I have a 351m and was wondering. With a performance cam, 4 barrel intake and carb and headers what kind of change would there be? What kind of power would it get? And most important how much would this cost?

Also does anyone know the price for performance aluminum heads?

Thanks
Bob

 

In addition to what you listed you must also put in a good timing chain set that can be set straight up at zero. Doing these things to an engine in good shape otherwise can make an impressive difference. It really wakes these engines up as they were badly handicapped from the factory with smog features. You can find head prices from TMI, the sponsor of this site or check outlets that deal with Edelbrock, AFD, ChI and others.

 

Check some of the other dyno runs and performance reports here. The cam would be the most important consideration. The OEM cam is not bad if set straight up for low end power.

Remember the 351M is NOT a high performance engine. The long rods and heavy pistons limit the RPM potential of the engine. Most users turn the 351M into a 400 or just drop in a 400 and there are many threads here on that subject as well as builds for the 400. If you want a high RPM performance engine use a 351W and aftermarket heads.

 

I not looking for too high of performance just something alittle more impressive than stock. Could a person just put a cam in or are there other upgrades that should got along with it. I was told theres no sense in putting a better cam in a 2 barrel.(but that was by the guy who told me he could get me a good stock distributor rebuilt for a little over $200 *cough* crook *cough*)

 

You could get better perfomance just by have the timing set in the straight up position. A cam by itself would help but if you are going to try to get fuel mixture in and out of the cylinders more efficiently, hence the cam, you should help it with an intake and exhaust that will compliment it. There are degrees of improvement tp be had for certain $$ thresholds. In order of bang for buck I would start making sure I had a good timing set and as long as I was there and was going to spend some money, a cam as well. (you also need new lifters. Next I would look to headers and then to the intake. With the headers you may have to rejet the stock carb if you don't change the intake.

 

I see....

does anyone have a part # for headers and a link for a good cam and timing set? And depending on the money I think a 460 may be more what I'm looking for father down the road.......haha anyone have a price for a crate 460?

 

First thing to do is correct the retarded cam timing using an aftermarket roller timing chain. If you are not looking for all out performance almost any of them will do. If you still have the stock OEM timing chain it is probably way past due for a change. I typically change them at 80K because they can fail almost any time after that.

Comp Cams 255DEH and ceramic coated headers if you can find them for your application. Weiand intake and Edelbrock 1406 carb.

 

before you got 460 ck out the 400 builds...most impressive motor and all you need is a crank and pistons and parts.