I have a 351C bored and stroked to 377cui. that likes racing gas, has domed pistons a fairly wild cam and 4 barrel heads. Since I've been having some miner oil pressure issues I bought a 351C engine (casting no.D2AE-CA) I;m taking it apart and so far looks good. It was supposed to have a recent overhaul but has been sitting for a couple of years. My plan is to freshen it up, install a mild cam, my MSD distributor and 4 barrel heads and hopefully be able to run on pump preium.
My questions are as follows; does any one have any suggestions for a good cam grind for street use? Should I use a high volumn oil pump? Would running an oil line from the front oil port to the rear oil port be helpful or necessary for improved rear bearing oiling? Is ther any benifit to using gears vs. timing chain? Finally, Would my old block, crank, cam, and pistons be of any value?

Thanks for your time.

Dennis

 

Dennis,

There must be a zillion cams for a 351C, from mild to wild. Before you select a cam, you need to know your compression ratio. If you have 351C-4V closed chamber heads, the combustion chambers should be 62.8cc, unless the heads were shaved at some time, then they will be less. You need to have the heads CC'ed, the you need to find out what the Compression Height of the pistons in the motor you are going to put the heads on. If you can't get the CH of the pistons, measure the clearance between the deck and piston at TDC, in fact you should do this anyway.

Once you get these dimensions, you can calculate the CR, then select a cam that will give you good performance and run on pump fuel.

I think that you should be able to sell that 377 stroker, if the crank is usable.

 

danlee makes great sense and that logic has been playing out well for me.

You really need to be concerned with the operating (dynamic) compression of your build. Thats computed by obtaining the regular or static compression then allowing for the delay in the intake valve closing during the compression stroke which is where the cam specs come in. The more aggressive the cam the more static compression is drained and the lower the dynamic compression.

You can make 11:1 static compression and still burn pump if the cam is aggresive enough- eventually you run into driveability issues. Ususally you decide what you want from and engine and find the cam- then get the components to make the right compression for that cam- but if you already have the components you would find the cam to match them and hope that's the build you want.

Also need to take quench into account and thats based on how the parts in the combustion process fit to provide burn pattern and heat dissipation. They say gasoline engines run the bets with a DYNAMIC compression between 7.5-8.5. depending on quench anything near 80 will require a bit more octane than pump87. then the closer you get to 8.5 the less likely pump92 will work without retarding timing or aluminum heads etc.

It's not exact by any means but there's folks here who know what you will be able to expect once you have then numbers.

hope that helps.