got a 1971 351W that I'm rebuilding and looking for advice/recommendations on a stroker kit.

First...a little about the truck. 81 F150 w/ 300 I6, Dana 44 front axle, Ford 9" Rear, SROD 4 spd OD manual trans. I rebuilt the 300 - took all emissions out, put in new heads, offy intake w/ Holley 390 4 bbl.

Its a frame up restoration project that I've been working on for 5 yrs now...POR15'd the frame, body work done

Recently installed 6" susp lift w/ 35s & now my little I6 isn't cutting it...I need more HP & torque.

Picked up a 1971 351W (block # indicates from a passenger car), tore it down to the block & plan to install a stroker kit.

My first thought was a 427 stroker kit but as I do more homework, this may be more than I need. The truck isn't a daily driver but I'd like to use it as one if I need to.

I'm assuming I'll have to upgrade the rear gears or get a new rear axle all together.

My questions:

Does anyone have recommendations of what size stroker kit would best suit my application? I've been leaning towards the 393 & really don't know yet what all it will involve or cause me to change.

Can I keep the SROD manual trans I have or should I be looking for something else? An auto trans perhaps? Any comments/history on this trans? Is it worth keeping or is there something better out there I should use?

What's the best rear gears for the stroker kit you recommend?

Vendor recommendations for stroker kits? I don't need top of the line racing applications but something good for the truck & this motor.

Would a stroker kit affect the transfer case & front end? Are there mods there that will need to be made?

Lastly, is there a tried & true setup for stroker kit, trans, axles that someone has already done & recommends?

I'm not looking for this to be a show truck but a decent looking reliable truck that I can drive across the states if i choose to.

This has been a great site & even tho I've only been a member for a short while, I've received excellent advice to date.

Appreciate y'all!

 

If i were me I would just upgrade the front and rear gears and keep the 300. It will have plenty of power with the right gearing. And the fact that you have already built it with the upgrades means you have some real money in it already. If you have the 3:08 ratio then dropping in a set of 3:73's or 4:10's would really wake up the 6 cylinder.
That is just my .02 though and others may disagree.

 

Can you afford a topend kit for the motor as well as the stroker kit? If not then I'd suggest you opt for the topend kit instead and just rebuild the bottom end to stock spec. With a "Performer" level topend on this block you could easily have 350hp/400tq which is a massive upgrade from the 300. If you use the stock heads the motor won't break 300hp but it make even more torque.

 

Like Conanski said, freshening up the bottom, while adding new heads will give you some pretty good power and some increase in torque. New heads will also let it breath so headers will be benificial as well. One thing folks haven't addressed is you trans, and your SROD won't handle as much power as you're looking to produce for very long. I built a 408 Stroker, which should produce about 500 ft/lbs of torque, so my SROD will eventually get a new home, too.

Good luck on your build.

 

good idea on the front & rear gears. I'll do that 1st & see if the I6 can handle the new load.

I still plan to do a total rebuild of the 351W to install at a later date. No rush in doing this so the plan is to add a stroker kit as well as new topend.

I bought the motor for $200 to help a friend in need & its been sitting in my garage on a tire for 2 yrs. Altho the heads look good, the only thing I'm keeping is the block...everything else will be new. So as you can see, I have alot of options to mull over!

My son tore it apart. Next step is to take the block to the machine shop. I need to decide on a stroker kit before I take it.

 

Ron - any recommendations for a new trans?

 

I wanted an overdrive and it needed to handle 500 ft/lbs of torque, so I'm going with a TREMEK TKO600. The TKO500 would also handle it, but the gear ratios in the TKO600 is more to my liking. A built AOD would also work, but I am sticking with manual trans, So for me, it was a TKO600. You just need to keep the engine power levels in mind when selecting your tranny.

 

That is a very nice looking truck jruggles. I plan to run the same amount of lift and same size tires once my build is complete only with a shortbed.

 

A Holley 390 and an Offenhauser Dual Plane intake won't really give you the most bang for your buck when going to a 4bbl with the 300. A C-series with a 500 CFM is much better, in my personal opinion. Some people have also had trouble getting a 390 CFM to run right on the 300. I personally think it's too small, and the 300 pulls the small Holley into the secondaries a lot, explaining the poor mileage some get with a 390. The 300-6 displaces 50 CID per cylinder, the same as a 400 V8.

There's a couple things that need addressing:

Is the carburetor oriented right? On the DP intake, it has to sit with the primaries facing the valve cover and the secondaries facing the passenger side fender. If it doesn't, the fuel distribution will be uneven and it won't run as best as it could.

Are you running water to the intake? These motors need a fitting to be made and bolted to the bottom of the intake so you can tie into your heater core hoses to route hot water to the plenum. This prevents fuel from puddling on the intake, and when you give it throttle, the motor draws in liquid fuel, causing it to bog/stumble and give lower gas mileage. A newer model Clifford intake has the water heating jacket built into the intake and you don't have to fab up a heating plate.

Going to 35'' tires with 3.08/3.07 gears isn't something that's recommend. You're just asking for a slug.