Good recipe for a street/strip car?

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Yup, 1/4 mile. I have been thinking about what I want a lot lately. I am trying to decide what I am goin to do with engines. I have the engine thats in the car now and I have a 460 big block sitting in the shed. Have a friend who has a fox body with a bored, stroked, and built 460 in it. The car is running somewhere in the 8s. I would love to be able to build mine to compete with his over time, but for now I just need to decide which engine to build. Want to be able to drive the car on the street if I need to but am not worried about handling being affected from the extra weight on the front end if I was to put the 460 in the car. Primarily want a car that can cruise around and trailer to the strip. Does anybody know about a '75 460's factory heads? I know I will really need aluminum heads that flow a lot more and weigh a lot less but are they worth porting and such for the time being?
 
The stock heads on the 460 aren't so good. If you want a decent big block car. Open that wallet wide. It's $$$$$$$$$$$$. An 8 second car is probably going to cost you in the $60K to $110K range to build. Purpose built class car is going to be over $150K guaranteed. There are just so many nickel and dime items that come up it will drive you bankrupt. If the choice is between going with a 460 with stock heads, and a 351 based engine with good aftermarket heads, go with the 351. I'm working on a turbo 01' Mustang with a business partner, that will definately run in the 8s, but the money is out of this world. The turbo charger setup is going to cost us $15,000. The transmission was like $4K. Another $1200 for a converter. The demand for parts of that nature is so low that the prices escalate dramatically towards the top end.

Kurt
 
I'm sorry guys. Don't mean to make you feel like you are wasting your time on another bs thread. I'm just looking into all of my options. I never knew my friends car was so fast. It made me start thinking about what I could do with my car. If it seems like I don't know what I want to do yet, it's because I don't. With that being said, if I do like revhead said and use a 351 based engine, it would be the best of both worlds right? Having more cid than the 5.0 but also being able to save a lot of money being able to use small block parts. Do ya'll know about where I will be running in the 1/4 with a bottle fed 351 with a good set of aluminum heads, forged pistons, gears, and a custom tune? From what ya'll have said, That sounds like the best option for a decent strip car without spending a ton of money. Thanks for putting up with me going all over the place with this:)
 
The 351 is going to be a lot cheaper than the 460. There are just so many more parts available for it. Just more people building them. The capacity of the 351 is going to be more about what block you use. You can get into the low 10s high 9s with a stock block. Around the 900 hp range with a nitrous setup. The best block to find is a late mode 351 block, because you can use stock style roller lifters in them. The old 351 blocks require a really expensive link bar setup for roller lifters. The funny thing is, the late model 351s never actually came with roller lifters, only flat tappet, but for some reason Ford machined the blocks for roller lifters. If you want to put a bunch of spray to it, you're going to need new crank, rods, pistons anyway. You might as well stroke it up to about 408 cid. How fast you want to go is going to depend on how much money you want to spend. You put a 2 bolt main 351 together with AFR 185s, a hydraulic cam, and an entry level intake, then you should be in the high 11s. If you build a 4 bolt 408 with Trick Flow Rs, a really nice intake, and a solid cam then you can make it deep into the 10s on motor. AFR 185s are about $1200, and the Trick Flow Rs are about $2800 just to give you an idea of the price difference.

I'd spend some time thinking about the transmission too. Seems like you are leaning more towards an automatic, which is the cheaper option, and honestly almost as fast if not as fast as a good manual. The C6 is a boat anchor, don't waste your time. There are some really nice C4s available out there that can hold up to a lot of power. I'm going to guess that a C4 for a 10 second car is going to run you about $2800. Add another $600 or so for a good converter. If you really want something stronger than a C4, I'd just go ahead and get a T/H 400. You're car is probably going to be to heavy to work well with a glide.

Kurt
 
Wow! Deep into the 10s on motor would be awsome. With the stock transmission, how far would you push it? Will it hold up....or do you think it might hold up to the stock engine with 150 shot and a welded diff? I know its not the smartest thing in the world but I really would like to see what it will do on stock engine/trans/rear axle before I change all that stuff. Also, on a drag car, I almost think it would be easier and smarter to go with a carb. What do you think?
 
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The old 351 blocks require a really expensive link bar setup for roller lifters.
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while a good statement in general, this is not 100% accurate ...

i have an early non-roller block, and did the spider hold down conversion and am using hydraulic roller lifters. i do not have link bar lifters.

the crucial factor here is the lift of the cam.

my cam has a lift around .550", so i can use the spider hold down and be fine.

as the lift gets over .600", then the link bar lifters become necessary because standard lifters may be pushed too far out of the lifter bores.

my engine builder (jan norris who has been building race engines for 40+ years) and my mechanic both told me the same thing, so i have good confidence that what i am saying is accurate. that and the fact that i have been driving the car around like this for over a year now.
 
while a good statement in general, this is not 100% accurate ...

i have an early non-roller block, and did the spider hold down conversion and am using hydraulic roller lifters. i do not have link bar lifters.

the crucial factor here is the lift of the cam.

my cam has a lift around .550", so i can use the spider hold down and be fine.

as the lift gets over .600", then the link bar lifters become necessary because standard lifters may be pushed too far out of the lifter bores.

my engine builder (jan norris who has been building race engines for 40+ years) and my mechanic both told me the same thing, so i have good confidence that what i am saying is accurate. that and the fact that i have been driving the car around like this for over a year now.

Good info to know. Learn something new every day. I had always been told you needed to do link bar lifters. Is your spider setup basically the same setup as a stock 5.0 with a 351 spider pan?

Kurt
 
What is a 351 spider pan? And do ya'll know what years and models came with the roller machining already done?[/QUOTE

It's the metal pan held down with 2 bolts in the valley that holds the lifter guides in place. I don't know what the official name is. I know for sure that 93' and up 351 blocks come premachined for roller lifters. Maybe a few years before that, but I'm not sure exactly.

Kurt