Cleveland to cut or not to cut?????????? I have a 351C in my 74' with no shock tower mods...but I have 4 plugs that I cant even think about changing..... I will be cutting mine soon Hope that helps........
351M & 400 are the same engine basically. The 351M is simply a destroked 400. And you CAN use SOHC 427 heads on non SOHC FE blocks, not just the 427's. All that's needed is an external oil drain back line., along with all the rest of the topend parts unique to the SOHC heads. One easy way to tell a Cleveland from the "M" is look at the intake. The "M"'s had a Thermactor tube screwed in at one corner of the intake. The heads also had the Thermactor passage this fed, the Cleveland heads didn't have these features.The 400 & "M" blocks also have a "wall" behind the T-Stat, to fill the gap from the taller deck and wider intake, the shorter Cleveland blocks were nearly level here The Cleveland heads also had either a "2" or "4" cast in one corner next to the valve cover. The "M" heads had nothing.
351 351 Windsor has a taller deck than the 351Cleveland so I dont think you would be able to set it in with out mods.. My cleveland lays against everything and 4 plugs you cant even pull the wire off...you have to pull both mounts and lift up about 4 inches :16suspect It sucks
Yea it will.The deck may be taller,but the heads are smaller than C heads so it fits.And mine used early(pre'71 I guess)stock manifolds,plug changes were entertaining though,to say the least.
I hope what I did will work. We drilled holes in the shock tower so that I could replace the plugs. In the picture note the two larger holes near the bottom. I'll have to take off the tire and with the proper tools (I hope) I'll be able to get in there and pull the plug out through the opening. I agree that the center plugs will never come out from the top unless you raise the motor.
I think you wasted time drilling those holes, the upper control arm and spring will be in front of them. You at best managed to shed a few ounces off the front end.
Shaving the towers is the only way to go. Otherwise you gotta jack the engine up. Taking the valve covers off helps too. Unless you are a bonehead like me and use Moroso covers that cannot be removed without raising the engine even higher! :doh:
Good advice that I will remember when we drop the motor in. I'm sure you guys are right. Man, I really don't want to shave or cut the towers...
Well that may be the way to go. I haven't gotten the motor back together yet so we'll see what happens when we cross that road. I do know that when I bought the car it was in there and very tight and the previous owner was using Tubular Automotive Headers that worked fine.
Shaving the towers 2" each was the first thing I did after removing the motor from mine. I had, had enough experience with towers from a big block 67 Stang back in the 80's. When I put the 331 back in, the extra room was well worth the minimal effort that went into doing the tower surgery.
Plugs!?! I had to take the tower braces off, unhook the exhaust, and raise the engine several inches... Just to get the valve covers off!
i know the 351w will fit because thats what i got in my maverick and i didnt have to mod any thing to make it fit its tight as hell but it will go
