonable functional, you will have to come up with some sort of sub frame that extends at least under the floor pan and even better, to the rear end. This of course ends up with a full frame as the rear part of that chassis is....a bent up sheet metal frame for - that original screaming 165Hp 221 or 260cid engine or that overwhelming power from the 144 or 170cid I6.

A Cleveland engine is a great choice - but it just doesn't fit every car without LOTS of design and physical work which isn't for the faint of heart

I was watching an episode of Gearz today and Stacey David removed the towers from a 67 Cougar and replaced them with a crossmember and frame reinforcements from TCI. It left a huge engine bay which he intends to fill with a 520 inch Ford Boss hemi, certainly much larger than a 351. I don't know if this setup is available for the Comet, but a call to TCI should let you know.

Look up the Crites website they have a shock tower mod kit available with Pics.

nothing wrong with woman drivers.

i know i thought that was cool that it was a woman driver

i took some measurements of a 351c today that i looked at it wont clear the towers so im going to get the engine anyways its only $350 bucks its from a 72 mustang its a 4v with 50000 original miles im going to save some money up for the next couple of years and put on a rod and custum front end ad rebuild the 351c into a beast.so for now 351w is what im going to rebuild and put in. should i put the 351c heads on the 351w or should go with gt40p i only want to spend $2000 on rebuilding sense i'll puting in a 351c in a couple of years. and i got gt40p heads already and when i buy the 351c i have those heads?

Originally Posted by HOSS429

would your choice be because the cleveland was built in cleveland ?

no im not going with a 351 cleveland because im from cleveland.thats the same as me asking are you going to buy America car because u live in America