The small-block Ford is an ideal engine for a Ford street rod project-as strange as it sounds, it's nice to see a Ford in a Ford these days.
As you may recall, we recently did a story called "Crate Creations" (October 2007), which was in reference to a couple of engine builds we're doing for upcoming STREET RODDER project vehicles. The first installment referred to how many choices there are available to us in this regard, and how Editor Brennan chose a couple of affordable, base model factory small-block crate long-blocks (a 350 from Chevrolet and a 351 from Ford) as the foundations for those project vehicles in question.
Like we said in our first installment, it'd be interesting to chronicle not only what it takes to transform a pair of factory long-block crate assemblies into complete and running engines, but to perform a series of tweaks and upgrades to 'em (utilizing a combination of OEM and aftermarket parts) after the initial assembly and test running. We began by assembling the Chevy first and tossing it on the dyno for some preliminary baseline numbers, and we'll do the same here with the 351 Ford.
Our starting point for this build was a Ford Racing crate engine (assembly PN M-6007-J58).
As with the Chevy engine in the first installment, this time around we chose an affordable entry-level Ford long-block as our starting point. Specifically, we chose a Ford Racing crate engine (assembly PN M-6007-J58). This 5.8L 351-cube long-block is a 240 hp @ 3,800 rpm assembly that's rated at 340 lb-ft @ 3,200 rpm. It's an 8.5:1 compression ratio engine that includes an E6TE-9424-DA 2V aluminum intake, a V-belt-style standard-rotation mid-'70s-style cast-iron water pump with left-hand inlet, an aluminum timing chain cover with fuel pump mount, fuel pump block-off and eccentric, a pair of E5AE-6090-CA cylinder heads without Thermactor air passages, a high-torque flat-tappet cam E7JE-6250-AA, a full sump oil pan, a Duraspark distributor, coil, and spark plug wires. As an aside, the block is hydraulic roller cam compatible as well.
It's a great starting point for a respectable and affordable powerplant, as we mentioned earlier, and here we'll dress it with a mix of aftermarket and OEM parts with some help from our pals George and Bob Vrbancic of Vrbancic Brothers Racing. So, let's get crackin' on this one, and keep in mind that there's more to come on both of these small-blocks in future issues.
