Building a new motor for my II but there is so many choices......

[fast_77cobraII]

Hi im building a new motor for my 1978 cobra II clone and i dont know what to build i was guna build a 306 with 69w heads but now i got a complete runing 1969 351w out of a stang that i was buying for the heads and the guy gave me the hole motor. i dont wana go through the hassel of the 351w swap but i want that power and torq to lay rubber to no end and be able to be going like 35mph and romp on it and watch the smoke roll as the car fish tails. is this posible with a 306? or would i have to build a stroker i hear that they are high power but not long lasted? i duno..... the car will be runing a c4 with b&m master H/D overhaul kit tci 2000-2200 stall converter and a tci manual valve bodie a 5 lug 8in out of a granada with 3:55's and a posi. what do you think i should build i planed on puting like $1800-2200 including machineing for my motor with that much do you think i would be able to have that kinda power or would it be easyer to get the power i want out of a windsor? thanx for all the help. ... IM sry for all the questions becouase this subject has probs been talked about alot i just wanted ideas..

Shannon Ray Torvinen
17/m/mn
1978 cobra II clone ~resto rod~
1977 cobra II~project to come mabey a drag car?¿~

 

[Northern J II]

I have a mild 1975 306 with stock heads. It has flat top pistons, roller rockers, Edelbrock Performer Intake, Cam and Carb. In a light weight II it is an "E" ticket ride!! I have an Edelbrock Nitrous kit also (for added tire smoke). Naturally asperated it is O.K, but I am saving for Edelbrock heads that would make it 300HP. A 300HP II would be a riot!! The extra 100hp from the nitrous kit would make it insane!! If you wanted more cubes I would suggest building a 347 stroker out of a 302. Realistically the 302 does not fit well in a Mustang II. It was meant to have a 4 or a 6. Any Ford V8 other then a 289-302 would be a squeeze. Honestly if I were going to build my car agin I would put a Turbo Coupe engine in it. (2.3l Turbo). It would handle much better and it is every bit as powerfull as a V8 with a few bolt-on parts. Can't beat the V8 for endless smokey burn-outs though!!!

 

[Joeverb]

My 2 lincolns

Hassle to power ratio... the 306 is the way to go. You can get all the power you want out of it but you will have to buy a set of good flowing aftermarket heads either way you go. the 69 351 heads are ok but wont give you the power your looking for. If hassles no prob then go 351 but once again you will need some good free flowing heads to make big power. The turbo 4s are fun but it will cost $$$$$ to get big power.

My suggestion would be to build the 306 well with forged pistons. good sized cam etc and save up for the heads. You can port the 69s and they will give you fair performance until you can save up some money. A head swap is an afternoon job and the hi perf heads can be added at any time with the motor in the car.

As far as your 35 mph romp even with the 351 you will need more gear than 3.55s to smoke the tires from this roll unless you do indeed shoot some N20. I have no prob smoking street tires from that speed without the N20 but i have 4.56s AND a 4 speed.

 

[1badII]

I'd say 347. With a 351, you'd have to deal with the headers, oil pan, and hood clearance issues. With the 347, you have close to the same stroke. You can always replace the heads with better ones later on down the road. I wouldn't say 408 because you will need big parts to support it. You'd pretty much need to rebuild the entire driveline and suspension to handle the power, and you need big heads, intake, and carburetor.

 

[Project 77]

I kept the 86 302 that was in my CObra and I think i'm going to go with a 331 stroker. I have a friend with an 87 GT who built one with twisted wedge heads and it is a missile. I had a Cobra with a 351 and it was tight, headers are almost a custom job, I had stock manifolds and they JUST fit. Like these guys said, a 306 or a nice 331 would be good, right now I have a 95 302 roller motor, and i am going to put trick flow heads on it this summer to see how that runs. My car has a C4 and I think thats where ALOT of power is robbed, go with a T5 if you can.

 

[fast_77cobraII]

Ok my decision is a 347stroker with aftermarket heads

Ok so it looks like ill be going the way of a 331-347 stroker~! but now where is a good place to get a nice dependable kit? ebay?..~or Paw somethin mabey?and what would be a good~cam/carb/intake combo i have a brand new edelbrock 600cfm preformer carb. and what kind of ignition would work well mabey a msd billit dist with 6al control box?and will my blackjack headers be enough flow for the aftermarket heads. and if a c4 draws alot of hp~trq from the motor would it be a good idea for me to just put in a t-5? thanx for all the help on deciding. Im hopeing to get my car into the 13's also mabey i should change my gears? well thanx alot cant wate for more ideas

 

[Gael]

I don't know who to get the stroker kit from, my machine shop ordered them for me. I'm using the MSD 6AL box, I haven't hit the limiter yet to really test it, but I think it's a nice insurance policy for the car to help prevent over-revving. I have a MSD distributor, MSD-8584 (351w), and I used the Blaster 2 coil. Headers really depends on the size of the exhaust ports of the manifold I believe, and what size the primaries of the headers are.

As for transmission. If you're going to be making a lot of power and really want the car to launch, I don't recommend a T5. You'll snap it like a twig. I don't plan to get a lot of traction with my car until I know I can put it to the ground. Tremec makes good aftermarket transmissions to replace the T5. I don't know how easy/difficult it is to install, I'm sure there'll be plenty of custom work.

What gears are you running now? I have 3.55's for a street, some strip gearing. I want to take the car on the highway, so I didn't want to go too steep.

The cam/intake/carb combo really depends on what it's use is going to be, emissions (I think you said you don't have it). Single planes make more power from what I remember, but dual planes are more street driveable, from what I've gathered.

 

[Blue Thunder]

I'd go with 332" stroker, but those 69 351W heads arent enough for a motor like that, plus weight equals power, and iron heads are heavy. (and IIs with V8s are nose heavy as it is) So 332" with alum aftermarket heads is my vote.

 

[myfirstii]

Check the air flow research (AFR) website the have some stroker build ups with there heads and they make a butt load of power.
Pat

Heres the link::::http://www.airflowresearch.com/