I don't know why all you guys keep saying it's heavy. It only looks that way. Here are some real world comparison numbers: 351C 550 LBS 351W 525 LBS 350 Chevy 575 LBS 409 Chevy 685 LBS 454 Chevy 685 LBS 360 Mopar 560 LBS 440 Mopar 670 LBS Now for the real porkers - Allison V12=1160 LBS and the Merlin is a whopping 1540 LBS for the light weights, 302 Ford = 460LBS and the champ is the 215 Aluminum Buick at 315! So the Cleveland is not overweight pig by any means!
That and the Shelbys never got 351C. Gotcha. Beautiful car, BTW. Context was lost from post #4 to now though, so an appropriate caption would've helped! Oh yeah, even '70 Shelbys used the 351W because they were all really left over '69s! No, but the 351M is (flame suit donned)
Yes, but it is a pig with a reputation for throwing rods (that's what the flame suit was for!) <-- see, smiley = tongue-in-cheek
Over rated? Is that why stroker sbc's practically dominate the local street drags? Because they're so over rated? That makes tons of sense.
They dominate because there so cheap to build and easy to get the go fast parts for. You can make more horsepower with a Ford 302/351 but it will cost you more money. Well worth it I think, its about the same over here top build a serious 351 as 350, there are some monster 302 and 351 based cars running in the street dargs, some stroked and punched out up to 475ci!
They also have a huge following because Chevy was good about having decent factory heads and making good power in stock form. Ford engines have always been saddled with sub-par heads. Any Ford engine of equal displacement to a Chevy engine will match or beat a Chevy of similar size. It has nothing to do with brand and everything to do with airflow. In many instances the Ford engines seem to have mechanicall advantages in power production. In othere's Chevy has the advantage. But in the early days, Chevy had the advantage fromthe factory and they have built a loyal following from that.
I agree with both of you. I just think that any engine that can be built as cheaply as an sbc, and run as hard as a stacked sbc, and pretty much dominate the street drags can hardly be considered "over rated". There's a reason they're so common - and it isn't because they suck.
Never said they suck. I said they were over rated because so many seem to think they are the greastest V8 ever built. They are not. They are a great way to make cheap horsepower for sure and they certainly have a loyal following and there is nothing wrong with that, it's just that they are not the greastest thing since sliced bread that many seem to think. Not knocking them, just the folks that can't see past the alter of the bow tie. I'll take a 351C over a 350SBC any day. And as Dan Gurney once said "the small block Ford is the best V8 ever, just needs some cylinder heads" "Dominate the street drags"? Naw, 5.0 Mustangs have taken over that spot
351C. One of Ford's best kept secrets. Here are some links that will tell it all. http://home.comcast.net/~jelerath/mustang/Specs/specs-fr.html http://home.comcast.net/~jelerath/mustang/Specs/blocks-fr.html Webers on a 351C .......friggin sick.!
I think this has just inspired me! I have a blown and injected Cleveland that was in the Anglia sitting in the garage wondering what to do with it. I'm thinking it might have to fall between the rails of the 32 coupe. What do you guys think?
DO IT!!!!!! I LOVE CLEVELANDS!!!!! Here's mine, WC T-5 and a locked 4:11'ed 9" going into a '27 Dodge sedan Long live the cleveland!!!!
You could always send it down here to SOCAL...a certain 37 needs a power plant...I'd treat it right...promise not to break it.
were the timing sets from the factory in these 'retarded' a bit for emissions?? I seem to recall that was one 'good' performance improvement.... never checked it out though... I pulled one from a 44k mile torino wagon in 78 or so and never used it... it is around somewhere...
Chevy's NASCAR motor has the distributor up front. But who the hell knows what kind of motor it is. A bunch of those 400M's wound up in airboats. For awhile that was the thing to have down in the Everglades.
I call fake - looks like a Windsor to me - the Cleveland has the timing chain cover cast as part of the block. The Cleveland fuel pump mounts to this casting - not to the bolt on timing chain cover shown in your photo. Here's a couple more shots of the genuine XE Australian Cleveland block with Gurney Weslake heads. Waterpump is the Snow White shorty conversion, bolted to the cast with the block Cleveland timing chain cover.
had a C in my 71 mustang was a dog until about 3.5 to 4K 4K to 6K was a totally different car the few times i turned it faster than 6K i about had to have the seat surgically removed
Not a fake anything - real life Gurney Eagle 302 - didn't claim it to be a Cleveland, just a Bad Ass Ford
One of the best running street engines I ever had was a 351C with the 2 barrel heads and an aluminum 4 barrel intake. The thing pulled hard all through the RPM's. I don't think they are ugly with the proper valve covers, etc just like any engine. Pretty sure this is a 351C in this '32, sure don't look bad.
I actually really like the way that Clevelands look, especially when they have the flat valve covers.
Wow - I've been out of the airboat scene for at least 10 years now, but in the '70s, 80s, & 90s - if you weren't running a no-shit aircraft engine, you ran Cadillac and Big Blocks. Seen a 500" Caddy swing a 76x76 prop in a glass hull!! Of course, this was before you had to run the exhaust out through the lower portion of the cage and all the other namby-pamby rules they've got now...
I thought this thread was about Cleveland engines. BTW read the valve covers - it's W-E-S-L-A-K-E there is no T in Weslake.
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