My 351 Cleveland is making close to 400 hp and I know I have room to go higher. Make sure you do something to improve the oiling system before you do too much because the Cleveland's will go through bearings quick if you don't. Even if you just add a high volume oil pump it will help.

I've got stock 2V heads, with an edelbrock performer RPM intake. a mild hydraulic flat tappet cam. Edelbrock 600 cfm carb. Headers, 2.5 inch flowmaster exhaust, digital ignition conversion kit(the kind that just drops into the stock distributor). I'm also running 10.2:1 compression, so that helps me alot...As I'm learning now, remember that HP is only part of the equation for a fast car. Don't forget about suspension and gearing..

 

I wouldn't port stock 2V heads for street use, their problem is that the ports are already too large, making them larger just compounds the problem. Clean them up, and port MATCH them and it'll make a difference. Or you could spend the money to get something like Edelbrocks Cleve heads, not the best but not the most expensive either(much better than stock though). Most pricey are CHI heads, but they'll get you 500hp with a good cam quite easily. And finally, BRAKES!!! You MUST have good brakes if you want to go fast. Stop fast before go fast. And also remember, suepsnsion, suspension suspension. You can have all the power you want, but if you can't put it down you're going to be slow.

But my question is how fast do you wanna go? What are you comparing your car to? Do you want to be faster than most Mustangs? Do you wanna keep up with GM LS powered cars? Do you wanna run 12's, what? If you want to build an 11sec daily driver, you're not gonna do it with stock heads. If you just wanna be faster than most cars you'll come up against(rice and lightly modded domestics) you can do it with stock heads slightly modified(port match, cleaned up etc).

I'll be honest about this, and I know it'll make people mad, but Clevelands these days suck when compared to the aftermarket SBF stuff available. The heads were great......30 years ago, but they have a LOT of shortcomings, and if you have a performance goal in mind you're gonna have to put careful thought into the build to make the car run right. If you just start slapping stuff together, you'll end up with poor performance(this is true of any engine, but especially so for Clevelands)

 

And that is why I am talking to you guys. I will make no major changes until I have vetter most options. No, I do not want race car and yes the suspension is going to be updated to latest mods including brakes. As I said my plans so far are to do the things that will make the most bang for the least bucks. I am rebuilding a 1954 Ford F-100 at present and I am going back in with a bored and stroked Y-block and a slightly radical street cam. I figure on about 320HP with the holley 600cfm carb on it and the tbird intake and exhaust. It is going to be connected to an AOD when its finished and installed. So far I have all of the parts for the truck blasted and primered and all body work done. Next is the paint job which is going to set me back a few thousand. Meanwhile I do not have an auto so this mustang is my baby. Once I have finished the frame I can install the motor and transmission then I expect to be done next summer with the truck. At which time I told my wife she can sell her F-150 and buy the 2009 Chevy Camaro Z-28. She is actually pushing me to hurry up with the truck. And I have a 1/4 track not even 10 miles from my house. I cannot wait to try that light **** truck at the track but the mustang will never see the track. I plan on keeping it as stock as possible other then what people cannot see. Oh how do I add my signature here. Ed

 

i should clarify the post made by 67......

hogging the **** out of your 2V heads isnt gonna get you anywhere cause the 2V ports are about the right size anyways. what WILL help is cleaning them up, and by that i mean smoothing the flow in the ports, cleaning up the short turn radius's in the ports - making the heads FLOW better without increasing the CC's of the runners.

keep in mind if you yank the heads you NEED to get hard ex. seats installed, they are not hard from the factory and are not compatible with unleaded gas. find a machine shop that uses a carbide cutter instead of "stones", so when they install the seats they can go in there and "machine port" the bowl areas under the head of the valves.

 

Yes that is 1 of the items on my list and I will look into hydralic lifter and roller cam/rocker assembly but I am not sure I want to go that way with stock heads unless you guys are pretty sure it will go over 350HP with stock heads and other items mentioned here. That will be more then enough and I do not want an 8 MPG gas guzzeling machine when gas is close to $3 a gallon.

 

Yeah, like that Just clean them up, but don't polish them. You want a slightly rough finish to the port surface to generate turbulence and help atomise the fuel and keep it in suspension. Polishing is only good for a car that turns continuous high rpm. But there are places where you can make the ports better, just don't open them up. All you wanna do is get rid of the "bad spots" in the ports, not make them bigger. That's what all the hubbub is with aftermarket heads anyway, they cast and cut the ports to keep them as small as possible with the best flow possible. No bad spots. I should post pics I took of my heads before I installed them, the ports are impressive for an outta the box part, gives you an idea of what it takes to get heads to work well

 

A hydraulic roller cam will make a HUGE difference. It'll breathe better and you can make more power with a more docile cam, and get better mileage. And full roller rockers are a plus too, it takes a lot of stress off the valvetrain if it's full rolling(cam/lifters/rockers). It'll last longer too and generate less friction, which means less heat, which means the oil lasts longer and so do the parts.

 

This is the beginning

https://mustangforums.com/photo.asp?...=6&apage=1