More horses from 351W
 

I am not too mechanically inclined, so I am here asking for help. I have a 1970 Mustang Mach1 with a stock 351 Windsor. Soon I will be having it rebuilt. Want to try to get some more HP from it, somewheres in the 300HP range. Any suggestions on doing this without drastically modifying the engine or destroying my wallet. Any and all help would be sincerely appreciated. Thanx

Stryfe,boy where do you start? Keeping in mind the money issue,I'll throw in some ideas.First I have a 69 Soortsroof with a 351W and I'm considering some of the changes as well.The biggest draw back to our engines is in the heads,even though I have some of the better heads with the 4 barrel setup they still don't flow that great.Cost wise if you have these heads ported and polished this will help, but these new heads that are out will give you 40 hp right out of the box.If you can afford it a new dual plane intake will also be nice and if your not that mechanically inclined stay with the autolite carb.I had mine tweaked by pony carb. up too 600 cfm and let me tell you it performs great and doesn't need all the attention my Holley used to need.As far as the lower end if this is the original cam you would probably need to replace it anyways, just step it up some and it will help. There are kits available that include intake and cam setups that might make it easier choosing the right one.You could always change out the rods and pistons but this will get you deeper in the wallet.
Don't forget about the ignition, I don't have the new electronic ignition yet but as far as upkeep and performance I have heard it's worth the money.
This will be alot to digest so think about what kind of driver you want because if you just want to go fast it's one thing and if you want a smooth idle and a few more mpg it's another.

Isn't the stock 4bbl Windsor 290 hp already?
I have not seen a '70 with the Windsor just '69's. The '70's I know of have Clevelands in them.
We had our '69 Mach 1 windsor rebuilt. We just put in a Ford Motorsports cam, NEW AFB, aftermarket intake, some porting work in the heads, balanced, and it is a blast to drive with stock exhaust even. It will over power any street radial tire in 1st, 2nd & 3rd gear, while still idling well. I dont think you have to spend alot of green to get the desired performance. Good luck!

If you are on a really tight budget, then you probably aren't going to buy new heads--which is where a lot of power is hiding. You can still easily reach your intended power level by upgrading to a new intake/carb, nice cam--but don't get crazy here, and be sure you have a good dual exhaust system.

Do not put a big cam in this engine. You will kill the low end torque, and the heads won't let it work at the higher rpm's. Too much cam is about the only way you can screw up. Stick with a cam with a .05 duratiion of 225 degrees or less. You should probably use one with about 215 or 220 degrees with the stock heads.

Clark made an excellent point here--if your not sure what your doing, call someone like Edelbrock or Holley and they will give you matching part numbers for a cam and an intake that will work well together and with the heads you use--be it stock or aftermarket.

Make sure the intake you buy is a dual plane, and realistically, you can use a 600 or 650 cfm carb. on it.

If you have any money left, buy some rear gears. If you have 2.75 or 3.00 gears, just moving up to a set of 3.55's will make a bigger change than anything you are going to do to the engine.

enjoy, 351's can make a lot of torque and destroy a set of tires. http://www.mustangworks.com/msgboard/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by 66fastback (edited 06-08-99).]