Can someone please help me determine what year I should buy my 351W, Ive heard that different years of the 351W production were low on horse power, and some were high, But I dont know what year is better.

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If it was me I'd buy in 2005. No sense waiting any longer or you may lose interest.

My father always said to Buy low and sell high, but I think he meant stocks.

As for what year did Ford make the best 351W. A good google search as well as some time spent at a book store will give you plenty of reliable information to go off of.

Best of luck,

 

Ditto, a little research will not only tell you which year may have produced more/less than other years. You will also learn a lot about the Windsor and if it's really what you're looking for.

If I had to guess I would think the newer engines would be lower compression & lower HP. A place to check out are the Chilton manuals. You can cruise the specifications for the different years and compare the various years of the Windsor. The nice thing about that is you can also check the specs for other engines/years and see how they compare.

You didn't mention if you were going to heavily mod it, pistons, rods, cam, heads, crank, intake, etc. If you are going to completly mod it, I wouldn't think it would matter much which year you use since you would replace all these items anyway.

 

this kind of goes with the topic.....

for 351's the general message i have gotten over time is that Clevelands are more powerful from the get go, but dosent have as much range as a Windsor in terms of aftermarket accessories and what not you can bolt on and make it a total beast.

Basically, i think its easier and cheaper to go with a Windsor....and theres more stuff to buy for it out there....

But a Cleveland might have more stock power and is a little more rare i think? but there isnt much stuff out there for it so the upgrading is somewhat limited.

 

I like the 69 and 70 351w. I don't have my manuals here but I believe the 69/70 heads have larger valves so they are able to breathe better.

 

Yes, 69/70 have slightly larger and without pollution exhaust bumps, but they still do not flow very well compared to aftermarket heads. This is why they are very torquey and can be quite fun. I built one up for my old truck for towing that was pretty fast also...

 

I have the 351W. Need new carb so putting a holly on and now the retired friend dou-ing the rebuild says "want a different Cam"......... Hum...... Would like somethig to go chug chug but then I have totally left the stock world. Any suggestions? Thanks, Tom

 

What about a 278??? They got the power, but not the stumble.