my uncle claims ot have a 351 cleveland....

well, my uncle claims to have a 351 cleveland and a 351 windsor. he like to tell tall tales if u know what i mean, but i know he has motors...not sure what ones though(definetly ford though). he's gonna put the 351w in a truck...and he might "give" me the 351 cleveland. how can you tell if it's a cleveland motor or not. is there a big difference in performance with the 351c over the 351w...or am i better off stroking out a 302 to 347 and not worrying about it...i plan to go street/strip...

 

valve cover bolts...
C- 8 bolts
W- 6 bolts

a 302 would be the easiest, but C can make huge power! Windsors make awesome power also

 

thats what i wanna know...can the out power the 351w substantially...i'm trying to read up as much as i can on it...most likely my uncle is gonna make me pay...but i dont mind as long as it's a real cleveland

 

This will end up being an arguement but i think Windsor can make more power than the C , BUT Cleveland is old school , and guys can make just as much power

go see what engine won the jegs engine masters challenge

p.s. it wasent a W

 

lol thanx...

 

The Cleveland engines (even with the two barrel heads) breath too well for most street applications. The Cleveland is definitely capable of making more power but to do it you have to build it to take advantage of its huge ports. That means turning it fast - in the 8000 rpm range or higher. That is where the Cleveland leaves the Windsor in the dust.
The problem with that is that when you turn an engine fast it doesn't last as long. The two barrel cleveland heads are arguably the best racing motor that ford ever produced. For most street applications though the Windsor is a better choice. The Windsor will produce more power at the rpm that you need for street driving. Honestly, how often are you going to turn your grocery getter to between 8000 and 10000 rpm? It is perfect for the long tracks that Nascar runs but it suffers at the short tracks.

 

youd be surprised


dont want the ice cream to melt or the beer to get warm

 

The cleveland is considerably Heavier, which is a disadvantage. Also performance parts are way more affordabler and plentiful for the windsor.

 

affordabler?

 

OOPS my appologies for hitting the "R" when typing that. Affordable.

 

Just make sure if it does have the 8 bolt valvle covers it's not a 351M.They're a pretty much junk truck motor w/a weak bottom end.Easiest way to tell them from a C is that the C has a smallblock bellhousing bolt pattern while the M has a 429/460 bell pattern.

 

Cleveland is a tough fit in a Maverick.

 

It's becoming more and more obvious to me that you've never driven a car (or truck) with a 351C. The stock headed Windsor runs out of breath at about 4 grand, it'll go no where near 8000 rpms. The 2 bbl Cleveland was never used in any form of racing other than maybe ET drags. The 2 bbl heads are not "too big" & neither are the 4 bbl heads for the street. I've driven a completly stock 4 bbl 71 quench headed Cleveland in a heavy 71 Torino with an automatic and 3.00 rear and it never lacked power on the bottom end. The key there is cam and intake choice. If you're going to limit yourself to stock heads, the Cleveland blows away a Windsor in every application other than towing. If you're going to buy aftermarket heads, well then that levels the playing field untill you get into the upper rpms in sustained high rpm applications, then the Cleveland is still king with it's smaller main bearings. And to SHINYSIDEUP------- parts are by now means less expensive for either. About the only added cost in a Cleveland is in head work with the compound valve angles, that adds to the setup time for the machinist. Find one who's intimately familiar with a big block Chevy and you've found the right one for working on Cleveland heads.

 

But lets don't forget the Clevelands oiling problems. Leave the Cleveland to the restorers, use the Windsor for the Maverick, (it will even fit)

 

IMO the C is going to out power the W in most situations. I dream of a 400+ inch W block with those CHI heads like used in Engine Masters Challenge. My understanding is those were concieved in Australia where the C is more popular for performance applications. What I read about them, they are kind of a cross between the 2V & 4V factory head. They are not cheap but make tremendous power. Also there is a intake called a Funnelweb made there also that works very well. I think it was named after a poisonous spider found there. Not sure if the intake is a good match for the heads though. If you have enough inches I don't think the size of the ports are going to be a big issue anyway.