Some food for thought,
Of the school that a used block has gone through thousands of hot/cold cycles, and is not likely to do any dimensional changes in service. A truck block would be a better bet if you can get one. Truck & marine blocks are a little beefier.
For Virginia registration, if you're going to use the year of your engine as the year of the car, you want to block to be at least 25 years old. You can then get antique tags if you want to, and be emissions exempt even if you don't opt for the antique tags. Your machine shop should be able to pick up the block core for you for around $200 if you don't want to scrounge up your own block.
Check the yellow pages for automotive, machine shop, racing & hi performance. Then talk to a few. Most know Chevies, but some know Fords. Better still, go to one of the local tracks and ask the guys running Fords who they use. Go to your local speed shop and ask who they recommend.
Also, be careful of '68 & '69 blocks. They were slightly shorter deck height. Good blocks, but you may have to mill your piston tops and valve reliefs to get 0" deck height, and valve clearance. Just an extra cost you don't have to pay with a later block.
Crane, Comp, and Crower make retrofit hydraulic roller cams. Get one! Just be careful if you decide to play mix & match. Crane uses a shorter lifter. Comp uses a small base circle cam. This, and whichever head you use will determine pushrod length. You could save a coupla bucks by ordering an off-the-shelf cam & kit from Summit or other discount house, and what you'll save you'll spend on pushrods because the ones in the kit don't fit. You pick the grind. Let the machine shop that does your engine order the parts. Also, use the springs specific for the cam, not the ones that came with the head.
Even went so far as to have springs
oil retentive coated for better heat dissipation and longer life on a street motor.
427 ci will need more air than a 351. Heads that work great feeding 351 ci, may fall flat at around 4500 RPM feeding 427 ci.
Using an aftermarket aluminum head such as a TFS-R, or AFR225 will give you bigger valves, and better airflow but these heads don't use stock Windsor exhaust ports. Meaning you have to have a set of headers made. Another option would be using Cleveland 4 barrel heads instead. Plenty of airflow to feed the big honker, and everybody makes headers for Cleveland engines. Everybody makes Windsor pistons for Cleveland heads. Your cam may need to be special ordered to give you the advertized lift and duration using Cleveland rocker arms (1.72) instead of Windsor (1.6).
There is an argument for a FMS Sportsman block that from a cost standpoint, it will need less machining, and your total cost will be less, and it uses factory roller camshafts. Provided you're not using it for registration.
Which 351W?
Linear Mode
