I am wanting to increase the power of my truck..351m, i have all stock (i think) i have bought a double roller T/chain set (-4, 0 +4) headers are on their way, stayin with the stock carb till i can dump $$ into an intake and carb... but i dont know what all is involved in putting a new cam in... (and which one to get).. with the new 33's, I am really finding out how meager of setup i have. i have had lots of great advise from here in the past few weeks.. and am very excited about the possibilities and doing the work (novice)now that i have all this info from everyone...... thanks for all the help
brian

 

I would suggest the Cobra Jet cam for your rig, you will also hear Comp Cams 255DEH. I just bought the Speed Pro 650 cam which is the same grind as the CJ cam for $35. The Comp will give you more low end torque and is a very good choice as well.
To get to the lifters you take off the intake manifold and there's the problem...You need a new $40 ($28 on ebay) intake manifold "turkey pan" gasket to put the intake back on. If you buy a manifold later you spend ANOTHER $40 to get yet another turkey pan. Hence I say get a Performer 400 off ebay and a new or rebuilt 600 Holley and do it together.
R.

 

Hey Hunter,

I don't think there is a need to replace the bathtub gasket each time you replace the intake manifold. If you have not had it off it would be a good idea to replace it the first time but you can reuse it after that we do it all the time in the Mopar world where big blocks have dry mainfolds as well. rob

 

I don't know about Mopars, but I've never seen a re-used valley pan in a 335-series Ford engine that didn't leak at the ports.

The embossed seal surfaces on the metal pan are meant to be crushed only once to seal the ports.

I got my last FelPro valley pan from Checker for $27.

 

Bubba,

I plan to reuse mine when I change my cam hopefuly in the next couple of weeks, I'll let you know if it leaks. Rob

 

I have reused the gaskets for the intake on several ford motors it works most of the time but it depends on the time the gasket has been sitting there and how hot you get the motor. if you have the money it doesnt hurt to buy a new one but if you want to be sure and are short on time do it right with a new one

 

Okay, I say this a lot, but the edelbrock cam, or a cheaper equivelent, is great. Good from idle to over 5000, 6000-6500 if you push it. Turning an M block that hard isn't for the faint of heart, and you'll get plenty of flack, but hey, it worked for us.

 

The M sounds awsome at 5700, with headers 2 1/2 inch pipe and 12 glasspackes.

 

Prolly sounds better through the headers at that rpm, than through manifolds at 6200.