Well, you asked a serious question, and I'll try to give you a serious answer. You can go a little conservative to push this 2400 pound street legal race car around the pavement and still leave enough cash in the budget for cooling system, suspension, brakes, wheels, tires, oh, and a paint job too.
Here's how I built a 351W for my Cobra, and what I would do differently. Same objective. Reliability for a daily driver.
Block was a well seasoned T-Bird motor I picked up for $200. Kept the block, crank, rods, and timing cover. Everything else went into the dumpster.
After a good cleaning, squaring, and .030 overbore, we (the machine shop and I) started putting it back together. The stock rods were reused after performance reworking (magged, sides ground, shot peened, big ends rounded, replaced bolts with ARP). That being said, with todays low cost aftermarket rods, I'd just replace them.
In fact the first thing I'd change would be the displacement. Go with the 393 crank, aftermarket rods, and pistons made for this setup. I used KB hypereutectic for my Cobra motor. KB makes a piston specific for the 393 stroker. But with my driving style, and engine usage, a KB will last forever. With your driving style, you might want to go forged. Either way, get the piston skirts polymer coated with an
oil retentitive coating. Anti friction, and aids cooling. See valvesprings below.
Rings. I let myself get talked out of this, but there is enough documentation and test data to support the extra cost of zero gap rings, either Total Seal, or Childs & Albert.
I used the billet steel flywheel, and SFI crank damper. Little stuff that won't cause problems later on. Used a roller bearing pilot bushing for the trans input shaft. Used a new Powermaster starter instead of the Ford OEM unit. Smaller, lighter, works a lot better, lasts a lot longer.
Oil pan. Used the Canton Road Race unit, and windage tray. Cobras corner like roller coasters! You don't want to loose your
oil pressure taking that Interstate on/off rampat your tire adhesion limits. All Cobras need a racing oil pan.
Valve train. Used a CompCams retrofit hydraulic roller cam 224/224, 533/533. Would not change a thing here. This cam pulls like a diesel from 1100 RPM in 4th, idles at 850 with a distinct lope, and pulls 16" vacuum. (Man, I'm used to cams that idle with 9 - 11" of vacuum! This thing is smooooth.) About 2800 RPM, this thing comes on, and stays on untill I let off at 6200. Used the CompCams valvesprings with the cam/kit (sent the stock springs back to TFS for a refund). Springs were sent to Airborne Coatings for an oil retentive polymer coating to aid spring cooling. Roller cam springs generate a lot of heat, which makes them fail. We'll see how well this works. The rest of the valve train includes CompCams Pro-Magnum steel roller rocker arms. Machine shop said, "Steel for the Street", and I listened. No problems. CompCams recommends sending rocker arms back for rebuild whenever the heads are off for valve grind. They replace roller trunions and tips so the rockers last essentially forever.
At DVSFIII, we put 'er on the chassis dyno. 325 RWHP/350RWTQ. Not wildly impressive, admittedly, but this is not a dialed in motor. AF was a little rich (12.5:1), and this was through the air cleaner and mufflers. However, the HP and TQ curve was exactly where Dyno 2000 said it would be.
Heads. Using TFS aluminum. They work great. There are other head options out there today that might work as good, or better. Rousch 200 iron heads are good. AFR 185 or 205 are good. 185's for stock displacement, 205's for strokers.
Intake. The Edelbrock Performer RPM seemst to have the lead. That's what I used. Haven't heard anyone using Wyand Stealth. Edelbrock Performer RPM "Air Gap" looks like it will give you a little more HP so long as you don't need an exhaust heated intake. I do, so I'll leave the intake alone.
Carb: Holley vs Demon!
Holley has been around for thousands of years, and all the bugs have been worked out. Or so I thought. Barry Grant tunes their carbs to the engines they're intended to be used on. Holley doesn't. If your cam is under 220 deg duration (@.050), they try a Holley. Over 220 deg @.050, use a Demon. The difference in drivability will astound you. Did me.
Ignition. The old tried and true MSD works wonders here. Pump the gas, turn the key, and she rumbles to a start every time.
Threaded Mode
