How much torque is honestly to much?

[Bryan Wilson]

Like the statement in my signature when it doesn't matter what gear your in you have enough torque
cheers,
Bryan

[Wayne Maybury]

I have a 351W, .030" over for 357 cu. in. It was dynoed at 472 hp and 442 lbs of torque. The torque was basically over 400 lbs across the full rpm range so this engine is always ready to go. Having said that, with this amount of hp and torque with only 357 cu in, it is a little bit of a beast to drive in traffic. A 500" motor with the same hp and torque will probably be easier to drive on the street. I have to watch my rpm because it will buck if I let the revs drop too far. Of course it will immediately break the tires loose in 1st or 2nd if I stomp on it.

Will I change the engine? Probably not. Would I prefer a 351 stroked to 392, 408, or 427? Sure I would but I am not willing to spend the money just so that I can say that I have a bigger engine. As it is, on the street I cannot use what I already have 99.9% of the time.

Wayne

[JAM1775]

Pman...you can bump up your power pretty good with heads and a bit more squeeze. here are some of my 351W combos the past ten years.
Here's a dyno sheet with my 351W comparing both a Stealth and V-jr intake.
This set up is a rebuilt FMS 385/351W with 11:1 forged Ross pistons, .576L roller cam, TEA ported Brodix 58cc milled , 190 cc runner heads. With the old flat tappet cam and GT40X heads ported, milled to 11.25:1 the motor made 376rwhp. After the rebuild and roller cam it made 386rwhp. A budget route for you might be AFR 185's milled to 58cc's for 11:1 and I bet you'd make 400 to the tire. www.totalengineairflow.com makes the ported 190cc Brodix ST5.0 heads with 2.02 vales that flows 300 @ .6L for which I paid around $1900 minus rockers. The gain going to the Brodix heads from fully ported GT40X heads despite lessening compression .25 (58cc vs. 56cc's) was 419-386 or
a gain of 33RWHP. Just porting the GT40X heads on the stock 385/351W netted a 43rwhp gain from stock 334rw to 376RWHP . The TQ factor is not as high as the HP with these milder set ups which still does allow for foot control in 1st/2nd gears. Again...these were my preferences and experinces. I hope this helps as you consider mods to your 385/351W.

Except for my required rebuild due to a faulty BG carb, much of this can be done leaning over your hood. Figure 385-400 to the tire with good heads and 2 more points of squeeze (93 octane all that is required). If you want to run with the bigger dogs add a 100 shot for 3rd/4th gears. A couple of us did these 351W mods and have dynoed 485-500 RW spraying on the dyno. You're talking about 4 grand for all but it's only a few days of work in the garage.