351 D7 casting, for '67 fb, a little guidance here

[scubadds]

Background info: I am making a gt500-ish '67 Fastback. I am in sheetmetal stage. I have a MII x-member in place (it was suppossed to be a R&C, but the lying bodyshop, made their own and sold mine)

So, I am replacing cowl to get the front end to line up, and smoothing engine bay. I have no engine mounts in place now.
I was thinking mod motor, but listened to a few of you guys and ditched that idea.

I starting poking around for a 351w, ran across a guy at a car show that had recently removed a runnign 351w from a '72 truck. He said it was running strong when he pulled it out six months ago. Said the truck had 86k miles (I doubt that) and the owner had pulled the engine out not to long ago and freshened it up with new gaskets. The engine is a gray color.
So I ran over Sunday and got it from him. It was raining and nasty and he had it ready to go into my truck. I figured for $250, I am not out much. If nothing else, I can use it to mock up the engine and trans to weld in engine mounts.

Checked casting number this am, and saw it was a D7.
I had planned to build up a 351w, and I have found a '74 block that I could use, and a friend has another block (efi car) that I am checking on.
My body guy has a Torquer II intake that I could stick on the motor if that matters.
The motor has plugs, distributor, power steering pump, coil etc.
My question:
What is a reasonable approach for the motor? (I have some experience assembling Land rover engines, but I have a mechanic friend that can help me do all but machine work at my house)
1. take down oil pan and valve covers, inspect, clean and try to use it for a little while.
2. Go ahead and take heads off and minor overhaul, minor uprgades. paint it and run with it
3. consider building off this block and go ahead and get heads, etc and run with it for good......
4. Suck it up and stroke that puppy now
As I am knee deep in body work, delaying the cost as much as possible would be best. I don't mind spending a few hundred bucks if it gets my further along; but would rather be spending more money on exterior and suspension things now.

How big a deal is it that its the "mid range" block? In other words, not a roller and not a '74 or earlier?

 

[janschutz]

I say if it runs, stick it in and enjoy it a bit while you plan and save for you engine build.

My 351W is stock on the lower end , has a upgraded cam and ported head with bigger valves. It gets up and scoots. You might just find that the current engine is more than enough for your use or not.

 

[Horseplay]

I'd pass on the Torker intake. Single planes are good for the strip and that's about it. On the street, a dual plane design will give you the low to mid-range power that makes driving fun. If you are going to do some work on the engine then a mild stroke is certainly in order.

 

[scubadds]

Thanks,
I haven't driven my car, actually the only Mustang I've driven was a UP Eleanor of a friends; (not the highest HP model)

I was scared to get on it, as was nervous about damaging something on the car and I was in a gated community.
So, I have no idea what 300hp or 250 hp feels like. So its hard to aim for some bench mark of hp when selecting parts

I figure I might as well pull the valve covers and oil pan, inspect as best I can. Change oil, maybe oil pump if warranted
Put a new valve cover on, clean it more. tune it up and see how she runs.

 

[Horseplay]

One level of horsepower in one car will feel different in another, anyway. Lots of factors in play as to "seat of the pants" feel. Not to mention, engine power bands can be vastly different yet both have the same peak power levels. For street use the name of the game is torque. That's what you feel when you mash the pedal. HP is what gets you accelerating after you get rolling...in the simplest sense.

If you want a "snap your neck" kind of power, stroke that engine and increase the torque. If you want to hit the strip and pull out low ET, you need a good balance of torque and high HP.

 

[scubadds]

Mostly only street.

I might strip it once or twice. But no serious plans.
Track or SCCA would be awesome, but I am a good ways from VIR (I raced Vipers up there one week)

I have 4.10 posi and will be working from scratch on a trans.
Thinking Tremec RS650 (I think that's what they said, a T45 moded to fit a 351; built similar to T56)

 

[apollard]

With a 4.10 posi, nearly any mild 351 will give you lots of fun. Not to mention a large tire bill if you right foot gets heavy.

 

[stangg]

I'd go with option 1, but probably just a little deeper and pull the heads to check the pistons / bore out... Try to figure out exactly what pistons are installed and what the actual compression ratio is. This will help you justify future changes if you decide you want a little or lot more power! It also wouldn't hurt to pull a few caps off to check your bearings out. I did all this with my chebby and determined the compression ratio was a measly 7.3:1 which meant I'd have to do other changes to run the cam I had planned on. I'm happy I didn't run it blind... If problems show up you cand decide on wether you want to address them, or run it as is. if things look great, then you'll have an easier time justifying other upgrades later.

 

[scubadds]

thanks (stangg I like the pic, your car looks great)

I had a 302 gasket kit that I exchanged for a 351w kit (a freebie).
Put some oven off on it and pressure washed it some. Drained oil and will pull the pan tomorrow.
A friend had a spare older MSD 6A (not the rev limiting type), but its free
I will probably pull the intake too, go from there. The drained oil looked good, (not sludgy or metalic)
I have a free Torquer II (surely its better than stock?), that I might bolt on; looks like it will eliminate some crap off the old intake.
Figure I will keep my eyes open for some AFR 185s on Craigslist.....

I am trying to delay getting carried away in some big build. But if some nice heads popped up, I could go ahead and build.
For as little as I have in it so far, I was thinking of finding another good roller block and build with it and still have one to drive some

 

[Horseplay]

A Torker II is not a good street manifold. As a single plane, it is designed for mid-range and top end performance. It is a dog below 3000 rpm. The stock piece is a better choice, honestly.

 

[scubadds]

thanks, so I will pass on the torquer

I found another block today D1 casting
From what I can tell, its been on an engine stand for quite some time.

Looks better than the one I have, the owners father put 9.5:1 compression pistons. But not sure if its been bored.

I figure if I want to build big, its a better block.

Has a much more simple stock intake, non of that emissions crap on the top.

Should get it tomorrow

 

[scubadds]

Well crap,
When I went to pick up the 351w it was raining, the guy had it out in the drive ready to load up. I thought it was a '74ish block.
I starting taking it apart, and realize its a 351m (don't think it has the 400 crank as best I can tell)

I will recheck crank, but at least the guy said he will give me my money back


The good news is I found a '71 351w block, been sitting on engine stand for quite some time.
I will tear into it asap and see what I have