Hey fellas, I'd like to build a 351 to replace the 302 in my 94 F150. Sorry if this subject has been beat like a dead horse, I found a few different 351 build threads using the search function, but couldn't exactly find the info I was looking for.

What I'm considering is getting a roller 351 out of the local yard. I'd like to make a reliable daily driver with around 350 horse power. I plan on freshening up what ever engine I get, new rings, bearings, ect ect.

I plan on using a E303 cam, gt40 heads, and hedman long tubes, since I already have all the those parts left over from another project that I went a different direction with. I have access to a gt40 upper intake for fairly cheap from a friend, although I'd have to track down a 351 gt40 lower intake. I'm also considering a Edelbrock EFI truck intake manifold. Any thoughts on either of those manifolds?

Where I'm somewhat confused is what to do with the bottom end. Would you recommend a stock rebuild kit? Or perhaps a aftermarket crank, rods, and pistons? There seems to be a bunch of aftermarket kits out there, I just can't seem to find any info on their reliability.

I plan on driving the truck on a near daily basis. I haul 600-800 pounds off and on through out the summer, I don't tow much but I'd like to keep the ability to do so. The truck will also be subjected to the occasional weekends of playing in the mud, and maybe a few runs down the local drag strip each summer.

My budget is $3000.00, like I said before reliability is my prime concern. I guess my main question is what would you guys do to build a reliable 351 based power plant while sticking to my budget?

 

There's no need for anything but a stock spec shortblock(except cam) for your application and power levels.

 

I agree with Conanski, no big reason to go wild on the bottom end. The GT40 heads are a great start as well as the upper. Sourcing a 351W GT40 lower is the keypoint. Pretty slim pickings from what I recall. I am not a big fan of the Ford "alphabet series" cams. The E303 will move your power band up where you may not want it without some gears and/or looser torque converter. The long tubes will work, but on a 4x4 be careful of where you route the tubing for the exhaust, it can be a killer getting around the transfer case gracefully.

Back to the cam, you may not like the characteristics of it with a Speed Density (SD) system. Whether you convert to Mass Air or not I would budget for a tuning device or a custom tune. At 350 crankshaft HP you will most likely need to upgrade to 24 lb. injectors, up from the stock 19s.

The Edelbrock 5.8L truck EFI manifold is designed for use with E7 heads. You will be spending a lot of money to leave a lot on the table. Many of the Lightning guys have found the GT40 upper/lower to be the best bang for the buck at this power level, even with the stock Lightning cam or swapping in a 302HO roller with tuning and exhaust.

 

The Professional Products Typhoon is an Edelbrock Performer copy and I would suggest that over the Edelbrock truck intake simply because it's 1/2 the price but also because the truck intake isn't suitable to a motor with better heads and more cam. The E cam will also require mass air so add that to the list if the trucks isn't already equipped with it.

 

howdy, i did a similiar build except i went to a 393 stroker. Had to freshin up bottom so i ordered stroker crank, used stock rods and a flat top piston for a 302. used the e303 cam and i had plenty of power and that was with stock heads with little work. i did upgrade the stock fuel pump to a mustang 255 just for future upgrades. used shorty headers with free flowin 2.5 duals. the gt40 is a great choice. just remember you can get lots more air flow through one big hole than 2 small ones.

 

Thanks for the info guys.

The truck is factory mass air, one of the very few 94s I've ever seen with it, so no worries there. What would you recommend as far as a tuning device? All of the plug and play 'tuners' I've seen advertised are only for OBDII equipped trucks. Would I need to add a chip to the computer or something? Bear with me here, I'm somewhat new to the computer tuning stuff, I'm use to building carbed engines. Will the 302 computer control the 351 or will I need to swap in a 351 computer?

I did have my worries with the E303 and not leaving me much usable low end power. What would be a better cam choice? Something with decent power in the idle-5500 range should do me fine. There's so many cam choices out there I'm not even sure where to start looking.

 

OBD-1 computers require an add-on "memory chip" for tuning because there is no programmable memory onboard. Tweecer and Moates have products for them now though there are only a small number of MAF truck computers that are compatable, you'll have to inquire directly to them stating the box code on your EEC. Once you have a tuner you can reconfigure the EEC to operate any size engine since you will have access to all the system variables.

The E cam isn't the greatest choice for a truck motor but the 5.8 is a different beast than the 5.0 so that cam suits it(the 5.8) much better, here's a Dyno simulation of both motors for comparison. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3407/...d50160b0_o.jpg
There are other cams that produce even more TQ without sacrificing much if any HP too. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/...75a41aaf_o.jpg