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Old Feb 23, 2004 | 01:19 PM
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Easy power mods

Hi guys,
I have an 87 F150 with a 351M. I want some more power so I'm going to put headers on it. I'm also going to puit some roller rockers on and was wondering if anybody makes them with a higher then stock ratio. Thsi is also a factory 4-barrel motor and was wondering if I would benefit much by going to and aftermarket intake.
Latter
Bob
 
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Old Feb 23, 2004 | 02:50 PM
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No such thing as a 1987 351M. Is it a swap?
You have 1.73 rockers now, more ratio won't get you much if anything. Rollers are cool looking but again the HP gains are ephemeral. By that I mean they are as substantial as a fine mist.
But if you want to spend the money for some pretty rockers go for it, at least find out what kind of engine you have.
R.
 
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Old Feb 23, 2004 | 03:55 PM
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i think you have a different engine than the 351M. The 351M/400 block never had a stock 4bbl set up. It could be windsor.
Later
David
 
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Old Feb 23, 2004 | 06:43 PM
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Stock ratio is 1.6 with the 351w, which you have, unless you had a swap and installed a 351m, as previously mentioned.

I wouldn't add them either, but if you do want them, hold out and check mustang website classified or ebay, a lot cheaper than buying them outright, in most cases.

Throw a set of headers on your truck. Higher stall converter. Lower gears ~ 3.55:1 - 4.10:1. That'll make it go better. Good luck
 
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Old Feb 24, 2004 | 03:59 PM
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Sorry guys it is a 351W don't know why I thought it was an M. Any way this is a 4x4 rig with 35's so I don't think I will be putting any stall in it. I have stepped to a 410 gear though which was a great improvement.

BTW how do I move this post to the Windsor forum? Or does an admin. have to do that?
Latter
 
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Old Feb 24, 2004 | 06:19 PM
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I wouldn't totally throw the idea of a higher stall converter out the window.

4X4 or not, it would increase your off idle acceleration. Check it out.

http://www.tciauto.com/truck/truck_converters.htm


I have an 87 as well, unlike previous years the 87 has a cast iron intake, so you could lose some weight going with the aftermarket aluminum, but I didn't see any noticable gains and that is the first thing I did was change the intake and carb, to the edelbrock performer, I would do it again due to ease of tuning the performer carb and looks but not for performance. Headers where added next, it made a difference, and I went with shorty headers.

Actually the post fits here quite well, unless it totally doesn't belong the moderators don't usually move them, you could just repost it.

good luck with your truck
 
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Old Feb 25, 2004 | 12:56 PM
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Interesting I always thought that a stall made a tranny run hotter. Would adding one of these stalls hurt my "crawling" ability?
 
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Old Feb 25, 2004 | 02:45 PM
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It will in most cases make it run hotter, stick a cooler in front of the radiator, make sure it gets a lot of air flow for good measure, and you should be fine, especially if the converter is designed for you application. Good luck
 
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Old Mar 3, 2004 | 11:57 AM
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JW
You said that you didn't see any performance difference when you added the Edelbrock intake. Well I'm gonna throw some D0 castings on it along with a small cam ( my factory roller out of my 5.0 which is 260/.444) , and a set of headers. With these mods do you think an Edelbrock would be money well spent ( I don't care about the weight or the looks just the performance) or is the factory intake a decent piece? BTW I was thinking about cutting out the divider on the factory intake ( the one between the primary's and secondary's not the one between the right and left bank) that would open it up much like an aftermarket intake. Do you think this would be an improvement or just a waste of time.
Latter
Bob
 
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Old Mar 4, 2004 | 01:22 AM
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ttt
 
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Old Mar 4, 2004 | 08:27 AM
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You could get an aftermarket intake, you may see improved hp and tq, you may not feel it, but it may be there. Another thought, you might do what you stated to the stock intake, run it and see what you think, money is money, and if your happy with it, then that is money you saved.

Did you know, you need retrofit lifters ($300-400) and a different distributor gear, to run that roller cam in your 351w? The 87 blocks aren't roller compatible. later
 

Last edited by jwtaylor; Mar 4, 2004 at 08:31 AM.
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Old Mar 4, 2004 | 09:43 AM
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According to Comp all I need is their Retro-Fit roller cam kit part # 31-1000 then I can use their roller lifters part # 851-16 or the stockers.
 
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Old Mar 4, 2004 | 12:49 PM
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I believe they told you wrong.

The lifter part number you gave me was an oem replacement lifter. The retro kit part # they gave you is nothing more than a spider, H bars, and a couple of bolts, just like the oem spider retainer system.

The lifter bores on your non roller block are shorter than a roller block, what they told you is to retrofit a roller compatible 351w block 1994+ or F4TE will be stamped next to the casting number, if your block is an original 87 block then its not roller compatible, it requires either shorter bar linked lifters to use a standard roller camshaft or a reduced base circle camshaft and the kit comp mentioned or stock items. If you told them you had a 87 HO motor then they may have assumed it was a 302. later
 
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