351C 4V AT Ranchero -DAVID D.I.L.L.I.G.A.S.

This was my first 351 Cleveland, (and first engine) mostly "street" build from many years ago. It was a simple "forged kit", (pistons, rings, bearings, cam, dizzy) from Speed-O-Motive. The never ending 351-C head debate over 2V vs. 4V, and open vs. closed chamber was just as hot back then. I went with 4V+closed because I was also thinking about a "down the road" build. Block prep & blueprinting wasn't anything special, (remember I was a rookie) it consisted of me just washing the block after getting it back from the machine shop (LOL!)

Block: '71 (I think) run of the mill 2 bolt, bored +.030".

Crank: Stock, turned 10/10, stock balancer, chamfered oil holes, assembly not balanced.

Rods: Stock rods, ARP bolts NOT RESIZED (I know, bad, bad, idea).

Pistons: Standard forged TRW/Speedpro +.030" flat tops with two valve reliefs.

Deck Height: Never checked, I'm guessing about .030" -.035"

Rings: ???? what ever Speed-O-motive put in the kits back then.

Cam: Isky hyd. #431302 .510 lift & 302* (adv dur), RPM range=3500-7000, I = 43-79, E = 79-43. It's not in their catalog anymore. I think the kinda long duration is partly why I got away with the 10+ compression & 38*-40* total timing on the street with no problems. Most "experts" back then said it was either too big for the street, or too small for the strip, but all around it seemed to work OK.

Timing Chain: Double row, non adjustable crank sprocket.

Rockers: First stock pedistal type, then machined heads for Crane roller rockers to help stop the excessive valve guide wear, (stock rocker side loading the valve).

Heads: 4V-closed chamber (year???), rookie porting job (UGH!) milled .010", about 64cc chambers (wild guess!).

Valves: 2.19" & 1.71". Suffered through "stock" type multi-grove valves & locks. After breaking three intake valves at the locks, I switched to stainless single-grove valves.

Pushrods: Generic "no names" from Speed-O-Motive.

Intake: Holley Strip Dominator. "WTF is he thinking!" is all I heard when I bought it back then, but again I was looking to future builds. And for some reason it too seemed to work OK on the street, (guess I was just lucky?)

Carb: Ancient Holley 780 vac. that had metering blocks front & back (not metering "plate" for the secondaries), plus a 2" open carb spacer. Also tried a "Stub-Stack" with no real feedback, (good or bad effects on performance)

Thermostat: 160*

Dizzy: First a Mallory dual point, then converted to a Mallory Unilite.

Igintion Timing: 10*-12* cranking, 38*-40* total, all in by 2500 rpm. Tried from 32* to about 35* total for 150-175 nitrous, but never really found what this motor wanted on the bottle.

Headers: Cheap "Black Jack" brand, 1-3/4" O.D. (maybe 1-7/8"??) & 2.5" mufflers.

Oil pan: Home made 8 qt front sump pan & pickup.

Oil pump: (Edit:) std. volume/pressure.

This motor was in two cars (Mustang & Ranchero), had converters from "stock" stall to about 3500 stall, gears ranging from 3.00 to 4.56. I never really saw the "problems" that people said I would have with the BIG intake ports on the street. The cam said power range from 3500 to 7000 RPM, but it would pull from dead idle. Isky was right about the 7000 max though because it would really fall off if you tried to rev past 7000. Was it just first time luck that this "miss-match" of cam, heads, intake seemed to work on the street??....I don't know, but it was kinda FUN to here all my chebby friends bitch that Clevelands were REALLY a big block (LOL!).





on edit, title changed -blizz