Need suggestions and advice on modding a 351w

w stroker

Ive got a 351w with edelbrock performer cam, heads, intake that I put on few years ago and I really like it for weekend driving but its not Super crazy fast. Ive always wanted to do a 351w stroker but a friend of mine has almost talked me into going 302 stroker because its supposed to make more horsepower and can take higher RPMs. Heres my chance to see what you guys think of that.

I will have to check out ford strokers .com, never been there, maybe they have some 351w options, cause they seem to be pretty sparse compared to 302 options. Especially if I wanna go with a blower eventually.

What say ye?

69shocktower said:

Ive got a 351w with edelbrock performer cam, heads, intake that I put on few years ago and I really like it for weekend driving but its not Super crazy fast. Ive always wanted to do a 351w stroker but a friend of mine has almost talked me into going 302 stroker because its supposed to make more horsepower and can take higher RPMs. Heres my chance to see what you guys think of that.

I will have to check out ford strokers .com, never been there, maybe they have some 351w options, cause they seem to be pretty sparse compared to 302 options. Especially if I wanna go with a blower eventually.

What say ye?

Click to expand...

there is no replacement for displacement.....nuff said

69shocktower said:

Ive got a 351w with edelbrock performer cam, heads, intake that I put on few years ago and I really like it for weekend driving but its not Super crazy fast. Ive always wanted to do a 351w stroker but a friend of mine has almost talked me into going 302 stroker because its supposed to make more horsepower and can take higher RPMs. Heres my chance to see what you guys think of that.

I will have to check out ford strokers .com, never been there, maybe they have some 351w options, cause they seem to be pretty sparse compared to 302 options. Especially if I wanna go with a blower eventually.

What say ye?

Click to expand...

The 351w stroker will make more power, you can ditch the idea of the 347 making more right now.

The 347 will have slightly better weight balance and less weight (perhaps making more effective in certain types of road racing/autocross etc), but alle lse being equal a 393 will always make more power.

i saw you were thinking about the edelbrock top end kit, itd stay away from that personally, you should get in contact with jay allen at camshaft innovations, many do not like him because he will tell you how it is straight up and not what you want to hear but the man can do some amazing things with cams and heads, he can set you up with a nice set of heads, tfs tw or the newer fac heads would be great, and a custom ground camshaft tailered to your needs and he will help you reach your goal, when talking to him dont be too sensitive though

jikelly said:

Aluminum heads are worth the weight savings. I really like my old setup with mildly ported 89 GT heads, comp cams 268x cam and weiand stealth manifold. I think I was running round 10.5:1 compression. Awesome combo, but no where near a 12 second motor.

I've been entertaining the idea of building a stroked 302 with a turbo. That would make a lot of power while reducing the weight.

Click to expand...

In an 89 GT that probably would be a 12 second motor

SadbutTrue said:

In an 89 GT that probably would be a 12 second motor

Click to expand...

yeah but he drives a tank.....LOL

you can run 12's in a 68 with a 351w no problem. Properly matched components that work together, gearing and driver.....a 393 or 408 can do it easier but it can be done. It can also be done with a mild cammed/ head 351w with a 150 N20 shot.

To me, where to go first depends on what he starts with.

If he starts with a 351w with high compression that runs great (no smoking etc), then keep that and go from there.

If he has to build his own engine and/or the 351w he ends up with has low compression (be it because it needs a rebuild or because its a mid-70s smogger POS, like mine was), then do the stroker kit.

12s from a 351w is achievable either way. If you have a 351w with high compression (9.5-11, like the stock 69/70 ones had) then there's no need to spend the couple grand required to take it apart and replace the rotating assembly components. If you need to replace those components anyway because its worn out and/or a piece, then it suddenly becomes very worthwhile to go ahead and stroke it out.

Beyond that, its simply a matter of matching your parts. Get some used Trick Flows or Performer RPM heads off ebay (saves some cash versus new heads or AFRs) and go from there.

Assuming you want to build the engine you've got, if it has 10.5:1 compression and is in good shape, keep it.

Get some Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads or 1.94" intake-valved Performer RPMs(these would both work with stock pistons, 2.02" intake-valved Performer RPMs and AFRs may not), a cam somewhere between the CompCams XE274H and the Performer RPM cam in aggressiveness, a Performer RPM Airgap/Weiand Stealth, 750 DP, a nice 1 3/4" primary-tubed long tube header and the 2.5" exhaust of your choice.

The Performer RPM topend kit would probably be a good choice if you don't want to match as much. I wanted to save some $ buying used so I mixed and matched.

The Trick Flows are mildly better heads but its a very small difference. There was a guy on this forum back when I was doing basically the same research who had used both the Performer RPMs and Trick Flows. He said that, IIRC, he went about a tenth or so faster with the Trick Flows and made slightly more power but the Performer RPMs made more torque and were more fun to drive.

a user on here named blown65 has a 347 that gets " 605hp at 7600 and 468tq." i have a 393w that gets 507 @6500 and 498 ft. lbs so you if you want to spin another 1k rpms, something the 393 stroker would have more problems doing you can reach some pretty good HP numbers.

but i've never been much of a hp number kind of guy. sure the 500 sounds nice, but i like the torque. i have 2.80 gears out back and that engine still gets those wheels moving no matter what.

though, what would a high RPM engine do with say a kennie bell on top of it? could be fun.

rebel65 said:

a user on here named blown65 has a 347 that gets " 605hp at 7600 and 468tq." i have a 393w that gets 507 @6500 and 498 ft. lbs so you if you want to spin another 1k rpms, something the 393 stroker would have more problems doing you can reach some pretty good HP numbers.

but i've never been much of a hp number kind of guy. sure the 500 sounds nice, but i like the torque. i have 2.80 gears out back and that engine still gets those wheels moving no matter what.

though, what would a high RPM engine do with say a kennie bell on top of it? could be fun.

Click to expand...

You're comparing two different engines, on two different budgets with two different goals. Blown65's 347 is a hell of a motor, but not everyone can budget for such a beast.

A 347 obviously can make big power, but it has a lot of disadvantages compared to the 351w and its various stroker combos, beyond always being behind in displacement. The 351w's rods, head bolt size, block are all built to take more abuse, as is the 351's mains/crank if you check out the link below.

Small Block Ford Reality

Now, with enough money, you can obviously get an aftermarket 302 block and buy top-end rotating assembly components for the 347 and this is no longer an issue. But the 351w is a better choice for a budget build up, and would be a much easier way to reach his goals. Not that I think you were really arguing he should use a 347 or anything.

You are right in that cubes aren't everything. He does not need a 393 to run 12s. It will make it easier, and Im telling him he should go for it if it makes sense, but don't tear a perfectly good engine apart and spend a minimum of $2000 if he doesn't need to... and he may not, a 351w is perfectly capable of 12s with a stock stroke.

i don't know how much he spent on his engine, but my 393 wasn't a cheap bit. i'm sure you can make 500 hp cheaper, but i've learned one thing in life above all do things right the first time or it'll bite you in the end. so i just wanted to do it really.. right