351W Stroker vs 390
- Thread starter js66coupe
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If you have a small block car now, go with the 351W stroker. If you've got a big block car and all the parts are there, do the 390. The big difference is going to be the price of converting one to the other. The weight difference is a non issue. Big block Stangs can be made to handle as well as a small block car.
both engines can be made to make a lot of power and torque, so the only difference is weight, and as DH said, the car with either engine can be made to handle nicely. i also agree that you should stay with the engine you have now. if a 351w then stroke it, if a 390, build it.
dennis112
15 Year Member
I agree wholeheartedly with the previous 2 posts, although I must add that the FE 390 has the "cool" factor going for it.
The car had a 351W. But the 351W is going into the 66. I have another 351W block only, that's it.
The 69 is stripped. I bought it off the previous owner. It's a restoration that was never completed. Body is sound. I'm pretty flexible on the rebuild. I'm working under the assumption that alot of the suspension will be replaced as part of the restoration.
The 69 is stripped. I bought it off the previous owner. It's a restoration that was never completed. Body is sound. I'm pretty flexible on the rebuild. I'm working under the assumption that alot of the suspension will be replaced as part of the restoration.
The suspension has little to do with it. The real cost of going with a 390 in a small block car is the cost of the motor mounts, transmission mount (crossmember) and headers. Last time I looked the motor mount parts (there's three separate pieces in the FE mounts you need) ran well over $100, and that was ten years ago. Headers are going to cost you at least $400-500 too. Then there's the transmission crossmember that's a different part from the small block cars. Another thing is heads. The std 390 heads will not work, the Stangs and Fairlanes that came with these engines used a different exhaust bolt pattern. So you'll need to use the original GT heads, CJ heads or aftermarket heads. On top of that, just bolting the headers up is a real pain in these cars. FE's are great engines, but they're not for everyone. They can be a lot of extra work.
jackson0215
Member
- Dec 10, 2009
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I believe they also used a different set of shock towers for the big blocks, at least they did in 67. DH is right, big blocks have a cool factor but everything I buy costs my allot more than what the same part for a 351 is.
Good luck..
Good luck..
We did the 351 4V to 390GT swap back in '74 to my friends '69 mach 1, with an engine and parts we got from an XR7 Cougar that had been wrapped around a tree. The car had a lot of torque, but was not really that much faster in the 1/4, plus it was nose heavy in handling and braking afterwards. True it is not as cool as an FE engine.
69gmachine
Member
If you can't tell the difference in the way the car handles with a big block vs a Windsor, you should get yourself a rocking chair and stay on the porch!
Actually it could be possible, IF you got an aluminum block, heads, water pump, and used headers instead of manifolds.
Granted if you drove on the street like you do on a track, you'll get arrested, so depending on how you use your car, it may not be a big deal.
If you can't tell the difference in the way the car handles with a big block vs a Windsor, you should get yourself a rocking chair and stay on the porch!
Actually it could be possible, IF you got an aluminum block, heads, water pump, and used headers instead of manifolds.
Granted if you drove on the street like you do on a track, you'll get arrested, so depending on how you use your car, it may not be a big deal.
oyu dont need to go to extremes to make a big block car handle as well as a small block car, just stiffer springs and a bigger sway bar, as better wheels and tires.
69gmachine
Member
So looks like we will be needing two rocking chairs!
Seriously, a big block car can be made to handle just fine on the street by doing those simple mods, but there is simply no way you can make it handle as well as a small block car that weighs 150 to 200 lbs less, has a better weight distribution, and a lower CG.
I hope you guys know I'm just messin' with ya! You don't have to stay on the porch.
The guy doing the swap for me put a 390 in my father's 1960 Starliner. He said he could notch the shock towers so it would fit better although with headers it would be a little tight. I'm just wondering about straight-line performance if there's much of a difference. I'm not looking to autocross or anything like that.
Any way, thanks for all the responses. It'll be a while as I've decided to finish the 66 before starting a new project but it's good to plan these out now.
Any way, thanks for all the responses. It'll be a while as I've decided to finish the 66 before starting a new project but it's good to plan these out now.
horseballz
10 Year Member
Two Letters and Three Numbers:
FE 427
Aluminum block and heads and your engine is lighter than a small block. If you have never felt the magic of a well built FE 427 under your toe, you REALLY don't realize what you're missing! The magic comes from the kind of short stroke and relatively HUGE bore. Big explosions in the cylinders at high RPM!
SCRRREAMIN"
Just my $.02,
Gene
Gene
FE 427
Aluminum block and heads and your engine is lighter than a small block. If you have never felt the magic of a well built FE 427 under your toe, you REALLY don't realize what you're missing! The magic comes from the kind of short stroke and relatively HUGE bore. Big explosions in the cylinders at high RPM!
SCRRREAMIN"Just my $.02,
Gene
Gene
So looks like we will be needing two rocking chairs!
Seriously, a big block car can be made to handle just fine on the street by doing those simple mods, but there is simply no way you can make it handle as well as a small block car that weighs 150 to 200 lbs less, has a better weight distribution, and a lower CG.
I hope you guys know I'm just messin' with ya! You don't have to stay on the porch.
i hope you can walk fast boy, cause when DH and i get out of our rocking chairs and get our walkers, we is gonna whip your backside, or shoot you which ever we feel is better.
If you can't tell the difference in the way the car handles with a big block vs a Windsor, you should get yourself a rocking chair and stay on the porch!
You picka small block car, I'll drive big block Stang against you ANYTIME, ANYWHERE and I'll hand you your ass everytime. It'lll be you that'll be sitting on the porch wondering what happened to you. You won't be the first either that's tried it, and lost. You've obviously never driven much have you ? Driver's skill has just as much to do with the end result than the car alone. Any EXPERIENCED driver KNOWS this is true. The total curb weight has little to do with it.
69gmachine
Member
Driver ability is irrelevent.
If you control for the driver, i.e. you put the same driver in both cars, unless he drives like my grandma (in which case he needs to sit on the porch and stay off the roads) there is no way he will go as fast around a road course in a big block car as the same car that weighs 150 lbs less and has better weight distribution.
But I will take you up on your challenge. We can meet at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama as that's near midway between the two of us. If by some miracle you whip my a$$ in a street legal big block 67-70 stang, I will acknowledge you're the better driver, hand you the keys to my car, and let you take it out on the track to see if you can best your own time in my car. As long as you don't sand bag it, you will beat your big block car's time, I can gaurantee it!
