351 cleve

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Nov 11, 2007 | 08:36 AM

#11

dodgestang

5th Gear Member

Joined: Nov 2004

Posts: 2,176

From: Insanity

RE: 351 cleve

Quote:

ORIGINAL: majpain78

Ihave a 351cj, and i also have a 351w. I was told it was cheaper to build the windsor but if i want the most horse power for my buck i should build the cj, because it is a rarer block and it was built more for horse power with the 4bolt main, and all the other mods to the engine, heads and so on, and that i could use alot of the old stock parts and just get them worked on and i will have a torque monster with lots of power i would like to hear all of your responses. Even though i have been building the cj i still have my windsor block for a rainy day.I will post some pics of the car and the engine. One more thing a buddy of mine has a paint program and i would like to hear what you guys think of the color im thinking of, right now its like a purple blue and i want to paint it a charcoal gray.

You won't find any large descprepancies in the cost to build the 351w or the 351c you have to equivilant performance power levels. If you have it in with a good machine shop who won't rip you off you should be able to build the 351c for a little bit less actually based on the costing research I did on this. The whole cost myth is just that...a myth perpetuated by people who I don't think ever bothered to look up the price of things or know where the strengths/weaknesses between the two motor families are. Build what you own, if you own both or have neither, build what you like. I personally like both motors but the cleveland has a very distinctive sound to it and when you hear one running 7 grand....well...lets just say I like the sound.

Don't be over concerned about the 4 bolt mains on the 351c. The blocks are exactly the same between 2 bolt and 4 bolt mains on the cleveland. They just drilled and tapped for the extra holes the same block. I believe with many Chevy motors when you talk about 2 bolt and 4 bolt mains there is actually measurable differences in the thickness where the 4 bolt main blocks are actually beefier but that just isn't the case with the cleveland.

As for paint....too personal to comment IMO. Do what ever you want, I'm not a purist so being forced to only paint things Blue for Ford does not compute. With that said...my motor is blue but I did paint my engine compartment body color so the motor does stand out a little bit.

Nov 11, 2007 | 09:32 AM

#12

pushrodpower

2nd Gear Member

Joined: Oct 2007

Posts: 241

From:

RE: 351 cleve

Quote:

The main difference betweent he "M" head and the CJ jets heads is the size of the combustion chamber. The "M" heads are closed chamber like the Boss heads and the CJ heads are open chamber. That is the only difference between the "M" heads and the CJ heads. I know the CJ also uses a spreadbore intake and maybe a different cam, that I'm not sure about.
The HO or '72 "R" code engines are basically detuned Boss 351 engines with open chamber heads and lower compression. The enginestill have solid lifter cam andthe heads have the machined rocker pedastals for the adjustable rocker arms.