Ford engine codes can be confusing, especially considering the same engine codes often applied to two different engine families. The 351C, for example, had the same engine codes as the 351W, which means it is not always easy to tell which engine your Ford originally had.
It has been often theorized in Internet forums that the Xs and Ys in the lifter valley of most Cleveland blocks means a higher nickel content, but Ford has never continued this.
Mexican blocks and US blocks weigh within a pound of one another, which means there's no different in nickel content.
Free Power? You can find hidden power in friction-reduction efforts such as roller cams and rocker arms, Torrington bearings, and more liberal clearances.
Power is found anywhere you can reduce or eliminate internal friction. Keep in mind finding power costs money, but look at the dividends. When you set your clearances more liberally, the initial cost is free. When you tend to sacrifice is longevity.
We often fall into the mistaken belief that because a part is new and right out of the box it is a good part. Every part should be inspected for flaws. Though this doesn't guarantee a perfect part, it enables you to sleep better.
A shortage of good blocks has long presented logistics problems for Cleveland engine builders. In recent times and with better technology has come reproduction alloy and iron Cleveland blocks both domestically and from Australia.
When MME Racing in Waldorf, Maryland, introduced the new Titus Cleveland block in cast iron and aluminum, Mark McKeown explained, "We have been pushing the envelope of the Cleveland engine for many years and have been forced to use Windsor-base blocks for some build well over 1,100hp from a naturally aspirated small-block to be competitive in their race car.
The Titus is exciting for Ford performance enthusiasts because Cleveland blocks are becoming scarce every day. Though Ford Australia produced a lot of 302C and 351C engines for many years after Ford North America ended production, the global supply of good Cleveland blocks is drying up.
Classes like Super Late Model are very abusive on engines and larger displacement versions have durability issues.
Another recent reproduction Cleveland block comes from Arrow Blocks in Australia. It is a reproduction of the 351C block, with a lot of nice refinements to structure, lubrication, and cooling. This is a 351C block you can take to 440ci according to Australian Street Machine Magazine.
The Arrow is cast from high-strength, cast-iron consisting of carbon, silicon, phosphorous, sulphur, manganese, molybdenum and zinc.
Because the Arrow block has a lot of refinements to structure, it is heavier than Ford's Cleveland block. There's enough cylinder wall thickness to go to 4.185 inches while being able to maintain .216-inch wall thickness.
Brinell hardness testing was invented in 1900 by Dr. Johan August Brinell, a Swedish engineer and metallurgist.
Brinell testing is little more than striking metal with a 0.39-inch (10-mm) steel ball at 6,600 pounds of force to determine how hard it is. Less force is required with softer iron. Brinell hardness testing, searches for the true tensile strength of a cast/noddler iron crankshaft.
Ronnie Besselman of Bessel Motor-Sports, better known as 'Strokerkits.com,' offers excellent advice on how to shop for a strokerkit for your Cleveland..
Making power isn't just about adding displacement, large-port heads, a big carburetor, and a lumpy, camshaft, it is about the physics of packaging and turning your engine properly.
need Degreeing a camshaft is a quest to learn the truth about power and to get more.
A camshaft is degreed by bolting a degree wheel to the crankshaft, cranking piston number-1 to top dead center (TDC), finding true TDC, and installing a timing pointer.
Based on the calculations, you should never need more 3.00 inches of pipe diameter for a 600-hp Cleveland. You don't need 3-inch pipes with a 350hp engine. You can get away with 2 1/4 - to 2 1/2-inch - diameter pipes with a 400hp Cleveland.
The folks at 'Exhaustvideos' base their calculations on raw facts. They suggest your engine needs to flow 1.5cfm through thde intake per one inch horsepower.
I was sent a review copy from Car Tech.
George Reid, has been a Ford enthusiast for more than 30 years. He enjoys restoring and building Fords. George has written a number of books for Car Tech, including: High-Performance Ford Engine Parts Interchange, How to Build Big-Inch Ford Small Blocks, How to Rebuild and Modify Ford C4 and C6 Automatic Transmissions, and others.
