texastb13

i have a 351w in a 77 f150. me and my dad built it several years back but its needin some attention. it uses oil and needs a head gasket, naturally while doing that im going to replace all the bearings and other gaskets too. but with an AOD with shift kit, the RV cam isnt happy. ive looked at comp cams numbers 255deh and 268h. i like crane but didnt find what i was looking for. so my question, anybody know anything about these or if theres any others similar? im trying to find a good midrange cam, good torque and hp but not to exceed 5500 revs. also anything about springs, rocker ratios, pushrods, anything and everything that would need to be changed. any help would be great!!!

George1861

Edelbrock Performer is a smooth running cam, the RPM version would be a bit bigger.

LTDCRIUSER

i am currently installing a k-kit from comp cams. its matched to an edelbrock performer manifold(2181) and 4 barrell carb. the k-kit number is: k35-216-3 it comes with the cam, springs, seals, retainers, locks, link timing set with steel gears, and assy. lube. it was a great deal at summit. i couldnt pass it up. it was cheaper than buying the matched cam from edelbrock, then piecing it all together with the other stuff. this cam is almost identical in grind as the edelbrock one.

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did you see that!?! he drove right through our roadblock!! you boys couldnt close an umbrella!

Rocketrockel

I know this is an older post but if I read it others must be too . .

That kit says that its for engines with 8.1-9.1 compression. How do you know what your compression will be if your changing up heads and pistons too? This is my dilemma I am in right now. I will be rebuilding a 71' 351 Windsor for my 79' Thunderbird. I am having difficulty deciding the power band range and what parts to put into it.

George1861

A street engine shouldn't exceed 9.5 C/R,considering the crap gas & its going to get worse. If you are racing & using really high octane 10 or 11 is doable. HP Books "How to build your 289/302/351W (Tom Monroe?) has a head interchange chart in it if your changing heads around. You look up your stock C/R or cumbustion chamber size & get pistons @ the C/R you want & then match the recommendations in the cam companies catalogs to your C/R. If you go 9:1 that Kit works, if you have 9.5 get the cam for a 9.5 engine. You'll see something like ..this piston is 11:1 with 55CC chambers 10:1 with 58, 9.5 with 62, ect. or maybe 9.5 for 69-74 & 9.0 75-80 as an hypothetical example

Rocketrockel

OK cool I will keep that in mind while I am researching the parts required to rebuild the 71' engine. Just for now I will take the heads and just rebuild them first and put them on my 79' engine just to increase the compression and hopefully add a few horses too. Then when the engine is complete I can switch them back and drop in the new engine!!

George1861

The '71 is 9.5 with 60.4 cc heads, your '79 is 8.2 with 69 cc heads. Putting the 71 heads on the 79 will give you 8.9. Actually not a bad ratio considering the gas. The 71 heads & intake has a diffrent number of intake bolts than the 79. Keep that in mind when looking @ aftermaket(or OEM) intakes.

Rocketrockel

@ George1861 Wow thanks for the info on the heads. I was trying to figure it out how the older heads would affect the compression.
One question though, will my 79' intake on the 79' motor match up with the 71' heads?? I don't see why it wouldn't but I am not that experienced in this yet.

George1861

The intake bolts to the heads, not the block. 69-74 have extra bolts vs the 75 & up heads/intake have 2 fewer bolts per side, so...71 heads match the 71 intake, the 79 heads match the 79 intake. Basicly the 75 & up heads are 302 heads drilled for bigger head bolts

Rocketrockel

Will I have some leaking issues with the extra bolt holes that wont have a corresponding socket for a stud with putting those 71' heads on my 79 motor? Should I even bother doing the swap while I rebuild the 71' motor? to put into my 79' T-bird. I was just seeing if I could enhance my one motor while rebuilding the other.