help on a 351w

[warwick]

hey first time on the forums and i need some help.

i have a 72 mustang fastback with a 351w, not the cars of this forum, but members seem to be fond of 351wshere. i am having it bored .040 over and i want the car to be a good daily driver with some good performance. As of right now, i am going with an edelbrock performer rpm intake, holley 650cfm carb, gt40 heads, and a crane cam(.484 lift).

Is this a good combo, and what should i swap out, if anything. Is the performer good enough or should i stick with the performer rpm. what are good heads. the mechanic boring the block said i should go with proaction heads, but i didnt know if it was worth the extra money since the gt40p i found a couple hundred cheaper.

thanks

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Hi,
The mustang is a fairly heavy car, I would go with 3.70 gears
The gt "p" heads are a good street head, have 180 cc intake runners, don't go bigger or you'll lose bottom end to get that stang moving. Also go with a little better cam, comp cams 270 H magnum is a good alround cam. RPM intake is good, but a performer would work better on the street to 5,500 rpm.
Perry.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Warwick;

I have almost the identical combo in my 65 Fastback......Here is my specs; 351-W,bored .040,flat top piston,.484 lift hydraulic cam,performer RPM manifold,Holley 600 DP,Tremec 5 sp,9" rear with 3.00 gears,69 model iron heads (polished/ported,1.90/1.60 valves).........love it,been in the car for 21,000 miles now with no problems,idles at 800rpms all day,runs 180 degrees of water temp all day in traffic,runs high 12.90s on street tires in street trim in the quarter mile and gets 22 mpg going and coming from the track..........Not sure what trans you are running,that will determine your rear gear..........5th gear at 2000 rpms is 75 mph with 25' tall tires for me.........

Your combo sounds fine for a street car,should have around 350 hp,very streetable with good idle quality and you should get many miles of service out of this engine....The GT40 heads are perfect for a street car and I would go with the performer RPM,this combo is good for 6000 rpms...

Ford did make the 351-W crate motor with 350 hp and used the exact combo.GT40 heads and 484 cam with the performer RPM manifold,they have discontinued it some time ago in favor of the 385hp crate motor with aluminum heads....
You will not be disappointed in this motor.........

David

[klayfish]

My motor set up is as follows:
351W bored .040 over
World Products Windsor Jr. heads, 1.94/1.60 oversized valves
9.3/1 compression ratio
Crane Cams Roller cam, 216/224 duration at 0.050", and .520/.542 lift
Edelbrock Performer RPM dual plane intake
Holley 750 double pumper carb

The motor runs strong as a horse and is very streetable. With one exception. My carb is too big. I definitely agree with going to a 650 carb, and I'm going to swap mine soon. Sounds like a great motor you've got going.

Build the motor to suit what you want to do...cruise...drag...open track...

Steve

[warwick]

ok the engine has to go .060 over due to problems with the cylinder wall. are proaction heads a good way to go with this setup... the guy boring my engine said i would get more out of those heads with the rpm manifold than with the gt40 heads.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Warwick;

I do not know squat about proaction heads,but I would definetly now bore a 351-W block more than .040.......I have heard of people going .060 and not having any trouble,but I have heard of twice that many going .060 and having trouble...........I'd try to find another block that would go .030 or .040......

Just my .02 cents............

David

[warwick]

it has to go .060 so i didnt have a choice about the situation.. and as to buying another block, id really rather keep this one if at all possible. from everyone i have talked to, .060 is the max a windsor can go, but it is fine if it needs to go that far... i have seen a few posts on how its dangerous