I'm looking to take my 351W and make it into a 393W without breaking the bank, or my truck.

Right now I've got an old early 70's 351W and an FMX transmission, both from an early 70's cougar.

Both the FMX and 351 need to be rebuilt, so I'm looking into my options of getting a little more power out of my truck.

The vehicle the engine and tranny are going into is:
1978 F-150 Ranger Lariat
Regular Cab, Long Box
Currently all stock (with the exception of 351 and FMX)

Anyone have any iformation on this type of thing? I'm not really proficient with engines yet, but I'm looking to get my hands dirty.

What I'm looking for is prices, options (I realise this is a broad question), and basically what needs to be done.

This truck will become a daily driver/towing/hauling truck, but with a 393, I'm hoping to give it some bigger *****.

 

What is your budget making a 393W could be done a few different ways.

 

First off, do a little research:

Just searching "351w stroker" pops up quite a bit:

Building Ford 351W Stroker Engines

Stroking the 351W

Top 10 Tips for Building for your first 351W Stroker - Street Legal TV Forums

Kits:

Scat Ford Stroker Kits 351W to 408 from RPM Machines.

FordStrokers.com 331-347-408-418-427 Custom Built Small Block Ford Engines - Ford Stroker Kits :: Coast High Performance Rotating Assemblies :: 351 Windsor Stroker Kits

Flatlander Racing - Ford Stroker Kits

351W Stroker Kits - NorthCoast Performance - Ford and Mustang Specialists -

There are pages and pages.

Keep in mind these are new, complete kits. In your other thread, a post suggest you can find a crank on ebay for $200, use stock rods and 302 pistons. I think you probably can do that, but first you have to find that perfectly good crank on ebay......

 

Beware of Ebay for car parts as clichéd as it is people lie and youmay not get a "new" part but a "newly" cleaned part

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I've had many Ebay woes before, so I'm very aware of Ebay. Thanks also for looking into my other posts, it helps haha.

My budget is endless right now, but my purpose isn't.

This is basically what I want to get it to:
1) More power
2) Same mileage or better
3) Can be used as a daily driver, and doesn't make the cops want to pull you over...
4) I would like to go with something that doesn't make me need to "beef up" my FMX tranny. It needs a rebuild anyways, but I'm not looking to spend like 5-6 grand on my tranny just because my engine has a lil more power.
5) I don't mind having to change my gear ratio, but I'd like to stay away from something I know zero about (same goes for tires).
6) What I'm looking for is a stock height (maybe a 2" lift just to offset myself from a crowd), 2WD build that doesn't need a whole lot of mods to the rest of the truck after I'm done modding the engine out the way I want it.

Basically, a cheap, but more powerful engine that's a daily driver. 2wd currently... considered 4wd (but I don't think it's really what I need). The truck will never be mudded or bagged really hard. Just meant to be able to tow anything I need on a flatbed or motorcycle trailer, but without dying while going up a hill or have problems of any sort while under load.

Anyone have any suggestions?

As I said, the engine needs a rebuild anyways, and so does the tranny... so I figured, hell... why not add a little power so I can squeal the tires when I want, but not have to break the bank getting to be able to do that.

I've read up on the 393 builds, and MANY of them are meant for racing and/or pleasure of destroying someone at the lights... This isn't what I want...

I basically want the watered down 393 version of engine that doesn't give 750hp to the wheels, but also doesn't make me spend over $6000 for the tranny and engine rebuild.

Am I being realistic with $6,000 for both tranny and engine?

 

The thing that makes a tire fryer out of a 393 is the cam for the most part. For example, a 2bbl 390 pickup engine is a pretty docile beast, due to the low compression, roundish cam and small carb. Peaks out at what, 4400 rpm?

Sooo, take the 351w and add some stroke out to 393. Replace everything else as stock. You'll have a bit more power and it will come on at lower rpms. You have to watch the CR here, as a little puppy of a cam won't bleed off cylinder pressure like a lumpy one, so figure 9-9.5 max.

You can ratchet up the power with better heads, more agressive cam, manifolding etc.

As for your trans, fwiw, I would simply find a good C6. And I'd find a 351w block and start from scratch and just replace the whole works.

I think you can do a lot with $6000 if you plan it right.

Regarding ebay--you've seen the cost of the kits. Why would someone let a perfect crank for for cheap? Maybe it ain't so perfect.

Plan it out and cost it out--you can do that for free before you start dumping money into it.

Other question, and don't get me wrong. I know your truck is some valuable collector's item, but to me--. So with your truck sold to some unsuspecting collector and $6000, what could you buy?

Just a thought. They ain't Faberge eggs or nuthin'.....

 

Well that's easy just let it breath.. ie: better than stock cam, heads, and exhaust.

Yeah that's possible if you build it with a TQ biased powerband, but if you really want "fuel milage" you'll go find a transmission with overdrive.

No problem.. just put quiet mufflers on it and whatever you do.. don't paint it red.

Well now you're being silly. Doesn't matter what trans you start with it will need to be beefed up a bit, that doesn't mean spend $5k on it that just means use high quality parts and address and trans specific weaknesses.

Well.. depends what gear ratio you're starting with.

6 Grand!! That's more than what I would consider for a "budget" build and I think you can do it for significantly less.

 

So I read up on what someone else had posted for advice on reading materials... Thanks! It helped a lot!

What I'm looking for is a longer stroked 351W for a daily driver that gives me that large torque and power at lower RPMS. This vehicle won't be screaming "mercy" when it hits 7K RPM simply because it'll never get there.

To me it looks like I should try to build a 408W because it hits up to 500 hp but is seen as a daily driver that doesn't really go anywhere near 5K rpm.

I do however want "a smile that comes to your face when you mash the pedal".

Mashing the pedal won't be done a whole lot, but it sucks not being able to do it period haha.

 

Hi New to the board. Spent most of my life in preformance engines. 408,s are torque monsters. Spend the dough on a kit. I sold for Scat. The cast crank I beam rod kit is great. easy 600 hp level. 2 different blocks late and early. Deck heights are 9,48 and 9.50. 9,5 deck lets you square cut the block deck. Spend the money on a port job on the heads or home grow it. Get rid of the EGR lump in the exhaust port and open up the hole to 1 1/2 inches square. Make sure your exhaust manifold is matched.Don't go crazy on valve sizes. 1.95 and 1.5 valves will work. Just light bowl blend is plenty. Try to keep the pistons close to the heads. .040 piston to head is just about right with a dish piston. A Comp 268 magnum flat tappet hyd workd fine. Install it straight up dot to dot. Make sure the block is clearanced for the rod bolts. Easy home job with a dremel.Max 750 carb. RPM air gap. Get 28 oz balance. should work with your damper and flywheel.
set timing to be all in at 3000 and about 38 total. Shoul be a very docile tire burner that gets ok mileage. Cost is same as 393 but has more piston shoices. Hope this helps some.
Bob
BTW a 393 uses a 302 piston and a stroker crank with a 351 rod.

 

Thank you gazguzzler, for awesome advice. What do you mean by "more piston choices" I have 1991 351W carbed, with a RPM air gap, GT40 heads. Plan to build a 408 stroker for my 1966 F100 4X4. Want very driveable with ok mileage.

 

i am about to do a 393 windsor build aswell on a budget for my daily driver f250 mud truck. My build plans consist of, eagle cast 3.85 crank ($275), eagle I beam stock length rods, 5.956 in ($265) with KB hypereutectic pistons with a 22.00cc dish to accomodate my 58cc word windsor JR heads which i got off CL for 500 dollars with 1.6 RR (will keep CR around 9:5:1 for pump gas). Most say to use forged pistons with a 393 build but i feel as though the hypereutectic will work fine for my application. For cam i am eaither runnin the 268H or 270 comp cam. This build is cheap, i priced it out alongside my orriginal 357w build plans and the only additional costs were the price of the crank and rods vs having the crank and rods machined (reusing your stock rods is fine with the 393 too but im opting to get new rods) and the 28oz imbalance along with having the rotating assembly balanced, the difference was probably about 400 dollars for a stroker vs no stroker build. I am going to run a 670 truck demon carb with the weiand stealth intake, in total, for my build along with swapping over from speed density EFI to carb, the build should be around 3500-4000 dollars. A cheap build for a 400hp motor with a good street performance while still being able to turn 6000.

 

I'd like to offer two suggestions that haven't been addressed: the 400 and 460. Hear me out now. We all know what a 460 is and how great of an engine it is. With a $6K budget it would be easy to find a good useable engine and trans and track down the parts to swap it in. This is kind of the opposite of what I usually suggest. Most of the time I tell folks to use what they have because it's just so much easier. But in this case it looks like you don't want a barn burner, just a better tow rig/driver. That would be a lot easier and possibly cheaper to just slap in a refreshed 460/C6 combo than to install a stroker and getting it set up right. Plus slightly worked over but mild 460 will put out so much power without even trying. There is also so much more in there than a stroked small block could ever offer and it gives you some place to go when it’s time to upgrade again in a few years.

Then theres the 400. This is a very underrated motor and could very be what you're looking for. It never reached its full potential in stock form and with a bump in compression and a cam change will easily hit the 400 HP mark. Plus with its 4" stroke it has more torque potential than a 393s with its 3.85 crank. The best thing about the 400 is those wonderful Cleveland head topping it. No stock SBF heads will flow as much as these heads and that just translate into more power. 400s are everywhere and cheap. Hell, I've even had people give them to me before. You can pull one with a C6 out of any T-bird, Lincoln or pickup from the 70s. Find a set of flat top pistons, stab in a slightly warmer cam straight up (what killed the stock engines was the smog based retarded cams) and just refresh the rest of the long block. Top it with a dual plain intake, a 600 cfm carb of your choice and a set of small primary full length headers and you will have the power of a 393 and only have to pay a touch over a grand for the whole thing.

Just something to think about. A stroked small block would be a cool build too.

 

Yes, a stroked small block would be cool. A gas guzzler, but a cool build nonetheless!

I've got a 1972 Ford Galaxy 351W small block waiting to get rebuilt. For towing applications, it needs a longer stroke for that low-end torque increase.

I COULD go for a different engine, but why? I have a kick-*** engine already! If it passes the checks of a wash and has no cracks afterwards, then I COULD sell it, or build it. Decisions... decisions....

Now, if my 351W block DOESN'T pass the crack check, then it's off to the cleaners and I'd pass it up for a different block (400, 460, something else, etc...).

EDIT: The links at the start of this thread were very helpful to me because now I see that the statements I made at the beginning of this thread were wrong. For instance, a 393 stroker is not meant for towing, and thus, not what should be used for my application (towing). A 408 stroker is much better suited for towing applications.

Also, my information about my truck has changed if some of you have noticed. My 351W is NOT out of a Cougar, but is from a 72 Galaxy (I had a chance to check the block casting numbers when taking apart some of the engine, and got the starter off). Also, I have now acquired a C6 small-block tranny to mount up to the 351W if I ever end up rebuilding it (got it at a great price).

Now that I know a heck of a lot more about what I want to do and where I can go with my block, this thread should really say "is a cheap 408 stroker build possible?"