I apologize for being so prompt on my thoughts to drop this engine. I found out halfway through that it was not a roller, unlike I thought. Proof of my idiocy not to check the block casting number and confirm. That there was a downer. After planning out what it would take to put a roller cam in it, we were talking around $800 just to put a roller cam in with retrofit lifters, new springs, and a new cam, and even then I would be limited to around 5,000-5,500 rpm, and my first year of driving I'd need to closely watch the engine. That is what I was told by a fellow who builds engine on VMF.

Many people have suggested the 5.0 Roller route, but in my stubbornness I really wanted a 351w. And of course, I was wrong. So now I'm open to anything, yet again, to start off right.

The engine needs a .060 over bore, that's exactly what the owner of the shop said. I made sure there was no way I could use the .040 over pistons.
Speaking of, here's all the info I've got on the pistons, A lot of the numbers on the box are covered by brown packaging tape and since the box is old, peeling the tape off rips the information off.
This is what I could find:
Already showed you this pic but you can see the tape covering a lot of numbers:


This sheet was in the box. No idea what to even look for here. Notice the date of these pistons, made in 2000.





The valve pictures have not come yet because I cannot find my caliper. It's a crappy one to begin with, not digital. Where can I get a new one? I checked at Lowe's but maybe I missed it. Want me to try a ruler or something? I'll do that if need be.


I'm not trying to hold out on you. I'm just stuck in the middle.

As for what's happening to the Mustang now. I spent the weekend getting the cowl on, and tomorrow the engine apron to cowl brackets go on. Then the rotisserie. It's been a long time waiting for the rotisserie but I'm glad it's near. As I've said before, I'm obviously better with the shell of a car than it's engine. If I had the money, the engine is the one thing I'd pay someone to do for me, but I obviously do not. So I apologize again for starting with no knowledge and being quick to change my mind. It's just my nature I guess.

And I don't think you understand how much I appreciate your help. Everyone throws in an opinion, but I really appreciate you sticking with my dozens of mistakes. I'm a chicken with my head cut off as far as engine building goes.
To be honest, you don't have to help me. I'm the kinda person who hates to **** people off, haha. So I'd rather you do what you prefer, I'd rather not make you have something against me. As with most things in this project, I end up learning things the hard way...

 

Keep progressing on the body. Wanting a 351 isn't what got you here, it was buying a 351 and then some parts that haven't gelled yet. Blocks shouldn't be too hard to find. You just aren't going to find one in 20 minutes of searching on craigslist in a smaller community. I am a member of VMF and didn't read your post there. The $800 was including a new roller cam/springs and lifters. Your 'bugdet build' led me to believe we were using what you had.

Chock this up as a valuable learning experiance. Don't go buying parts because you read a thread on how great something is. I forget the other guys name but his 351 had aftermarket heads and he launches at 1000 rpms. His 351 is more than adequate for him. His 351 cost a lot more than you can afford right now.

Final lesson on the 351. They came with heads that were barely adequate for a 302. Stock 351 builds with stock cast iron heads don't make a lot of sense due to lack of head flow and high rotating mass.

If you don't mind me asking, how much have you invested in the engine build process so far?

Look at the 5th piston set down. Is this your piston?
http://webpages.charter.net/beckracing/slvpg49.htm

 

Ask your machinist to keep an eye out for a cheap roller 351 block that you can take to 0.040. No need to rush.

I bought my cheap caliper at harbor freight for $10. They always have coupon in just about every car magazine made. Measure the combustion chambers and intake valves when you have time.

If you choose to sell this stuff, you should offer up information on them. It will help sell the items. The next time you head to the machine shop to get your stuff, bring another 12 pack of soda and ask the machinist to measure this stuff. I would also ask him to measure spring tension at install height on intake and exhaust valve springs on the new heads. This way we can see what we are dealing with.

Keep plugging away at the car. You can come back to the engine when you are ready.

 

The thing you have to remember about helping on the internet is that it isn't for just the 1 person. It is for all who seek the information. I try to limit my posts to only when I am pretty damned sure I am right. Or, when I am not sure, I will suggest a direction to research. When I started using the internet, I took a look at the post count from the information source and trusted those with a high post count. I have learned to take every post with a grain of salt. There is more BS on the web then truth. Mostly from people who don't know and are only repeating what they have read.

When you get ready to move forward, send me a message. Then, you can start a new thread. This one is brutally long with little actual tech information in it.

 

Last post I swear.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/UEM-1171-040

 

You're right, a "budget build" should have involved working with what I had. But when I got a little power hungry, and liked the roller cam idea, I made the mistake of buying all those parts in a lot, hoping all would go well. Most of those parts made sense from my initial thoughts, but as I did more and more research, I found out my rockers where cheap brands, the dog bone spider setup wasn't bulletproof, and whatnot. That's when it started to add up price wise, the retrofit roller kit (which would get me my roller cam) was $800 from comp cams. I was considering piecing it all together until I found out the block needed new pistons. I asked the machine shop owner the cheapest piston he could get me and it was going to cost me around $200 for a set.... And even if I could source a cheaper set, I was so fed up with this block, I decided to throw in the towel and, unfortunately, start over. Still I'm back and forth, so I guess we'll see?

So far I have $200 in the engine itself, the goodies there were the DOOE heads, Holley 600CFM, '69 4 barrel intake, and the block itself of course. The rest it came with was useless cause all those accessories were for a van/truck.
Then $450 in all those parts I got in the rebuild kit I bought. It's well over $450 in parts, and I have no doubt that with time, I can make my money back on those parts.
And then $75 in the block cleaning and magnaflux at the machine shop.

So already I was at $725, $275 under my budget. And of course I was all dreamy eyed thinking everything was perfect and the stars were to align for me and I could finish the engine with all those parts and spare money to source what I needed. But then I realized I hadn't given it enough thought and here I am now...

Lastly YES those are my pistons, or at least they have the exact specifications from what I can tell. Everything lines up.

Alright I'll mention this to the machinist.
Found my caliper inside my welder door. Measured the valves.
The DOOE Head intake valves are 3mm (1 3/8th inch) and the E7TE heads intake valves are 2.5mm (1 inch). The exhaust valves were 2mm for the DOOE heads and 1.6mm for the E7TE heads.
So basically the DOOE heads are bigger.
I'm not sure how my machinist will like soda, or any other drink, haha. He seemed to be an older fellow, I guess I need to find his favorite beverage?
If I do find out, I'll be sure to take your advice and use it to my advantage.
I will ask him about the spring heights.


Alright I hear ya. I think I've shuffled through a fair share of BS, and probably fell for some of it. But I guess I'll leave this thread once we get done with this discussion. I think it's a good idea to take it to PMs in the future.

The wrist pin diameter is the same but not offset. Not sure if that's understood or different. Everything else checks out.