I understand that the fit for a 351w is tight but what are your guys suggestions on this?! This motor would be strictly used for just drag racing! Is there much of a hp difference in a 347 to 351! We are shaving down shock towers but I hear it is still a struggle with a 351 to work on it when in engine bay! Thanks
If I was going strictly race and was considering a stroker I would stroke the 351 and stuff it in. You hear about the 302 breaking (roller block) but not so much on the 351. Just for longevity it would be worth the tight squeeze.
Thanks, yea original plan was to drop a 351w in it, then I read about all the hassle with space and scared me away from it!! But your right more hp opportunity with a 351w and stroking it out would only make it even sweeter!
There is another option you might look at. Dart makes a small block Ford Windsor race block with a 4.125 " bore, 9.2 " block height and 351 mains. Jegg's sells it for $3200. It's the Dart Iron Eagle race block (several versions available). It's good for 460 ci. There's a story about it in the Sept Car Craft magazine. MD
here is something you may find interesting, since you are going to modify the shock tower and use it for drag racing anyways.............. http://www.badasscars.com/index.cfm...category_id=13/home_id=3/mode=prod/prd104.htm David
I would choose the 351W as a base for a race only car, provided that I swapped out the stock front suspension for an MII type or similar. Much stronger block. Getting rid of the towers also allows you to install higher flowing headers that don't bend sharply down after the exhaust port exit. If I had to stick with the towers, I would build a 302 based stroker and keep it at less than 500 HP. I guess it depends on how fast and quick you want to go. The guys on this board that have "race only" cars have been there and done that. See what the majority of them have chosen and why.
race only why not just drop a big block in there. big ol 460 with a turbo stock internals will be TONS of fun less money stick a m2 front end on it and delete the shock towers and go racing. buy a junkyard 460 and just freshen it up so what if it blows up. those old 460s are TOUGH heavy but lots of torque and HP already for a few hundred bucks and a turbo kit or nitrous kits are cheap. theres a guy here that runs high 10s with a 460 in his maverick, he said hes got a bigger cam and backyard headers that are bent whatever possible way stock front end other than truck springs and a 9inch with a 2500 stall if youre keeping the shock towers build a 302 but start with a dart black. theres guys out there including me soon who run very high horsepower from a 302 based stroker I went to 363 from a dart 302 with a 871 blower lots of boost lots of tire and TONS of money in engine trans and chassis to try and make 1000hp hook up make up your mind how much money you want to spend and how fast you intend to go then build around that idea
How much work are you willing to go through? Sure a 351w will fit, but honestly, why limit yourself to just 351"? Stick a 4" stroke crank in it, with 6.200 rods and the right pistons (408). Of course if you use a Dart block with a 4.125" bore (or larger) it'll go 427" easy with 4" stroke. It'll easily swallow up a 4.100" stroke crank too, which would be 438" with a 4.125" bore. The bores on the Dart will go 4.200, I haven't figured it up, but I "think" they'll go 460"-and then some. But....the 351w doesn't fit all that well in these cars with the stock shock tower setup. It will go, but things start getting tight. Enter front suspension and maybe body mods. On the other hand, a 302 based engine bolts right in with very little modification. They came with them. So, that means you can build up a 347" easily, and they'll make plenty of power-enough to split the factory blocks; and there's the issue. Once you get up in the 450hp+ range, or less with a bad tune, it starts getting a little bit unreliable, in my opinion. And 450hp is really easy to make out of a good 347". Enter: Dart block. they're available with either 4.000" bore or 4.125" bore, still uses factory 302 main bearing sizes unlike the Dart 351w which uses 351c mains. So it's entirely possible to make a 363" engine out of a Dart 302 block, and it's small, light, and fits where any 302 came out of. This is a good option for our cars with tiny front ends. A good 363 can make a LOT of power; and reliably if the internals are done correctly. I haven't tried it, but will a 3.5" stroke fit in a Dart 302 block? The boss 302 (aftermarket) block will work, but the cylinders are shorter than the Dart block, so making a 3.4" stroke work means that the pistons will be hanging out of the bottom of the cylinders more than I like to see. 351c fits better than a 351w; but it's still tight. It's not really that much smaller than a 351w but the exhaust ports are pointed more downward which makes fitting headers a little easier. 'Course a guy could do a 9.2 aftermarket block with a set of canted-valve heads on it, which could potentially make 1000hp with the right stuff (NA), and still fit decently. 700hp is pretty typical in a build like that. A stock 351c block isn't going to like it for very long though with the thin cylinder walls. 460 will not fit, not without doing a complete front suspension. The downside to a 460 is the weight. It MUST make more power to offset it's weight penalty; IIRC a compete iron head 460 is something like ~725 lbs? A complete iron head 351w is ~200 lbs lighter I think. 200 lbs in a race car is roughly 2 tenths. Now if I had one with a stock front end under it; and didn't plan on changing it over to M2 or whatever, I'd stick with a 302-based block of some sort. But that's just me. Been there, done that. Surprised nobody mentioned "LS swap it". Don't know if they fit or not, never tried, and don't care to. Ford Modulars of any sort won't fit which is fine because not many people build them anyway due to the cost. Such a shame though, it's a sweet engine that can make a lot of power, reliably, but it just costs too much to build them. Especially the 4V versions. I wanted to do a Navigator 5.4 into a 4 door for a driver but once I put the pen to the paper and figured out how much it cost to just build the engine, it was cost prohibitive. Even a stock engine, gotta buy that $800 intake, plus the core I had needed a couple valves, a head repaired, and basic rebuild. Out of my budget. But it's a really nice, smooth, torque powerplant for a driver. Turbocharged they just wake up and I can't think of any other way to describe it.
If shock towers are a concern then stick with a stroked 302 (331-347) dont let the age old myth about 347 side loading the pistons or oil rings in the pin scare you away, I can tell you from first hand experience that is not an issue anymore. I will tell you that built correctly with a stock block you will need to add safety equipment (roll bar-5 point harness and maybe more) to run on NHRA tracks as I have to hold back because of not wanting to put a bar in I have run 11.40 but could run quicker. Now on the flip side of that with 351 stroked to 408 you would run in the 10s with a mild build, yeah the shock towers are tight but and finding headers to fit is a pain the cost to build the engine is about the same and once the motor is in about the only reason the towers cause concern is to change plugs and all you have to do is pull the motor mount bolts and jack the engine up and with the towers shaved it would help even more. If I was to do it again there would be a 408 in it.
Hey guys thanks for all the feed back!! We decided with the 351w, going to take out shock towers! Our motive is go big or go home, will post pictures and progress throughout the process, always can use any extra information or suggestions!
At least a 408. There's other options, 418, 427, both using the stock stroke. Local builder has done a slew of stock block 427's and they all run great, and last a while too, which is against internet belief. Very torquey, flat power curve. I think the last one made 615hp at 6000 and over 500 lb-ft from 2200-5500. Out of a small block. Everyone said the heads were too small. They were wrong. This builder knows how to make good useable power, reliably. IIRC it was going into a customer's cobra kit car. OR, if you can budget the Dart block, perhaps a big bore 427 (which is a 408 with the larger bore), and I think they'll even go to almost 470 cubic inches if you push the limit.
