stroked 408 or 351w for street friendly setup?

[ruthenium]

Hi folks,

I am new to this forum. I just got my hands on a really straight 65' fastback which I need a complete motor for. It has a beefy toploader close ratio transmission which I want to keep because of the durability. I also have a 351w engine block that I want to use. As many of you know, there is not a lot of difference in price once you build the thing from the ground up. Should I stay with the normal stroke or should I get a longer stroke? I am only cosidering 351 to 408 ci. I want a trackable street friendly beast.
Here is my rationale:
351 -> can rev more than stroker, less stuff around it to think about (tranny, cooling, rear end) due to the lower tq numbers

408-> much better torque at lower rpms while still keeping a conservative cam and intake.

My idea is that I want to hit 400HP up top. Then, if I get a mild 408, it will be a lot torquier on the bottom. This is compared to a 400HP 351.

I need some ideas from more experienced people. I have dealt only with twin turbo engines before and that is what I am used to. As you can see, I like low rpm torque a lot more than high rpm horses.

The engine will be built by speedomotive in Glendora, CA. Any references to this shop? My local mechanic swears by them...

Diego

[Rpollard]

Diego,

I currently have my 1969 351W block being stroked and built by Speedomotive. These guys where a lot of help when I was trying to decide which engine I was going to us. I am using 408W shortblock. It was bored 60 over and balenced and preped by Speed O Motive. When I pick up my engine my cost will be around $3,000.00. I supplyed bare block, Alum flywheel, Harmonic balencer,timing chain and front cover. The guys name is George Ullrich e-mail stroker1946@yahoo.com

Roy

[Tony Radford]

Diego, I recently replaced my stock stroke 351 with a 427 Windsor. The previous motor made a little over 400 HP. I'm running a 3.31 rear end and Toploader tranny. It had a pretty lumpy idle and snatched my car around pretty well. I've put close to 1,000 miles on the stroker during the past couple of months. I can't describe how much better the stroker performs. My car is strickly a street machine. Hands down, a blast compared to the stock-stroke motor. Runs cool as a cucumber and makes unbelievable power. Needless to say, I highly recommend the stroker.

[408cobra]

I had a 351 ford crate engine (385hp) and recently rebuilt it with probe industries stroker kit (forged eagle crank 6.2 inch forged Manley H beam rods forged Probe pistons 4 inch stroke .030 over and balanced milled heads to 10.5 to 1. What a difference in power you wont need to rev the engine it develops power right now. God help you when you hit 4800 rpm cause you can feel/hear the power. The only disadvantage is you will l go through rear tires much quicker. You will need good heads to take advantage of the displacement. 2.02 1.60 with a 230 230 at .050 roller cam would be nice unless you go spend some serious cash and do the jessel solid roller lifter but strokers are not known for high rpm so this is kind of unnecesarry.

[Jack21]

I think you will like the extra tq of the bigger motor in the heavier car.

You need to research swapping bigger Windsors into '65/'66 Stangs though. The shocktower braces don't give you a lot of room to do this. One article I read some years back showed installing a complete street rod '74 -'78 Mustang front suspension, brakes, and steering (like many Cobras use as well).

Your rear is going to bounce all over the place unless you install traction bars with the stock leaf springs.

T-10's were nice, but a T5Z close ratio gives you a little more bottom end gearing (2.95 1st), and you'll love 5th for cruising.

Here's another approach. If the butchery you may have to do to your front end and shock towers looks like more than you're willing to tackle, take a look at a 331 or 347 stroker with a Vortech supercharger. You can have late model EFI, and a huffer that thinks it's a 408, and drops back into the same hole the 289 came out of.

[Curt C.]

Its really a matter of how much power you want. A standard bore / stroke 351W can easily make 400 streetable HP.

[Carroll DeWeese]

A 351W stroked to 408 can be extreemly streetable. My car is very streetable. It has dynoed at over 410 at the rear wheels. We never tested it on the engine stand. I suppose that it is about 520 or more gross hp and torque. I also can run on as low as 90 octane gas. I can get and run on pump gas in any state.

I have a custom built tuning carb on it. I get no hesitation from idle to redline in any gear.

Build more capability up front. Virtaully no one ever complains about too much hp and torque.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

Diego;

I have a 351-W in a 65 Fastback that I restored to be a 66 GT-350 clone,running a tremec 5sp and a Versailles 9" rear end..... Been on the road since 1996 with over 20,000 miles,about 50 or more quarter mile passes and a couple of hundred miles on road courses from 1.3 miles to 1.8 miles long....

First off the 351-W I have puts approximatley 350 hp at the flywheel,kinda mild by most standards.... I'm o-k with that,very relaible,fast and fun....Motor has never been touched in 20,000 miles and I do not forsee it being touched for many more miles unless something catastrophic and unforseen happens to it....

To install a 351-W enigne/block in a 65/66 fastback needs nothing special,use the same motor mounts and if you are running a toploader and it had one,use the same mounts,the only thing you need are a set of "special" headers,the 289 headers will NOT work. The headers needed are avaliable from Jegs and Summit in both shorty's and long tube headers and start at under 200 bucks.....

Nothing needs to be done to the front suspension or steering or shock towers as long as you re-install your shock tower braces.....That's all I have on mine.....

I opted for a tremec five speed and had to get an aftermarket trans brace,still use the toploader rubber mount,simple as that....

If/when my 351-W goes kaput on me I thought of building a 393 stroker,but now will probably just build another 351-W with aluminum AFR heads,more cam and shoot for an honest 400 hp....,plenty enough for me,BTW,in full street trim like I drive it weekly thru the mufflers on Wal-Mart tires,she runs 12.90's at better than 105 in the quarter mile,gets 23 miles to the gallon going and coming from the track......I can't ask for more out of an iron headed 1972 351-W motor......

David