What would you do with this 351 shortblock I have? DISCUSS!

[BlueOvalStangGT]

The other day my buddy calls me up and asks if I want a free 351 shortblock. He doesnt know the exact specs but here is everything I have heard about it:

Confirmed by me:
.40 over with forged pistons (unknown brand)
70's block, I dont have the casting number in front of me but im pretty sure it was D8, which means its a 78
New freeze plugs
New oil pump
Oil pan included

Possiblity:
One cylinder is sleeved
Aftermarket flat tappet cam
May have blow by
The car it came in went 11.50s on motor

Im gonna call my buddy and tell him to call his buddy to see if he can find out the rest of the specs like compression ratio and the specs on the cam.

What should I do with this thing? Here are my ideas

Put it in my car...
Make it into a sweet table
Sell it

To put this beast in my car I would need a distributer, new exhaust, a lower intake manifold, new fly wheel and a new balancer....anything else? Also I would have to have my heads drilled out. Right now I have TF TW heads ported by HBR, and I dont have any flow numbers which sucks. Think these would be big enough for a 351/408? Probably not.

I always didnt like the idea of a windsor motor in my car but now that I got one for free im kind of interested. Im looking to make ~700 hp, which isnt possible with a 302 based motor, but might be with a 351 based motor. A R or A4 block really would be over kill for my car, but then i wouldnt have to swap a bunch of things over. What should I do?

 

[SeventyMach1]

Do it. [in my best Ben Stiller voice]





BTW, IMHO, a sleeved cylinder means nothing.

 

[Zero Signal]

Why even ponder it? It's free. Take it and if you don't want it, give it away

 

[Green 94 5.0]

To put this beast in my car I would need a distributer, new exhaust, a lower intake manifold, new fly wheel and a new balancer....anything else? Also I would have to have my heads drilled out. Right now I have TF TW heads ported by HBR, and I dont have any flow numbers which sucks. Think these would be big enough for a 351/408? Probably not.

those TW heads are the ones you bought from Joe right? if so, those used to be mine. i dont have the flow numbers either but i can try to contact the original owner to find out for you. i do know that the intake and exhaust ports were opened a ton as well as the quench area made slightly larger. with the larger cc in the combustion chamber and the heavy porting those heads should work perfect with an n/a 351. with the right power adder i believe those heads could support 700hp. just look at eades. he made over 600hp to the wheels with his 331/box stock twisted wedge heads/t-trim combo.

 

[BlueOvalStangGT]

Yeah thats them. If you could find any info about them that would be great.

 

[4Jenna]

My heads are ported, but those heads def can make some big #s.
They also have alotta meat for porting, I've seen some big flow #s outta TW from TEA.

 

[Grn92LX]

Gray86hatch on corral is running UNported TW heads on his 408 going 10.30's @ (i think) 128 ish. Heads have a GOOD valve job and valve train.

If I had a good 351 block I would build a BIG n/a pump gas stroker. I would not waste my time staying 351, stroke it.

700rwhp is cake walk for a 302 based stroker and a blower done right fyi. Dunno why you said impossible.

 

[BlueOvalStangGT]

Gray86hatch on corral is running UNported TW heads on his 408 going 10.30's @ (i think) 128 ish. Heads have a GOOD valve job and valve train.

If I had a good 351 block I would build a BIG n/a pump gas stroker. I would not waste my time staying 351, stroke it.

700rwhp is cake walk for a 302 based stroker and a blower done right fyi. Dunno why you said impossible.

Sorry, I meant a stock block based motor.

 

[ponyboy19]

If it were mine I would take it to a machine shop and spec it out. If possible, I would rebearing it, throw in a new set of rings, and personally I would convert it to a hyd. roller cam of custom specs with link bar lifters. Add all your heads and a good intake and run it. If you find issues in the lower internals, then stroke it to a 408

 

[OrangeMustangGt]

i am subscribing to this also. I have a 89' 351 with only 30k out of a bronco. I was wondering what it's N/A capabilities were also.....btw can you get performance cams for non-roller blocks?

 

[Joes95GT]

First of all, and most importantly, a D8 block WILL NOT stand up to 700 horsepower....not even at the flywheel. From what I understand, they really aren't too much better than our HO blocks - they can only take about 550-600 at the flywheel.

Secondly, a sleeved block scares me. The question that comes to mind is "why is it sleeved"? Too much overbore? Busted up cylinder?

For the rest of the potential problems I can see, I'd get the motor, re-ring it and put new bearings in it. Get better valve springs and seals for the heads, and maybe mill off a few cc's off of the combustion chambers for better compression. Then, bolt all the junk you have on it and let it rip....

Happy 4th fellas.

Joe

 

[Vipersix]

The only thing I would mention is to be cognizant of all the parts this new engine needs and which of your current parts will be able to swap over with no problem. Then when you actually need to purchase new parts, ensure you get something which will work on the 94-95 Stang. There are a couple of items which will simply not swap over such as the headers, manifold, and distributor. There are others which simply need modifying by a competent person (which may be yourself) such as the heads, oil pump, alternator setup, etc. I ended up switching over to the Fox style front end (timing cover, brackets, etc) in order to make everything easier to play nicely together.

Good luck.

 

[Green 94 5.0]

well i just spoke to the original owner and he is going to look for the flow sheet.....i will keep you posted.

 

[BlueOvalStangGT]

Wow, didnt realize everyone replied to this thread! Glad I looked it up. I got home and checked it and its a 74, not a 78. From what I understand the 71-74 are pretty good, almost as good as a 69-70. Also, I have the hookup on Comp products, which is good because they have the conversion stuff. What I was thinking, get rings/bearings, intake, distributer and exhaust for this motor and run it for a while. Then once I get the funds i'll build a C9 block with good internals. Like that I can spread the cost over a while and not all at once. Does anyone have links where I can find out the numbers people are making with the older 351 blocks? I would think that 800 will hold me over for at least a little bit

 

[ProKiller]

i vote for the sweet table!!!

i would take it to a competent machine shop and have them tear it down and rebuild it with new internals. since you don't know who or where it came from i wouldn't trust it. you could put it in your car and two months later it throw a rod or something.

 

[nmcgrawj]

Just a heads up for ya, i've got some Accufab 351w custom headers i need to get rid of.

And if u get it, go as big as possible....dont hold back any cubes!

 

[BlueOvalStangGT]

I would take you up on the headers, but I dont think I want to cough up the dough on some nice headers like that when I want to go turbo soon.