Building a 351

[sandbum01]

I want to build a 351 for a 1450 truck I am building. Where should I start. I am pretty set on making it a 393 stroker. But I don't know the little tricks to do as far as work on the block and what parts work well with other parts. Also don't know if I want to do a standalone fuel injection system or just go with the old carb setup.

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[Ziggy]

Whats your budget?I just finished a 351w with 500hp for my truck.You can get cheap HO or reliable HP but its tough to get both.

[Prerunin554]

What BHP range are you looking for? Are you looking for an engine that will last 100k miles or one season? Also, with the question of "where do I start?", I am guessing you have never built an engine in any way before. If you tear your engine down right now, make sure you mark every part you take off. Its not a good feeling when you have a hand full of "mystery" bolts and everything is together. =)

With carb vs EFI, carbs can be thought of as old reliable, while fuel injection might take some time to dial in.

[sandbum01]

Not extremelly woried about the cost I know it's going to be expensive to get power and reliability. I want power but I also don't want to be tuning constantly or rebuilding every year. I would sacrafice a little power for that. I have expierience building motor cycle engines jet ski engines and volkswagons and other smaller engines but this will be my first V8.

[OFFRD-JNKIE]

Save yourself some bucks and build a chevy...... Easier to find parts for if you break away from home ford motor parts are specific to the engine for example 351 windsor uses different parts that a cleveland. Where as if you build a chevy alot of the parts are universal whether its a 305 or a 383... just my .02

[Bajajt12]

We built a 351 for my Bronco prerunner, it is not a stroker, but is .30 over we used a Edelebrock Power kit and a Edlebrock 750 cfm carb.

It makes 290 hp at the rear wheels, which are 37 projects (read heavy) which equates to about 400 or so at the crank.

Makes real hp between 4000 and 5500, make good torque below 4000, runs on 87 with no ping.

I have about $4500 in the motor. I thought about strokeing it but felt like the cost (say another $3000) was to much.

If you are going to pay that much, just buy a Ford crate motor, or maybe a ATK crate motor.

[partybarge_pilot]

Save yourself some bucks and build a chevy...... Easier to find parts for if you break away from home ford motor parts are specific to the engine for example 351 windsor uses different parts that a cleveland. Where as if you build a chevy alot of the parts are universal whether its a 305 or a 383... just my .02

That may have been true 10 years ago, but the industry has come a long way since then. There are almost as many aftermarket parts for the 351W as there are for the SBC. Price is pretty comparable also. 351C is a dieing breed.

Common parts? you can swap as many parts between a 351W and a 351C as you can between a 283SBC and a 400SBC.......

[spankdog]

That may have been true 10 years ago, but the industry has come a long way since then. There are almost as many aftermarket parts for the 351W as there are for the SBC. Price is pretty comparable also. 351C is a dieing breed.

Common parts? you can swap as many parts between a 351W and a 351C as you can between a 283SBC and a 400SBC.......

Really? 351C is a different engine family than the 351W. 351C is closer to the 351M and 400 than it is to the Windsor. I cant really think of anything that would swap between the two. Block, heads, manifolds, cranks, balancers,.... all different. What parts do you know of that will interchange between the C and W? The stroke might be the same but Im pretty sure the journals are different sizes also. School me if Im wrong. 302s and 351Ws can share the same heads as well as 429 and 460s. Im coming up blank though on what swaps between the c and W. Maybe the dizzy.

[partybarge_pilot]

Ever hear of a Boss302/351? C heads on a W block from the factory. The Neckcar motors of today are more closely related to this motor than any other production Ford motor.

[Steven_Tolbert]

Well if cost is not an issue, buy a Dart or world block, egale rotating assembly etc........I would, I think that is how most of the engine builders do it.