Hot Rods small block chevy or 351 ford?

there's a TON of threads in here on how to make a Ford look "traditional", and yes, they were. I.e. 260's and 289's, black block, gold/copper valve covers, or Ford blue, with COBRA or FORD finned valve covers, OR even go with the 289 Hi-Po dress up. Just my $0.02

FORD engines belong in FORD cars. Period.

 

Some uninformed lad stated a 351w is a smog motor. Such is not the case. I have many complete 351W's and none have squat as to emissions other than a PCV period. Want to dress it up? Not a problem-Just about any thing you want is available. Many builders now sell Horsepower so being competitive as to cost or HP is not a problem . Just finished a SBF 308 cuin-1 -4 bb-cheap aluminum heads and dynoed 360 hp and is a nice street motor.400 + hp is no problem for a 351W so its your option to do what ever you want to do.

 

sell them both and buy a flathead!!!!!

 

what J man said!

 

as far as I'm concerned the SBF is a traditional engine, though not in time sense, it's got a deep history of racing starting with the 289. The engine family was first produces in I think 62 If it was good enough for carrol shelby to use it probably is good enough for your ride... IMO The 351 is a better design than the 350, taller deck, non siamiees exhaust ports and, better cam retention (no cam buttons on a ford).

The only two things I don't like on the Ford is the front oil pump, and that ford never did make a performance 351 factory head back in the day. The cleveland got all the glory, and the windsor was used to tow the car to the track.

 

That's why us C fans call it the Wheezer.

 

The 1969-1970 351w heads were ok, a little porting on the exaust side and they're good.

 

I'd go with the 351. Performance parts are plentiful nowadays and its already rebuilt. Use the money it would have cost to build the chevy to give the 351 a few upgrades and have fun with it.

 

alright im almost positive about the 351 now

 

Thanks to 5.0 mustangs the old idea that SBF engines are more expensive to build isn't the case anymore. They may not be quite as cheap as a basic sbc, but they are close.
The only difference in look between a 1962 260 and a 351W is the deck height is 9.5 instead of 8.2. Its only a bit taller and wider. In fact you can put all the external parts except the dizzy from an early engine on a latemodel 351w.

The only negative I see to the 351 W is that there aren't very many old style intake manifolds available. There are plenty for the 260-302, and you can buy or build spacers to fit them on the 351 though.
BTW to go fast on the cheap, Get a set of GT40p heads from the junkyard or off of ebay. Just drill the head bolt holes out a bit, bolt them on, and you will gain a significant amount of power. You will just need to use a "shorty" style spark plug. These heads, a street cam/intake headers will get you tons of torque and 300+ hp on an otherwise stock engine.

 

Sounds like a plan greensheads

 

Small block Chevy.

 

chevy's are way cheaper and old speed parts are way more abundant, and cheaper.

 

You can't hardly find a 3 x 2 intake for a ford windsor. You can get the Shelby one for big money. I know that 3 2's isn't the only way to go, but it sure is popular and traditional looking.

On the other hand I love Ford windsor motors myself. I've used them a lot int he past to make good HP and I can easily get 450 out of one without trying hard at all. I'm just not as familiar with the Chevy motors, although I am building a 327 in my current "A" coupe.

 

Ford hands down

 

He's not using a stock smog motor, it will be a couple of bagillion HP!

Doc.

 

I have a '69 351w in my '54 Effie.I use her regularly and has not let me down so far (3 years).With the hood down,it looks just fine,and though she ain't no race car,with a big cam and roller rockers she has surprised her share of rice boys.Just my experience
Paul

 

Another vote for do what you want. For me hands down 351.

 

You have the Ford and Chevy so that's more or less a given.

If you were starting from scratch I'd say take a look at a SB Mopar.
Even the little 273 will yank your A down the road at a pretty good rate.
(Used to own a 67 Barracuda coupe.)

Hop-up parts are fairly easy to come by and the guys who build somewhat mild 340's are clicking off 10's at the drag strip with full size cars.
Not the Luxo-Barges, but Demons, Dusters, Cuda's etc.

A couple of other engines you might consider are 455 Olds or 455 Buick.
Usually found in pretty good shape if you catch them before they sit hood-up in the rain.

The Olds doesn't weigh too much and the Buick is pretty light for a big engine.
The Buick weighs only 15# more than the SBC if you replace the heavy cast iron intake with an aluminum one.
Both come with the HD T-400 and can be set up for a T-350.

All you need is a very mild cam, good ignition and a decent intake setup and you'll blow the doors off most street runners.

Here's a few pics showing how the BB Buick fits in a Model A.






Note the reasonably flat floor - has good ground clearance as well.

Both hood sides can be run, no speed bumps required....

 

I grew up a hard core Blue oval guy. Mustangs, Shelby, Boss 302. Nothing but SBF in all my previous cars. My current 40 Merc had a 350 when I bought it. Great engine. Have no problem with it but when it comes time for a new engine it will be some form of Windsor. 347, 408 or 427. Maybe the new Boss engine.
I'd go with the 351 if it's a Windsor and rebuilt like you say. A 351C would be good too but I think there's more goodies for the Windsor and they are cheaper to soup up.

 

I'm guessing i'm the "uninformed lad" you're referring to. You seem to have misunderstood and misquoted me.
I commented that "if his 351 was a windsor and a late model(87 and later) smog motor it would be good for a driver as is". 87 and later 351's have air injection passages through both heads and egr as well as fairly low compression. Early 351's are hard to find by comparison. 69-70 351w's are one of the most sought after sbf's. Early 351's are just like 289/302's with only a pcv. Not trying to get into a pissing contest or step on anyone's toes. Just want to make sure the difference is noted between the early and late motors.
With that said I stand by my original comment that the 351 is definitely cost effective and with a t5 it will haul ass. Cast offs from the 5.0 crowd are plentiful, cheap and can be added while you're driving your car.

 

I have both, a 33 with a sbc and 32 with sbf. If I were to do another one I would use a SBF, nothing wrong with the chevy though. I just like the ford in the ford idea. Next car Im gonna go with a flathead though =)

 

If you don't want your model A to be noticed, and ignored put a sbc in it, if you want it to be noticed, and have people talking about it put the 351 in it!

 

This reminds me of a conversation that I had last week. I mentioned to 3 coworkers who are all blue oval to the end boys about putting a 327 into a 34 Ford truck and they let me have it.

I already have the 327 rebuilt and sitting on the engine stand. Nice small journal chevy with new pistons and a new Summit camshaft. Nothing fancy but done.

So I asked them if any one of them wanted to hook me up with a 289 or 302 or 351 or even a Y block and I'd gladly put it in the Truck I'd do it and I offer the same here. No one said a thing except one guy said his dad had a Y block that maybe I could have.

If anyone has a low buck ford in Central Mo I'll put it in the truck otherwise I'll run what i already own.

 

Thats how I know what I got. "Ford" 51 f1 Panel - 351C,FMX,Nrwd 9"
"Chevy" 57 2 dr Wagon - 396,700R4,Nrwd 9" Oops almost all chvy

 

Where can I vote neither. Come on how about a cad, buick, or a y-block. the car is going to light anyway what the point of stupid horsepower? You can easily get 250 horse out of a mild build and burn tires. Keep talkin you might be able to score something unique from some street rodder for super cheap! The key to a good build is a good parts source like buying your 2wd transmissions from 4wd guys or girls.

 

i would love a cad, buick or olds motor, the problem is i cant afford it

 

Why do people say stupid things like a Chevy will go faster. These days you can build a 351W to make just as much power as a SBC and for about the same money. It's proven everyday, end of story. Is it a little harder to do? Maybe, but in the end you'll have a great motor that doesn't look like every belly button Chevy, and no I'm not a Chevy hater, I just don't get the ignorance of many of these yahoo's.

 

Funny thread, my vote was for the 351 only because it will get noticed. There is nothing wrong with either, I just think that the 351 looks and sounds a lot nicer. There is just something about the sbc that I do not like!

 

Hmm my model a has a sbc, gets plenty of attention, and has been featured in 3 magazines so how do you explain that...but back on topic I would say to put whatever YOU want to put in it.