351w stroker buildup

mustangman70

Founding Member
Dec 30, 2001
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St pete, Florida
So my local car club has a 351 1969 351 windsor block, standerd bore, that i can have for a couple hundred bucks. Should i pick this up and make a sick 408 :shrug: :D :banana: :spot: :nice:

Ive been wanting to do a 351 fir a while and this seems liek a good start :shrug:

But i have a couple of questions, what exactly can be swapped from a 302 to a 351....and what are some stroked combos out there, whats good whats bad :shrug: Is a 408 too much stress on the block? or should i go to a 427 :shrug: also how much does the block have to be bored in order to do a stroker. .060 right?
 
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mustangman70 said:
Ive been wanting to do a 351 fir a while and this seems liek a good start :shrug:

But i have a couple of questions, what exactly can be swapped from a 302 to a 351....and what are some stroked combos out there, whats good whats bad :shrug: Is a 408 too much stress on the block? or should i go to a 427 :shrug: also how much does the block have to be bored in order to do a stroker. .060 right?

You can make a 408 with a 4.00 stroke and .030 bore. I don't know about using any stock 302 parts in a 408W but I am pretty sure you would not want to. That is close to a 500 hp motor and you will want forged rods, pistons, bigger radiator, etc. If you were to punch that block out to the max, i.e., .060 over, you would get a 414W.

The '69 blocks were pretty good. The blocks are 2 bolt mains but the main webs were cast with extra metal for possible use as a 4 bolt main. You can have a shop drill and tap the webs to accomodate some 4 bolt steel main caps and really support that bottom end nicely.
 
well i wouldent want to use any of the internals, but like headers, dist etc. I know the intakes are alot different. So it would be smart to convert to a 4 bolt main setup????? sounds liek a plan to me. Where could i find the mains at :shrug:
 
Those blocks are meaty as hell ...Got one my self actually ..I would go 424 .60 over bore I can get you the coplete kit to put you over 550hp to the crank if you would like.oh yea VERY STREETABLE 10 sec car.
 
You might be better off saving some money then purchasing a 408 short block or complete engine ready to go.

Its difficult to piece together the various parts over time, by the time you've collected everything, you want to go back and upgrade or change something .
There's custom machining that needs to be done on the block that can only be done with a rotating assy.etc.etc.
The last thing I'd do is take the parts to a local engine builder who's never put together a ford or a stroker for that matter.
Id get one from one of these companies that build them everyday.
A great motor!!

just my 2 cents.
 
mustangman70 said:
well i wouldent want to use any of the internals, but like headers, dist etc. I know the intakes are alot different. So it would be smart to convert to a 4 bolt main setup????? sounds liek a plan to me. Where could i find the mains at :shrug:

I believe you can reuse the distrib, intake, and prolly the cylinder heads too. You won't see the engine's true potential unless you added better flowing heads, headers, new electronic ignition, bigger cam, etc. but if your budget doesn't allow for it, then it is what it is.

Unless you really went crazy and rebuilt that thing into a 500 hp monster, you would not need to convert to 4 bolt mains. If you needed them, you prolly can get them at Summit.
 
YOU CAN NOT USE THE DIST.
YOU CAN NOT USE THE INTAKE.
AND YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE HEADS.
AND YOU DONT NEED A 4 BOLT MAIN (A MAIN GIRDLE WILL HELP)
You can re-use the valve covers, ft cover, water pump, transmission

Block needs notching in a certain spot at the bottom of each cylinder .
there are modifications where the oil pump bolts up as well.
500HP is no monster, and it can be achieved if you have the right combo of parts.
I have a 408w, with TFS heads out of the box , no extra porting/polishing, with 9.8:1 compression on pump gas
I got 498HP,495TQ on the dyno, and would of jumped over the 500 mark if the builder tried a few carb spacers.
 
Grego is right: you can't use those parts due to the different dimensions of the block. A main stud girdle would be enough to hold 500 h.p. Headers could be reused but may hit the floorboards and the diameter may be too small. I'd reeccomend 1 5/8" primaries at least. Almost all strokers will use a .030 bore. The stroke is gained from a longer throw on the crank, different rods, and shoprter pistons. Look for a kit where the oil ring does not intersect the pin bore.
 
Id save the money and get the assembled short block, or engine from a reputable company.
most of these companies warranty their work, you cant get that everywhere.
There's allot of info out there on these strokers.

I haven't priced used 351w blocks lately, but it seems you can get an entire used 351w engine for a "couple hundred bucks"

happy motoring.
 
grego37 said:
YOU CAN NOT USE THE DIST.
YOU CAN NOT USE THE INTAKE.
AND YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE HEADS.
AND YOU DONT NEED A 4 BOLT MAIN (A MAIN GIRDLE WILL HELP).

That makes my decision not to stroke my motor using the services of the shop whose name I can no longer remember a good one. When I balked at the $6000 price, they told me I could save money by reusing all those parts and then add the upgrades later. Of course I was going to do a 393 stroker. I was told I only had to swap out the crank and could reuse everything else. I don't know if that holds true for a 408 or not.
 
ok for an inexpensive 408 motor, get the block, but try and pay less than $150 for it, $100 would be better. find a stock 400 ford crank, and have the counter weights, and the oil slinger at the rear of the crank machined to fit the 351w block, and the pistons you will be using. you can also get a set of stock 351w rods, when a little prep work is done to them, they will handle the power you plan on throwing at them, and get a set of 350 chevy pistons. have the small end of the 351w rod honed out to the chevy pin diameter so you can keep the press fit, rather than floating the pins. if the block needs to be overbored, then do it, but go as small as possible, .020 would be nice, .030 is standard. you will need to notch the bottoms of the cylinders for rod bolt clearance. regarding rod bolts, use the arp wave loc rod bolts as they are very strong. to prep the rods, after having the rebuilt unless you get new ones, have the seams smoothed down, the rods polished and then shot peened. dont forget to balance the rotating assembly. with some judicious shopping, and doing some of the work yourself, you can build the short block for about the same money as just getting the rotating assembly kit(for a 408 usually around $1500 for the cheapest one). if you dont want to use chevy pistons in your ford motor, you can get a 3.85 stroke cast crank, still use the 351w rods, and hang a set of ford 302 pistons on the rods, and get(.030 over) a 393ci windsor that will make the same power(only 15ci difference) for about the same money. you dont hav eto spend the big bucks for a complete short block, or a complete rotating assembly.
 
jerry S said:
That makes my decision not to stroke my motor using the services of the shop whose name I can no longer remember a good one. When I balked at the $6000 price, they told me I could save money by reusing all those parts and then add the upgrades later. Of course I was going to do a 393 stroker. I was told I only had to swap out the crank and could reuse everything else. I don't know if that holds true for a 408 or not.

Jerry, his initial question was what from his present 302 will fit the stroked 351. Go back and re-read his initial question.
 
CHP offers a 408 short block, assembled for i think like $3,500...

4.060 bore - 4.000 stroke - Flat top
(which would make it a 414 :D

O-Ringed Stroker clearance block

4340 forged steel crankshaft

CHP forged steel connecting rods

Probe SRS forged pistons

Probe Industries main girdle

.So all i would need to do is slap an intake, heads cam and etc
 
Ben Hit me up next week or this weekend I could hook you up with a serious street machine stroker kit. 500+hp for under 1500 All forged coated pistons knife edge crank ect.ect. for a 408-418-424 doesnt matter.of course 424 more power over a 408 and 418.
 
well let me ask this question. if you have a stock 351w,and you put a 393 kit in it.do a port and polish job on the stock heads.mild cam with roller tip rockers and roller lifters. performer intake with a holley sa670 carb.headers with 21/2" pipes.what kind of HP would you expect to have?i have a reason for asking this.