racin66coupe

OR you can build a 351w with clevelend heads

built67

i want the motor to last long, i dont want to constantly tear it down and rebuild it. its going to be a street car, so yes streetability is important but so is power. i would like to have a nice low end torque curve because i dont want to be shifting at 6500 rpm. i hear that 289 and 302 are high revving motors at that much power when a 351w would make max power in the 5000rpm range. also, is a 351c a big block and a 351w a small block?

Adrenolin

Your best path is the 351w. More cubic inches right off the bat, interchangeable parts off your existing 289 and a torque beast to boot. Both the 351w and 351c are still small blocks though differ in size.

The 67 we're building will be a daily driver for the wife once done so we need a strong, dependable engine thats gets decent mpg, lower rpms and yet still fun. We're looking at the 400 range ourselves.. give or take a bit. Keeping your foot out of it, the 351w should provide better mpg and all the low end fun your looking for.

Note on dependability.. don't buy cheap parts! Spend the extra money even at the expense of not hitting 400hp. Cheap HP doesn't last and you'll find yourself with more expenses later replacing parts.

htwheelz67

a 351w is an easy swap, the 351c is not a big block but it is wider and heavier than a windsor and none of the 289 parts except for motor mounts will fit.

Waffles

a 351C IS a big block...

I know of a complete 390 with 428PI heads locally for $450...

htwheelz67

wrong! the 351c is a small block, even the 351m and 400m are small blocks but the M motors have the bigblock bell housing patterns, the 351c uses the sm block bell housing

It is a small block, the only ford big blocks are the "FE" series 352-428 ci and the "335" series which are 370-460 CI and an odd ball in the early linclons.

You can put cleve heads on a windsor block (boss 302), I dont think its possible to put bb heads on a sb.

Starfury

And actually, if you sit a cleve and a windsor block side by side, they're the same dimensions and just abou the same weight:P The only things that make cleves heavier are the ginormous heads.

Waffles

i stand corrected.

THUMPIN455

Wasnt painful nor expensive in my 67. I used the 289 mounts and got the smaller flex plate to fit inside the C4 bell housing. 70-73 headers fit fine and clear everything, even the plugs are easy to get to. A Cleveland isnt expensive to put in the 64-66 either, I have one in a Maverick and it fit pretty good.

What it boils down to is what you can find, Clevelands are a bit tougher to find but not more expensive to build. Finding a Cleveland is the toughest part for sure, but it can be done. They dont need aftermarket heads to run circles around the W. Mostly stock parts are all you really need.

People build the W because they were made from 69 to the 90s, and you can find roller cam blocks and boat motors easy enough. They are much more plentiful than the Cleveland which was only built from 70-74 in the USA. The stock heads and intakes are not performance items by any stretch, and the W really needs the aftermarket support to be a viable performance engine. The good thing is the aftermarket is there and the W is a good engine to build.

Stroker kits are cheaper for Ws but that is mainly a product of more engines out there and more stroker kits sold.

You can also build a 347 or 331 from your existing engine, that would actually be more than building a W or a C for some parts and machine work, but you could use everything you have already, like the intake, headers, brackets etc. Switching to a W would require you to buy a new intake, often headers since the W is taller, and other items like that.

One thing I discovered is that when you begin looking for certain engines or parts, you meet people in the quest for the right stuff, and those people often remember and soon you have 4 or 5 of everything you need rather than just one. Thats sorta how I ended up with so many Cleveland parts, and 400/455 engines. I would get calls all the time from people I knew who had found one,and I only had to go pick it up.

I now have 5 sets of 4V heads now, and three sets of 2Vs, a 4 bolt block, and a bunch of other interesting things. Of course I started collecting Cleveland parts before most of you were born, but I got a set of 4V heads, intake, and all related hardware just last year from this very site.

A 429/460 will fit, but they are heavy, very heavy, and swapping them in is tight and a rather unfun project. A good set of aluminum heads will lighten the load and make stupid power though, and most 67s only have one torque box. You need two most definitely for any FE or Lima engine swap. Its probably a good idea to put one in the passenger side with a 347, or any 351 swap.

FE swaps will work great, those are 352, 360, 390, 406, 410, 427 and 428 engines. Parts interchangeability among that engine family is impressive and they make good power. Drawbacks are cost and weight. FE specific Mustang parts are pricey to say the least, 427s are almost unobtainium. For what it costs to build a 450 hp FE you can build a much lighter 351 that should make even more power. Still they are impressive and the old school big block muscle engine of choice.

To boil it down, build what you have, or whatever you find in your price range for a 351, be it a C or a W. If you have a ton of money layin around I can hook you up with a guy who builds 428s and 427s for Cobra guys.

Also about the Cleveland / Windsor size and big block small block BS, if you like I can put them side by side and take a picture for you. They are both small blocks, even the M is a small block, they just bolt to Lima series transmissions. They are nearly the same size and the heads will bolt to either block. You cant put FE or Lima heads on a small block. I dont have my 390s here or I could show you the differences in those too. This topic is one that needs to die in the Ford community online and in real life.

built67

yeah that would be great if you could take the pic of both of them side by side. i dont have a ton of money laying around however. if i could find a 351c to build up i would do it as long as it fits in my 67 easy, if not i would just build up a 351w, and use aftermarket heads and whatnot.