351 circa 1986
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351 circa 1986
My buddy has an '86 Crown Vic that came with the 351. It is a former WSP car and is getting tired in the powertrain department. He is thinking of doing a decent build on the motor.I was wondering about which stock factory head would be the best to recondition (w/a little gasket matching, porting/blending, etc) and use on this build. The whole goal is a "bang-for-the-buck" performance while making it look fairly stock- factory tubular manifolds, hi-flow cats, roller cam, better intake and carb (grind off cast-in logos, paint over aluminium, etc), bump the compression to about 9.25-1, and all the other little tricks. Any suggestions would be appreciated, since I own an FE motor in my truck and have never owned a SB Ford and my buddy has never built a motor...but he does maintain his rigs and is one scary cop!
FTE Legend
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 31,930
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
If you are truely going for Bang-for-the-Buck upgrades forget putting a roller cam in it right now, it's only worth 5-10hp total from reduced friction, and it'll cost you $600+ for the cam and lifters versus $200 or less for a flat tappet version. Get some GT40 heads for a 5.0 Explorer, and a cam like this one from Summit... Summit SUM-4400 - Summit Camshafts - summitracing.com
Just about any intake is better than the factory piece except for the Edelbrock performer which is just a copy.
Just about any intake is better than the factory piece except for the Edelbrock performer which is just a copy.
Cargo Master
Joined: May 2007
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From: British Columbia
It depends on the RPM range you plan to optimize. For low to mid RPM you could use the early (1969-70) style stock iron intake, or the Marine equivalent. Top it off with an early Autolite 4V and it would look stock late 60s.
A while ago I did a little research into stock aluminum 4V intakes and concluded that other than the early C9OE Ford Muscle Parts unit there are none (and I'm not sure whether this intake can be called "stock"). This C9OE intake looks stock but is rather expensive, if you can find one.
For higher performance, high RPM use I'll leave it to others to make recommendations, but I like your idea of painting the aluminum to look stock.
A while ago I did a little research into stock aluminum 4V intakes and concluded that other than the early C9OE Ford Muscle Parts unit there are none (and I'm not sure whether this intake can be called "stock"). This C9OE intake looks stock but is rather expensive, if you can find one.
For higher performance, high RPM use I'll leave it to others to make recommendations, but I like your idea of painting the aluminum to look stock.
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Thanks- I like things to look as unassuming as possible, and I appreciate the suggestions. My buddy Kris was quoted anywhere from $3500-6500 to do the engine, which I thought was WAY too high for a stock rebuild. He is now mulling over the two of us doing the grunt work, taking it to my buddy's machine shop, building it with a nice bump from stock, and saving some serious coin. Not to mention the connection you make when you build your own stuff.
