Ok, so I'm looking at my 1986 F250, and I'm thinking to myself, "Self, there's gotta be a way to wake up this 351!"
Obviously, she's not a drag racing machine, especially being a Supercab longbed, but I know that the 351 Windsor can be woken up. I do intend on doing a bit of towing off and on.
So, how do I go about waking up the 351W? Right now she's bone stock, except for the Edelbrock 1406 carb, which I'm seriously considering tossing in favor of a Holley carb.
I'm open to suggestions but I can't do anything immediately (Christmas around the corner and I'm moving in Feb). This gives me time to compile my list of parts.
She's a 1986 F250 Supercab Longbed 2wd with the C6 transmission - unsure of what the rear axle ratio is.

 

You can toss that Edelbrock my way if you want. My 86 F250 SC 8' box 351W, C-6 with 4.10 gears. Is getting tired. I do a lot of towing with it so I decided to wake it up by putting in a 460. An RV cam, headers and duals would help if the engine is in good shape. A compression and oil pressure check would help to give you an idea of the engine condition. Just bolting on things won't help if the engine is tired.

 

Oil pressure by the gauge seems fine, but a compression check is definitely in order. I hadn't even thought of that. Thankfully, the engine doesn't smoke and idles pretty smooth. Throttle response is also pretty good. She just doesn't seem to make power - my idea of power, anyways. I'm still not used to driving a 5,000 lb truck just yet. But, I think I'll start with a compression check and go from there.

 

I am still trying wake mine up after major surgery. I should have it fired up by Feb sometime. I am hoping for 400hp normally aspirated and 500 on the NOS.

Stock D9 Block .060 over, Decked, Line Bored, Torque Plate honed
Stock Crank .010 under - BluePrinted assembly
Reconditioned Rods
Speed-Pro Flat Top Pistons
Balanced Rotating Assembly
Trick Flow Twisted Wedge Aluminum Heads, As cast - not ported
Comp Cams Extreme 4x4 Cam
Trick Flow Push Rods
Comp Cams Pro Mag Roller Rockers
Edelbrock RPM AirGap Intake
650 Speed Demon BG Carb
125 HP PowerShot Nitrous

Should hit 6000 rpm pretty easy maybe 6500

Assembled it myself, so it is one of those times when you want to crank it up but kinda scared to do so. After break in we're heading to the Dyno for a good tune up. Picture in my gallery

Not sure if that's your direction as I got more than a crate motor value invested. But any power adder is going to be focused on getting air through it easier. Heads cost alot but, a good carb, Intake, Cam and Headers should be less than a grand and add noticeable power. Besure the those parts are spec'ed to work together (RPM ranges).

But if the pistons, rings and valves are tired then there is more work to do first.

Shawn

 

Think stroker kit! Google 351 stroker and there is a wealth of info on stuffing a 400 c.i. crank and Chrysler 360 c.i. rods into it and , WOW!
http://www.mustangandfords.com/techa...kit/index.html

 

I second that. That'll be my next step.

 

stroker kits.com with that slap a new intake heads cam and carb on it bore the engine 30 over drop it in and tear up the road i have a 351 in my 85 and she makes some good power when i floor it all i have done is replace the carb with an edlbrock carb and intake and i have complaints. just remember with a beefed up engine u need a beefed up trans

 

Depends on how much you want to wake it up.

I've got a 351 HO in my 86 F150, so far I've added a holly 650 carb, lost the egr and all other smog related parts, bumped my timing up quite a bit. I added headers, and true dual exhaust. It got a little snappier when I installed a shift kit. For a 21 year old engine with 170,000 miles she runs really strong.

It runs so much stronger then it did when I bought it, gas mileage is considerably better too. You could get crazy with it and do a complete rebuild, or install a better cam, I'm just trying to keep mine on the cheap.

 

With this list here I've got a pretty extensive list of things I can do now - it might be a little while until it happens, but I'm thinking bored & stroked is going to be the way that I go.
Thanks for all the info guys. That really is quite a bit to take in, but the Chrysler/Ford hybrid build sounds pretty intriguing. This is definitely what I was looking for.
You know, part of me thinks that if I do go the bored out & stroked route, a supercharger might find its way on the block. I imagine a twin-turbo setup might also work out Right now I'm just trying to get the kinks worked out - the previous owner liked to 'tinker' with the truck - when I changed the plugs, spark plugs 7 & 8 almost turned by hand!
Just out of curiosity, has anyone bolted on the March serpentine pulley set?

 

I am in the process of buying march pulleys this week. However I am going with a V-belts style. I just like the looks and simpler design - Not the big brackets. All I have is PS pump and Altenator, So it's only two belts.

Its going to be 5-6 bills just for pulleys and brackets.

As for as Stroker kits, check out Scat Cast Steel Cranks and Probe pistons. Also check out Coast High Performance (CHP). They make a 427 Stoker kit. Real popular with the Cobra guys. an easy 500 HP in a light wieght small block.

 

Be careful about following the car racing hop up formula's. That's about all the resources you have though, but be warned if you follow this path and get too radical, you will need to change the gearing. A high revving high horsepower engine is not well suited to a heavy truck that's going to be towing. The stroker kit is a good idea, as well as the supercharger.

 

No, what I'm looking for is something more suited to the 1500-3500 RPM range, and I think I've got a pretty good list to start. Personally, I'd love to do a diesel swap, but it's just not in my immediate plans right now. I think I'll start with headers, a dual plane intake manifold, and a true-dual exhaust setup.
Once I've budgeted out the money for it, a cammed stroker setup will be a good follow on, I think.
Has anyone done a bolt-on EFI setup on their 351W?

 

I also have a 1986 F150 with the 5.8 HO and Holley 4bbl. I pulled this engine out of my truck almost 10 years ago when it had 27k on it and replaced it with a 10.6:1 460 and heavy duty C-6 with the L&L conversion.I put Doug Thorley tri-y headers on it Elelbrock intake, and matching 750 carb,Motorsport roller rockers, DOVE heads and a great torquer cam and kit.Talk about TORQUE!!!! It would pull anything, cause it had to pull a gas station behind it everywhere we went.
Well I am finally going to freshen up my 351 and put it back in the truck and beef up the tranny that was behind it. I pulled the E5AE-ca heads and you wouldn't believe the deposits on the back of the intakes! I was horrified of what happens when you don't use a name brand gasoline with some additives in it.And I thought it ran ok.I have been using Techron in all my engines since I saw the results of not runnng Techron. Anyway, I removed the Thermactor bumps(HUGE)and am having a 5angle valve job done. Going with a Comp cams 260H cam for great low to mid response and just going to port out my 86 4bbl intake to smooth out the runners and straighten out some of the sharp turns and from what I,ve heard it will do every bit as good as a Performer Intake.Put on a set of full length 1 1/2" headers and get a better 600 cfm carb and call it good. Hopefully it will get me better than the 8or 9 mpg I'm getting with this stump pullin 460 that uses 93 octane. By the way, does anyone know the lift of the stock HO cam that came in this engine?