help me pick 351 or 393

maxine-70

Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Mar 27, 2003
273
1
18
louisville, ky
Its an 86 GT convertible with a TKO 5 speed and 3.90 gears. Right now its got a carbed (600 holley and stealth intake) and I have over 1.5" clearance (play-doh mockup), so I know the 351 will fit without a cowl hood. I have both a 302 and 351 shortblock sitting in the garage to choose from and I think I want the 351.

The car will never be drag raced and is purely a summer fun car. I dont race people on the street either, I just love the feel or lots of torque. I never rev over 6000 intentionally. So clearly I want something with lots of low end grunt thats usable on the street. I just can not decide if I should do a good rebuild on the 351 (its a roller 95 block), or go ahead and spend a few hundred more and put the 393 kit in it. There is about a $400 difference in the two. Id hate to build the 351 as is and then feel its not grunty enough, but I dont know if the 393 would be streetable enough. My father had a new (in 94) lightning and that had impressive torque with its 4.10 gears.

Any of you guys running either setup in a street car? How do you feel about them?

Remember, its a fun toy and not a drag car, so 6000+ numbers dont mean crap to me. I want the majority of my grunt from 3000-6000
 
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I would go with at least a 408-410. For what you're looking for that would make a healthy amount of torque. If you leave it carbed and go with a Stealth intake and a well matched cam (think RV cam) it'll make tons of torque and you won't have to rev it to the moon to make it. Then if you really want neck snapping torque just put 4.10s or 4.30s in it.
 
why does everyone always do that?! i asked for elp deciding on a 351 or 393, not a 408 or 427...

im thinking a 351 may not be enough and a 393 might be overkill and you guys tell me to go 408. the car already has traction issues with a gt40 5.0..

again....351 and 393 debate for a strictly street car....

thanks
 
why does everyone always do that?! i asked for elp deciding on a 351 or 393, not a 408 or 427...

im thinking a 351 may not be enough and a 393 might be overkill and you guys tell me to go 408. the car already has traction issues with a gt40 5.0..

again....351 and 393 debate for a strictly street car....

thanks
If you are going to fix your 'traction issues' by restricting power, then just stick with the 5.0.
Maybe put the money into traction for now :shrug:


Dont' get all pissy just because the answers you get aren't what you wanted to hear...
Remember... YOU asked what these guys thought.
 
why does everyone always do that?! i asked for elp deciding on a 351 or 393, not a 408 or 427...

im thinking a 351 may not be enough and a 393 might be overkill and you guys tell me to go 408. the car already has traction issues with a gt40 5.0..

again....351 and 393 debate for a strictly street car....

thanks

so what? do you plan on driving the car with that 393 and not upgrading the rest of the car along with it? :rolleyes:
 
why does everyone always do that?! i asked for elp deciding on a 351 or 393, not a 408 or 427...

im thinking a 351 may not be enough and a 393 might be overkill and you guys tell me to go 408. the car already has traction issues with a gt40 5.0..

again....351 and 393 debate for a strictly street car....

thanks


Dude seriously, if you think "overkill" is going to happen with another 17ci by going up from a 393 to a 410, then you may just wanna stick with the 302. Do you want torque or not? If you're gonna spend your money, why not get your money's worth? Block machining and stroker kits all cost about the same, why cut yourself short with a 393?
 
why does everyone always do that?! i asked for elp deciding on a 351 or 393, not a 408 or 427...

im thinking a 351 may not be enough and a 393 might be overkill and you guys tell me to go 408. the car already has traction issues with a gt40 5.0..

again....351 and 393 debate for a strictly street car....

thanks

Thats an awesome response to people who are trying to help you . Like mentioned already,
1. Its not like you asked 351 or 393 and we gave 460 stroker sizes. We stuck to the 351 based engine. Just like if you would have asked 302 or 306, most would have said 331/347. Its kind of logical don't you think??
2. The stroker kits are are closely priced & machine work is relatively the same - why not get all you can for about the same price.
3. Are you not going to upgrade the rest of the car to handle the additional power as far as traction goes?
4. edit.....just go 351 ftw
 
393 is as far as i'm willing to go as I dont want the short compression distance/oil ring issue. which is the same reason as why ive decided to not go with a 5.0 based block (347 is the limit and many kits have oil ring issues). a 408 puts the oil ring into the pin. hence, thats why i limited my choices to 351 stock and a 393, and asked if any of you were using those choices and how you felt about them.

yes, the suspension is staying basically stock. its all been rebuilt with urethane bushings and thats all its getting. its not a race car. it will get frame connectors and nice sticky meats, no more.

so.....IF YOU HAVE A 351W OR 393....how do you like it? pro's and con's?
 
393 is as far as i'm willing to go as I dont want the short compression distance/oil ring issue. which is the same reason as why ive decided to not go with a 5.0 based block (347 is the limit and many kits have oil ring issues). a 408 puts the oil ring into the pin. hence, thats why i limited my choices to 351 stock and a 393, and asked if any of you were using those choices and how you felt about them.

yes, the suspension is staying basically stock. its all been rebuilt with urethane bushings and thats all its getting. its not a race car. it will get frame connectors and nice sticky meats, no more.

so.....IF YOU HAVE A 351W OR 393....how do you like it? pro's and con's?

yeah having all that torque is gonna be great when you get to deal with all the wheel hop and other basic driving issues
 
393 is as far as i'm willing to go as I dont want the short compression distance/oil ring issue. which is the same reason as why ive decided to not go with a 5.0 based block (347 is the limit and many kits have oil ring issues). a 408 puts the oil ring into the pin. hence, thats why i limited my choices to 351 stock and a 393, and asked if any of you were using those choices and how you felt about them.

yes, the suspension is staying basically stock. its all been rebuilt with urethane bushings and thats all its getting. its not a race car. it will get frame connectors and nice sticky meats, no more.

so.....IF YOU HAVE A 351W OR 393....how do you like it? pro's and con's?



:nonono:There are so many things wrong with that post....and so many things I would like to explain for your benefit, but you just don't want to hear anything but 351 or 393 (as so nicely noted by the cap-lock).
 
I have a 383. I love it. it uses a 3.75" crank and a 6.2" rod. Revs very quickly...lots of bottom end. Mine is internal balance. Either way with this combo the important part would be in the head. At least a AFR 205.

Another option is the 357 i believe. Just a 351 Bored.
 
Man, when you leave the door open, you get more than you asked for. If you had reasons to limit your options, it helps to say so. People are just trying to give you good advice. Also if you do your homework there are strokers that don't put the pin in the oil ring, just like there are for 347s.


That said, why the hell would you NOT go with a 393 if you're looking for a torque engine? If you'd even consider rebuilding the 351, just spend the extra cash while it's apart and stroke it. How could you not be happy either way? I haven't owned a 393 but i have owned a 351...and i've driven a 500hp 393 and i can tell you that if you're looking for torque, don't waste your time with the 351 because it's not going to be much of a step up from a bolt-on 302...at least nowhere near what you'll get with a 393.
 
Only way to make a stock 351 bottom end perform (And you can) to spend near $3000 in Cam/Heads/Rockers/Intake. It's even more critical than the 302. So either way don't put 165's/ 185's on there. You need a head that flows higher CFM's at the lift you will be operating. Preferably 300+CFM at peak lift of your cam. I learned the hard way myself.

Wit the post above about the 351 and 500hp 393 i will tell you the few extra cubes isnt fully the reason for 500hp. Its the heads. I believe ford actually used the same E7 heads on the 302 and the 351.
 
393 is as far as i'm willing to go as I dont want the short compression distance/oil ring issue. which is the same reason as why ive decided to not go with a 5.0 based block (347 is the limit and many kits have oil ring issues). a 408 puts the oil ring into the pin. hence, thats why i limited my choices to 351 stock and a 393, and asked if any of you were using those choices and how you felt about them.

yes, the suspension is staying basically stock. its all been rebuilt with urethane bushings and thats all its getting. its not a race car. it will get frame connectors and nice sticky meats, no more.

so.....IF YOU HAVE A 351W OR 393....how do you like it? pro's and con's?
My 408 oil rings don't intersect the pin...

If there isn't going to be any other changes to the suspension, then the cubes might not get you much.
If it were me... I would put the money into GOOD heads and a custom cam... and keep the 5.0....

good luck, what ever you decide,
jason
 
without a doubt you can get the 351 to perform great with a new induction system and cam to use it, you can get a 302 to make a bunch of power as well, but if he's thinking of going into the bottom end and doing a stroker ya might as well spend the couple extra bucks for a 408 or bigger and not sit there wondering later on what kind of power you could have had if you went bigger to begin with
 
My 418 did not have the ring / wrist pin issue either. Ford makes a nice 393 stroker and MM&FF did a article on it years ago with a mild cam and AFR 185's. It made around 500hp and a ton of torque. It would be similiar to what you are looking for, you could model your car after something similiar. The only cons to a 351 is the extra weight, but with the extra power you dont notice. I would go with the 393. Plus, you can pick up the swap items needed easily.

Mike.