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What would you do if you had a stock 351W, $2,500, and was sold on using that money to get more power out of your engine?
Some details for context:
Truck is a toy and not a daily driver - however driven to work 1-2 times a week and around town on weekends
No air, power steering, heater - i wanted the engine bay to be all engine and not accessories or hoses
All stock/basic engine - iron 4 barrel intake, cast exhaust manifold, E7 iron heads
600 cfm edelbrock manual chock
duralast/spark (forget which) control module
basic stock dizzy
bored 30 over - rebuilt about 5 years ago and approx. 5K miles
351W came from a 1985 F-250 - hyd flat tappet
4 speed toploader
3.27 gears in an 8.8
I appreciate your time reading and replying. If you are in this forum and especially the SBF threads you have an opinion on the above.
A pair of aftermarket aluminum heads is what's going to give you the biggest increase in hp for $2500. I'm not all the up to date on the latest greatest heads now. The last time I was checking out heads I was eyeing some AFR 185 heads. I think they run around $1,700.00 a pair at Summit Racing for the street or street/strip versions.
Then with some thrifty shopping you could also add a Edelbrock Performer RPM or RPM air gap intake and a cam of your choice. The cam swap will also need the parts that go with it like lifters, timing set, pushrods, springs and hardware ( depending on the heads and cam ) . If you are going to be in the engine. It's also a good idea to replace the oil pump and add a ARP oil pump driveshaft. After those mods headers and a upgraded carb or EFI set up would be next on the list. But those two might be stretching the budget with the other mods right now. But those would both be easy to up grade down the road.
Any heads that come with bigger valves may require notching the pistons, especially if you also get a higher lift cam.
Not necessarily. Limit the intake valves to 1.94's and he'll be fine. I would also limit cam specs to something around .550 lift and 225*@.050 to keep it streetable. Stock 351W pistons have a healthy dish in them, so going bigger on cam specs wouldn't be a good idea. I would also go with an EFI grind with a wide LSA. He can leave the duraspark ignition as is no need to change anything there.
Not necessarily. Limit the intake valves to 1.94's and he'll be fine. I would also limit cam specs to something around .550 lift and 225*@.050 to keep it streetable. Stock 351W pistons have a healthy dish in them, so going bigger on cam specs wouldn't be a good idea. I would also go with an EFI grind with a wide LSA. He can leave the duraspark ignition as is no need to change anything there.
Good to know. I've been wondering about the limits of lift/valve size acceptable with stock-ish piston reliefs.
Good to know. I've been wondering about the limits of lift/valve size acceptable with stock-ish piston reliefs.
The flat top Windsor pistons do have them, but most have the big dish in them without reliefs. Most stock replacement pistons will clear 1.94 valves but not 2.02
He needs to add headers to the list too, not much point in doing heads if you're going to cork em with stock manifolds. What transmission is behind it comes into play here too as far as what headers will fit.
Top of the pistons when I rebuilt the engine. Thanks for the replies. I have heard the AFR heads are what I should buy. I looked at edelbrock top end kits and the intake valve diameter is 2.02 so now I wonder after reading the above recommended spec restrictions. I am not confident in my cam selection so this information is very helpful. The 4 speed toploader, as I mentioned above, is my transmission so lots of room there and I do plan to go with headers.
He needs to add headers to the list too, not much point in doing heads if you're going to cork em with stock manifolds. What transmission is behind it comes into play here too as far as what headers will fit.
I was just going off his budget. $2500 will only go so far. It's most likely not going to be enough money to do it all at once. Unless he finds a really good deal on a used intake and some dirt cheap used shorty headers.
The headers are one of the easiest to change out. My thinking was do the head work and cam swap at the same time while the engine is opened up. It's a whole lot easier to add the headers down the road then it is to tear the engine back down to do a cam swap later. I personally hate doing things twice.Yes you are restricting the engine temporarily by not adding the headers right away. But that's very easy to fix once the budget is there..
Top of the pistons when I rebuilt the engine. Thanks for the replies. I have heard the AFR heads are what I should buy. I looked at edelbrock top end kits and the intake valve diameter is 2.02 so now I wonder after reading the above recommended spec restrictions. I am not confident in my cam selection so this information is very helpful. The 4 speed toploader, as I mentioned above, is my transmission so lots of room there and I do plan to go with headers.
thanks, further suggestions are welcome.
With those pistons I would pick heads with a 58 cc chamber in addition to 1.94 intake valves to give it a bump in compression. Your E7's have 64 cc chambers. Header selection will also depend on what bellhousing you've got (157 tooth or 164 tooth) and how the clutch is operated ( mech linkage or hydraulic)
You'll need to pick a set of headers with the "window" in the driver's side for the linkage. Two tubes are routed above it, two below it. Might also try a set of Tri-Y headers. Those usually fit with mech linkage. They might have to be tweaked to clear the bigger bell housing though. 4 into 1's look at 70's pickup with manual transmission, although here too, there was no application for those years with a 351W. One company to look for here is www.fordpowertrain.com. Top notch stuff, but they're not cheap.
Roller cam, linkbar lifters, alum heads, stainless valves, roller rockers, 750 double pumper, and a free flowing exhaust. No ebay ****, do your research. Or double your budget and add a blower. Torqstorm has some good kits for $2800. 8psi won't kill stock internals and with the right cam and carb setup, ultimate street machine for a good price.
Roller cam, linkbar lifters, alum heads, stainless valves, roller rockers, 750 double pumper, and a free flowing exhaust. No ebay ****, do your research.
I'm afraid that list there is well over $2500. Especially if you stick with good name brand parts. I've been looking at a lot of those parts minus the heads and double pumper for the 351W in my van. I came to the conclusion it's cheaper to pick up a used roller cam engine then it is to buy a new set of link bar lifters ( name brand, not ebay chinese crap ) . But buying a roller cam short block you have to hope you don't get one with a cracked block in the cam journal area.
Roller cam $275-$350
link bar roller lifters- around $400
aluminum Roller rockers $300-$400, SS ones even more
SS valves - $250 or higher
AFR 58cc heads - $1700
750 double pumper - $525-$580
Exhaust could be a couple hundred to several hundred ( not including headers )
And that still doesn't include the small misc parts like push rods, timing set, oil pump driveshaft, etc. And I feel you need to upgrade the intake before worrying about a bigger carb.
Take your time and really search for a few of those items and you can find a deal. You don't necessarily need afr heads. A set of trick flows are half the price and still a big upgrade. When I said no ebay crap I meant no chinese crap. You can get a used cam for $100 easily. I paid $75 for mine. I also found a set of comp linkbar lifters for less than $200. Just take your time and you can find good stuff for cheap.
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