351w Info needed - pistons and CR

Brantley

Founding Member
Feb 29, 2000
1,329
0
0
Memphis, TN
I've had a lot of fun with my 260+ HP 2.3 turbo engine, but it is time to move on to bigger and badder projects. Just picked up a 351w engine to drop in in place of the 2.3. 7 out of the 8 pistons are cracked and it needs to be bored. I'm trying to figure out the compression ratio. This will be a twin turbo engine. I'm shooting for 8.25 or 8.5:1 compression ratio. I was trying to figure out the compression height on the stock pistons. Best I could figure, it was something like 1.881". Pretty much all of the aftermarket forged pistons I saw had a lower compression height than that. So... that leads me to needing to know the CCs of my head. The only numbers I could find on the heads were 18A and 11A. Where are the casting numbers located on the 351w heads? My block casting is D4AE-6015-AA2.. best I have been able to tell, that is the one with the 9.503" deck height.

Also, where is a good source for forged pistons? Every set I have seen is $320 or more just for the pistons. The object of this particular engine build is to get it in the car and running to get everything setup well. This will let me get all my turbo and intercooler piping setup, bugs worked out, the Megasquirt standalone working, etc. At the moment, money is a little on the tight side, but I should have enough to get it going as long as I don't get too crazy on parts. In about 6 or 8 months, the money situation shouldn't be a problem, and then I plan to build another 351w with some really nice parts in it.

I've been doing the 2.3 engines for the last 3 years - this is my first V8 project. Any tips/information/cheap/good part sources would be appreciated.
 
  • Sponsors (?)