Any thoughts on using a 351 Cleveland in my 2WD 1988 F-250 instead of the 4.9 I've got?
Pros & cons?

I do run other trucks (quarter mile races) but I don't tow or carry any loads whatsoever. Truck is a daily driver and it's got a C6. Tires are 37s. The truck's never burnt any rubber

Thanks!

 

Does the 300 run good? You would lose low end, and efi which would be my biggest concern. Is it a 2v or 4v?

 

The 351 is all around a more powerful motor in my opinion. It will be alot worse on gas than the I6 though. You said 351 cleveland. Do you already have that engine or do you need to look for one? If you dont already have it, forget a 351 cleveland, drop in a 351 windsor like these trucks are supposed to have. And how is the 4.9? Is it still running good or does it need a rebuild. If there are no problems with it, I wouldnt bother swapping it out as long as you are just using the truck as your daily driver. As for the fact that your truck doesnt burn any rubber, I wouldnt blame that on the engine if you are still running stock gears. Thats alot of rubber to spin. Try swaping out the rear end gears for something that will let you spin them tires.

 

where the heck is 'Guayaquil'?

 

Yeah, I agree, if there isn't anything major wrong with the 300 EFI I would keep that and put in different gears, shoot that's one good motor (7 main bearings and cam gear drive) and will run forever. Better on gas than a 351 also. The guy who use to work next door to me had a F-250 with a 351 Windsor and it sucked gas big time, he used to say I wish I had your motor.

You could put in a 5.0 302 ci EFI and soup it up with all the after market goodies and that baby would light up those 37's then I would bet, and not be as much of a gas hog as the 351 normally aspirated.

If you want to have fun with inline 6 performance knowledge, go this website (if you don't already know about it) it's great:

http://fordsix.com/forum/viewforum.p...6b77742c5580cd

Let us know what you decide to do.

Johnny



1988 Ford F-150 Custom 4.9L EFI 4 -speed with Ford alloy wheels
1990 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 Hatchback , with Flowmasters.
1993 Ford Mustang LX coupe 5-speed


......................................God Bless Henry Ford.....................................

 

First of all, thanks for the comments.
The 300 runs great! I love it too and I don't worry about gas consumption because I have a propane system installed that gives me 300 miles for $15 USD (how about that huh?) I would still be able to use the propane system with the cleveland.
I already have the 4V cleveland, in fact, it's still on the back of my truck until I have some time to figure out how to put it in my garage.
I also have a mustang with a 302 in it that runs beautifully and is powerful.
As for changing the gears and changing them... I AM TOTALLY LOST!!!! I do not understand anything about gears. (HELP) Would that help me get more torque out of the engine... burning rubber and stuff?

Guayaquil is in Ecuador (South America) It is 1 hour away from the beach and 5 hours away from the sierra which is the middle of the world (Quito, the capital city) The Galapagos Islands are in Ecuador too.

 

I have no advice about the motor, but I visited Guayaquil back in '97 while in the Navy. Ecuador was kinda fun actually.

Anyway, now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

Dave

 

With differential gears, the higher the number, the easier it gets to turn the wheels, but also the higher the rpms have to be to achieve the same top speed as with lower numbered gears. Think about it like a mountain bike with different speeds. On the 1st speed on the bike, it is really easy to pedal, but you have to pedal like a maniac to get anywhere. That is like the higher numbered gears in the rear. On say the 6th speed, it is REALLY hard to pedal, but when you do pedal one time, you go really far. That is like the lowered number gears in the rear. With those larger tires, low gears make it even harder for the engine to get the truck moving, because not only does it have to turn those low gears, but it also has to turn the heavy tires. If you go with higher gears, now the engine doesnt have to work as hard to spin the tires and you get better acceleration and "tire burning power". Another factor with the gears is that your 37s let the truck travel farther with every rotation than with stock tires. So with the lower gears and big tires, you can go really far with every rpm meaning you can reach a very high top speed at lower rpms, but it takes alot of effort and time to get there. If you had really high gears and stock size tires, you can accelorate quick, but your top speed will be very low. By using big tires and high gears, you can reach a happy medium that will give you a stock top speed and stock acceleration. With 37s, I doubt you will be running at a high top speed very often, so Id pick a gear set that will give you better than stock acceloration, with a lower top speed. Few! Now my fingers hurt.

 

I would keep the six until it dies which will take a long time and go from there. As far as not burning rubber you also have to factor in how much heavier 37s are verses a stock size tire.

 

Nice explanation... thanks... very figurative, it's actually the first time I get to understand this.

Any numbers of gears recommended? I was talking to a mechanic and he said something about 4-11 or something like this. Does it make any sense?
Changing the gears is changing the ring and pinion and adding a positive traction or one of them?
thanks

 

for 37" tires I would go no less than a 4.30 gear or a 4.56 gear should level you back close to stock! I am more into hot rods I use 4.56 gears with 28" tall tires! this gets awesome excelaration= *****y gas milage but I have been contimplating putting some 40"'s in the back leaving the stock size BF's in the front having a weed cutter truck but getting good gas milage then swap out my tires at the track with the 28"'s. This way I can drive to the 1/4 race it then back home and not have to dive there at 60 miles an hour at 3200 RPM in third gear. ha-ha that would be halarious to see so many laughing faces turn to a froun as I eat up everytime in the 1/4

 

just FYI the W motor should bolt up to the tranny that your I-6 is currently using and there are way more performance parts for it also= cheaper build