Is a 700 horse 351w (418) streetable?

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To the original question, how streetable an engine will be will largely be determined by the valvetrain and should be a core discussion with the cam grinder. If you have expectations of streetability I would absolutely have a long discussion with the custom cam grinder to discern how reasonable those expectations are. He may want to alter a great many things to meet those expectations from the carb/fi, to the intake, to the heads, compression, ... all the way down to the gears. You might find a small change now will make you much happier down the road.

PS, srtthis, that car is just my favorite on this site. Simply superb.
 
To the original question, how streetable an engine will be will largely be determined by the valvetrain and should be a core discussion with the cam grinder. If you have expectations of streetability I would absolutely have a long discussion with the custom cam grinder to discern how reasonable those expectations are. He may want to alter a great many things to meet those expectations from the carb/fi, to the intake, to the heads, compression, ... all the way down to the gears. You might find a small change now will make you much happier down the road.

PS, srtthis, that car is just my favorite on this site. Simply superb.

Thanks for you input MWOOD. I'm hoping someone can chime in and tell me if all my parts will match so far into the build. As I stated earlier I'm baseing this build off the popular hot rodding budget build, but my heads, intake and cam are different. Not sure if they are for the better or worse as of yet.
 
Haha thanks guys.... it does have a lot going on but I think I finally know what it all does now. Im just the pit bitch on it but its fun to work on
 
Thanks for you input MWOOD. I'm hoping someone can chime in and tell me if all my parts will match so far into the build. As I stated earlier I'm baseing this build off the popular hot rodding budget build, but my heads, intake and cam are different. Not sure if they are for the better or worse as of yet.

It was mentioned earlier in the thread about the take off Yates stuff, it truly is different from case to case depending on what was done and what they came off of. A cup car will be different then a race car, the port design is vastly different.

Woody has a good point about camshaft and valvetrain, it will be very important. Most like to pick cams last, however they should be considered very early in the build to get the most out of what parts you are putting around it, not counting what the USE of the car is.
 
Woody has a good point about camshaft and valvetrain, it will be very important. Most like to pick cams last, however they should be considered very early in the build to get the most out of what parts you are putting around it, not counting what the USE of the car is.

True that, i wish i did that from the start with my current motor, Im finally getting the right cam for it 2 seasons later
 
Ok,, I'm going to list the 2 barrel carbed 302 with the T-5 setup and the Hurst short throw shifter, what is a fair price to list this set up? I don't want to feel like I'm ripping someone off. Mileage is unknown. Thanks for any input.
 
Sell the t-5 setup separate, thats worth 5-750 i would guess and the motor... dunno, hard to say with a stock block 302, mabye 3-500

Thanks for the info, listed it on craigs list for $800 and sold it as a package deal for $700. Talked to the machine shop yesterday and motor is being bored today, so hopefully I get it all back next week sometime. He done an engine for me back in the 90's and since then stopped building them, so I guess I'm going to do something I have never done and that is putting my short block together. So I guess one of my questions would be, when installing new crank and bearings do I still need to use those little gap strips or do you just use them to check clearances on an engine that your rebuilding? I've youtube alot of it and everything seems easy as long as you know your torque specs, and I noticed that they go in firing order so that your not over rotating the crank when building to keep lubrication on. Am I correct here?
 
Ok,, I'm making some progress! Hopefully will have my motor back next week.
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so I guess I'm going to do something I have never done and that is putting my short block together. So I guess one of my questions would be, when installing new crank and bearings do I still need to use those little gap strips or do you just use them to check clearances on an engine that your rebuilding? I've youtube alot of it and everything seems easy as long as you know your torque specs, and I noticed that they go in firing order so that your not over rotating the crank when building to keep lubrication on. Am I correct here?
This is not one of those engines you want to put together yourself. I sure as hell wouldn't.
The high rpm will tear it apart if you get things wrong.
Had this been an average 302-306, i'd say give it a shot, but not this time.
I know i wouldn't even consider attempting it myself for a first build.

It's like building a skyscraper, but you've never even built a house before.
 
This is not one of those engines you want to put together yourself. I sure as hell wouldn't.
The high rpm will tear it apart if you get things wrong.
Had this been an average 302-306, i'd say give it a shot, but not this time.
I know i wouldn't even consider attempting it myself for a first build.

It's like building a skyscraper, but you've never even built a house before.

Yes I agree with you, this is why I'm 37 will be 38 in two weeks and have never learned it myself. I am the type that if someone else can do it,,I can. Seriously the only thing I'm worried about is the rings and do I use loctite on all the bolts in the bottom end? My engine machinist said that he would walk me through it. LOL Do we have a habitat for mustangs, can I get everyone to pitch in and help???? Watching the young guy on here rebuild his car completely has motivated me! Great job Kid/Guy!!! Back to your skyscraper to houses, I have built many houses and many parking garages, and they all are built by basics. I will have my engine guy file the rings and explain the process fully before I attempt to throw thousands away, and last but not least I have all of you at my fingertips! I found a D&D K member and A arms kit on CL,, do any of you know what it would be worth and is this something I should convert over? Thanks for any input. Travis.
 
Plastigague is not optimum for something like this. Here's a good example that I myself ran into. Matt called me the other day last week. He was like "are those the original main caps". I bought this block 9 years ago. I got it from a guy that does NMRA, and supposidly it was just line honed. Turns out he had to take .010" off of the caps. They were out-of-round, and in some places .001" under spec. It's a good damn thing that I didn't run it that way. According to the plastigauge it was just a hair tight.

You also have to make sure that you can trust your machinist. I've taken stuff to 6 different shops over the years. I will only take stuff back to three of them. I usually double check stuff when I get it back. I want someone that will do something right the first time, I don't want to have to freaking babysit. You'll be much better off if you have someone build this for you. You might not know how to look for something that an experienced engine builder would. Plus if he/she sees a problem, they have the tools to correct it right there.

No, you don't want to use any loc tite anywhere on the engine.
 
I stopped in and checked on my motor yesterday, he had it cleaned but not bored yet so I'm still waiting on it anxiously, but in no big hurry! I asked if he would refer anyone to build it and he suggested that he would give me all the tools and knowledge to do it myself, so I'm going this route. He should be retired he said but he said now he's only working now for his customers. He said this is the least he can do for all his customers for which they have fed his family all these years. He does alot of the big race motors here in the Bloomington Indiana area. He did say something about he will even give me some pastigauge, so I'm assuming I should check everything. I bought some used jesel roller rockers and he does want me to track down instructions to them as for shimming and what not, does anyone know anything about this type? I also need to track down some 7/16's-14 rocker stand bolts. Anyhow, I will be posting pics soon of the engine build. Be patient as this is going to be a fun build.
 
I have been following for a while. I am interested to see how your results come out. I am hoping to eventually get my 427W combo in the 600rwhp range naturally aspirated. I have run it from 450ish up to around 500rwhp before I needed to address what appeared to be some airflow restrictions on the intake side. Now after having some abdominal surgery I am in limbo for a while since I can't do any torquing.

I think going carb is definitely going to save you a good bit of money and allow you the best chance to feed it the air it is going to need. If you go EFI, you would more than likely have to run a FAST if not for tuning concerns, but then likely so you could run a carb style 4 barrel TB that does not use a mass air meter.

I switched to a FAST bank-to-bank and Accufab 4 barrel Dominator style TB which required having the Super Victor EFI intake fabbed to accept the TB.

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