Good reliable... under appreciated. I've had a couple of 'em in the past and they were terrific motors.
Had a buddy in highschool that had a '72 Ranchero with one, two barrel, and you couldn't stop it. ran the piss out of it and it kept going, pretty strong too but I wouldn't tell him that.
Legendary. Rare in hotrods. Unique. Performance parts plentiful. No significant design issues. Uses same bell housing and engine mount parts as 289/302/351W. Similar in size and weight to the 351W. Most of the things you hear about 4V ports and oiling system are bullshit. Ford engine forum http://www.351cleveland.net Ford factory engine weight data http://58custom.wave.prohosting.com/
good engines ! especialy as of recently since aftermarket has steped up and started making stuff for them again ! can be a bit pricey if you go wild on one ! a buddy has one he turned into a stroker motor making some serious power !
Arizona Highway cops ran 'em in Panteras in the '70s, that's a little cooler than the GT Mustangs they had here in the '80s.
Years ago I bought a running motor/trans unit with 60K on it and put it in my 53 F-100. At about 90K I did a timing chain and valve seals. Put another 40K on the truck then sold it. I see it around once in a while and it's still running and never had the heads off or the pan down. I lean pretty hard on my stuff and that one took everything I gave it. I have another one that is a 4 bolt main 4V motor. I'm saving it for the next Work truck I build. Can't say enough good about them. The Wizzard
Ran stronger than the 390FE motors I had. Didn't have any problems with it ever and I beat the tar out of it stop light to stop light. It was the only motor that I never even thought about putting a different cam, intake, exhaust on.... it ran hard right out of the box. I sold the cougar it was in at 130k+ and it was still running great
I watched a guy in a 73 or so Mustang whip the shit out of a brand new 750 Kaswasaki with one, in the quarter. To be fair, the Mustang did have aftermarket cam, convertor, ect....this was 88 or so. It was pretty neat. PS The same Mustang had boards on the floor to keep your feet from falling through. You had to keep your school books on the seat or they'd get wet when he ran over a puddle.
At the Billet Proof Drags, That's what Hot Rod habit had in that 61 2dr Fairlane. Beat the crap out of it. Ran it all day. Still running good!
Real good engines. Still have a '70 2 barrel one. It has 70k on it now. Has a Edelbrock 2 to 4 intake,list # 4118 725 Holley, 1-5/8 headers, Comp Cams 260h and double roller chain. Light porting on the heads. Feels like about 300 hp at 5000 rpms.
Glad to hear all of this as well I have one for my current project. I have never ran one. Can anyone tell me how they are on torque and power. Low end etc.....
71 Cyclone 2V That was a fast car. Rebuilt stock engine and we were over 120 mph on the highway and it wanted more. The pedal was nowhere near the floor. The valves look like soup can lids haha The bad they are big and kinda hard to make fit for a engine swap. Dont get me wrong I would use one if I had it.
torque ranges from 276 @ 2200 to 380 @ 3400 depending on what one & HP from164 to 330, with comp ranging from 8.0 to 11.4
We ran one for years in our back-halved 66 Mustang 2+2..( was Larry T's school car back in the day) .turned it 7500-8000 Rpm but had some early valve failures...stay with a stock oil pump, No high volume, it'll suck the pan dry. put restrictors in the main oil galleys..easy to do...replace the stock multi groove valves and keepers with single groove ones...it'll live forever...
I always thought the 351 Cleveland shared some of the same designs as the 429-460. The 4 barrel headed Clevland had intake and exhaust ports that were a bit big for the street.
I have one in a 65 pickup with a 4 speed. The comment about the valves looking like soup can lids is no joke, valves and ports on the 4v heads are massive.
I had a bad experience with a 351 cleveland. My friend had one in his 71 Mach 1 and it was stock except for headers. One night while I was cruising in my 67 notchback Mustang GT, which had a pretty worked over 390 and 4 speed, he pulled up beside me at a light. We both left even and he stayed with me for a block and then started to pull away, getting about 1/2 a length on me in 2 blocks. He followed me out to the highway where we both got on it from about a 40 mph roll. Again he started to pull away, and by the time we hit 100 mph he had about a length and a half. Sorry, but I got nothing good to say about 351 Clevelands, except maybe that I wish I had one.
Have a customer with a 4V one in a '70 Cougar. Awesome engine, but it was designed to run on 100 octane gasoline, with lead. Probably going to rebuild it with lower compression, hardened seats, and an adjustable valve train, or sell it off for a 302.
nice build article here http://www.mustangmonthly.com/techarticles/mump_1001_boss_351_block_buildup/index.html 383 hp at 6,100 rpm and 391 ft. lb. of torque at 4,000 rpm not bad with a stock 4v intake
Had a 4v 351c in a 70 torino gt, black, tan interior. It would wheel hop so bad it would break the back shock mounts off. Had instant response, I came out of a gas station one time and there was a falling down drunk leaned up against my black paint after cleaning it, so I got inside and stomped it and the guy was jumping and yelling, one of his feet was right in front of my back tire...
I had a 351c 4v in a Green 72 Torino Sport Coupe (Think Gran Torino movie). I drove the heck out of it 80-90 miles a day back and forth to work for years. Lined up with the Frenchtown Flyers 33 Willys on Telegraph a few times. It was quick for a 4,000 lb car. At one point it started losing some oil pressure at idle. I traded cars with the wife until I could get time to check it out. She ran it up on a parking curb and pinched the pan and drained all the oil. Thank god I trained her well. She called me without trying to move it. I shoved some duraglas in the crack,filled it and drove it home. Pulled the pan to fix it and thought I'd change the pump and maybe the bearings while I was down there. Out of the pan drops a small piece of bearing material with a funny little key hole in it. Turns out I'd put on several thousand miles with a cam bearing missing! I guess the oil pressure could be a little low at idle. At that point I yanked it and did a quickie rebuild. After all it had 100k on it. Put in cast iron rings on the original pistons. There was virtually no ridge. Crank was gorgeous and it clearanced well with std bearings. New cam bearings. cam, lifters,springs and timing chain. I lapped the valves because they looked good and the seats weren't sunk. Put it all back together and ran that engine another 136,000 miles until I sold the car. The next guy drove it a couple years befor the frame rusted out. Great engine. 236,000 miles on a minor rebuild
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