don't get the performer intake, i have heard it is mearly the stock intake but in an aluminum finish. if you dont want to get into the internals there are a lot of bolt on options.
good dual exhausht with headers (i perfer long tubes, or tri y's)
a 4 bbl carb ( i would go with 600-750 cfm, anything over that will probably be overkill)
for an intake i would go with either a performer rpm, or performer rpm air gap, or comparbale from some other company such as weinend(sp)
some nice aluminum heads
and a nice cam to go with it all.
is the 250 hp the stock rating from back in 69? because by todays standards your probably looking closer at about 195-220 depending on if its a manual or auto.
I dont know how good this is but Edelbrock makes a "performance package" that comes with carb, heads, cam, etc.

also

there have been many posts on these forums about head choice, i would say to use the search but i dont think it works anymore after the hack.

If I were you i would call up Summitracing's tech number, tell them what you have, and give them a loose budget and get some ideas from them on a good combo for you. or i thin

 

It doesn't come with a carb, or pushrods. But it is still a great deal

 

Windsor. Hell yes.


Tyler hit it pretty well on the head.


If I were you,. I'd order Edelbrock's RPM package.


It is alluminum heads, victor jr. intake, carb, and i think they include a cam?


have this setup now. I wanna go to an air gap intake but im not sure how much taller it is, and i dont wannt lift my shaker another inch or so out the hood so ima need to do some research...


You're in a good spot with a windsor... its an excellent beginning point to a real powerhouse.

 

I agree with what everyone is saying. I wish my car had a 351W in it. I have a 302 that's been modified and currently I think I'm just going to stay with it. I was thinking of changing out the block to a new Boss 302 block and using the Retrotek for FI.

Back to your original question.

I did see that www.chiheads.com is apparently a good company.

I really like the edelbrock line of products and if you want to add a little flare to your car there is the endurashine manifold and carbs.

Headers, there are easy to improve I was looking at the JBA headers for mine but they are expensive. I ended up currently going with flowtech just to keep the cost down so I could get my car back on the road for now.

A good dual exhaust with nice mufflers (Magnaflow, Flowmaster, etc.) can help the car as well.

Heads will make a big difference depending on what you go with. Make sure it will work with the setup you chose.

A nice cam as was stated like the Comp Cams Extreme line will make a big jump in your overall hp gains.

Everything has to work together so if you chose one product that you really like make sure that if you don't buy it in a kit to ask what will work with xyz.

Not very mechanically inclined but trying to learn.

 

With respect to cams, I´d go with a hydraulic roller grind for anything except a restoration-oriented buildup.

Most of the oils that are currently available are not good enough to reliably break in or use with a strong flat-tappet cam. And with a HR cam, you don´t normally need as much duration to get the same lift or make the same power. Translation: you don´t give up as much at the low end in order to make the big numbers upstairs, and you end up with a car that´s easier to live with in normal driving. I don´t see myself ever building another pushrod engine around a non-roller cam of any description.

I don´t understand the comments of some as regards Edelbrock´s manifolds - all dual plane intake manifolds are generally similar (the Air Gaps are a slightly different animal) and you´d have to have detailed insidemeasurementsand a lot of knowledge about wet flow to come to any conclusions. The Weiand may be a little stronger in some rpm ranges or even overall, but you´d need a comparative test to see that. I´ve had good results with various Performers on "brand C" engines but have nothing against the Weiands other than the advertising use of nearly the whole rev range in their claims for the "Basic Operating Range". Idle to 6800 is probably more like 2000 - 6000.


Norm

 

Right on with the cams and oil situation. The problem is that you have a very limited amount of chooses to convert a 351 over to a roller cam. Coast high performance (www.coasthigh.com) offers retrofit cams (reduced base circle) that allow you to run facy style 302 roller lifters and retainer in a non roller block, but they only offer 3 different cams. The only other option is to run linked lifters, but they average $500 for a set, and that was out of the question for me, way too much money to spend on lifters. I did the coast high conversion and I am extremly happy with it. As far as oil, I use Brad Penn oil (www.bradpennracing.com) and it is awesome. It still has all of the zinc dithiophosphate (ZDDP for short) that is needed fo flat tappet cams. If you do go flat tappet, I would highly recommend this oil because basically, off the shelf oil doesn't even come close to cutting it any more. To get the brad penn oil you will have to order it, because it doesn't have a current API service rating due to all of the good additives in it. Trus me though, you need the ZDDP, and with out it, you are taking a major risk. Trust me, I know. I had 2 flat tappet cams go bad, and it cost me 1 complete engine, and a lot of extra time and money on another. Just be sure you order good oil and you should be ok.

 

Heads and cam are the basic building blocks of power. I would start there and the rest will fall in line. IMO, AFR heads and a nice roller Comp Cam would get things purrring nicely! I dislike the Edelbrock packaged stuff. You are much better building out a combo yourself. I do like Edelbrocks Air Gap intake. It barely fits under by '69 but it does clear and provides very nice power upto 7K.

 

The new kits come with a RPM air gap intake, but no carb.

Here is the link: http://store.summitracing.com/partde...p;autoview=sku

 

Wow, what a ton of knowledge to digest, you guys have given me a lot to think about.

To summarize what I've learned may help me:

1. New heads and cam will make a huge difference, followed shortly by the intake and carb.
2. Edelbrock heads are good and AFR's suck...or no wait AFRs rock and Edelbrock suck, no wait...lol...sounds like the never-ending debate...I also heard JBA and Hedman thrown around for good measure -lol
3. From what I've read on here and other forums it seems like the best approach is to pick and choose components from different manufacturers that will work well together rather than trying to get a do-it-all kit. I'm fine with spending a little more to get the perfect configuration
4. Universally everyone loves the COMP cams, but I think you might have the part number wrong, the xe284h, and xe294h are for Chevys. Here are the cams they offer for my 351w: http://www.compperformancegroupstore...ry_Code=WDSCAM
5. Everyone also seems to universally laud the Edelbrock intake so that's another nice consensus builder. Can someone explain to me what an "air gap" intake is though I am not familiar with them and how they might differ.
6. Carb-wise it seems much like the Edelbrock-AFR debate with folks lining up on the Edelbrock or Holley sides. From what I can determine they both make excellent carbs with the Edelbrock's being more "set and forget" and the Holley more finicky and in need of frequent adjustment. Since I want to avoid pulling my hair out, I might take the easier option unless someone has a good reason not to. Also I've heard that Holley's can be a pain to start in cold weather...my current stock carb is like that (and I live in FL) and it drives me crazy. I wish it had a manual choke on it because when its choked it starts immediately but the auto choke doesn't do a very good job in the cold. What kind of max RPM should I be looking at with this engine? to I found a nifty little CFM calculator here: http://www.4secondsflat.com/Carb_CFM_Calculator.html
7. The point about buying quality oil is well taken, no point in dropping hundreds of dollars into all these upgrades only to cheap out on something that important.

thanks again for all the advice, I plan to start this project in a month or two so I'm trying to get all my research done up front.

 

Eventually you will come down to choosing between two cams. In most cases you will be better off choosing the "smaller" one, especially for street use, as you spend way more time off-idle and at low revs than you do up near redline. Pay attention to the cam mfr rev ranges, but understand that the cams will rev higher (valvetrain permitting, of course).

AFR´s are heads, not headers. AFAIK, AFR does not make headers. Confusion may have come from mention of Edelbrock, who make both heads and headers. Just trying to keep you straightened out. Also, Holley may make SBF heads, I don´t know (they do or at least did make SBC heads, so they´ve at least gotten into the head market). And there are others that may be more race-oriented- Canfield comes to mind.


Norm