351W questions
 

Does anyone know if a 351W out of an early 80's truck would be a roller or flat tappet camshaft? I'm thinking about buying one for a Mustang project car and am trying to decide if it would be a good idea or not. Also, would an alphabet cam (E303, F303, X303) breathe good enough for a 351W ? And, last, but not least, does anyone know if a 351 would weigh more than a 5.0 ? both with just an alternator and water pump and a carberator? Thanks a bunch guys.

the 351 w is about 100 to 150 pounds heavier than a 5.0 block. As far as early 80's truck motors im not even sure, and as far as camshafts, the 351 has different flow characteristics, you could use it, but i would decide what kind of power and the power band in which i want to operate and then pick the right cam from there. and that might mean going to a comp cam or crane cam grind instead of the alpha bet cams. Remember, a larger motor digests a larger cam easier than a small motor, so if your power band on a 302 is 3000 to 6500 rpm, then in a 351w it would be more like 2500 to 6000 rpm. So remember, a 351 will digest a larger cam easier and have better bottom end torgue with the additional cubic inches.

Roller Block
 

The first 351 roller blocks were 95's. Check around different classifieds - I've seen a number of Lightning blocks or engines recently, I found a 95 shortblock w/30k miles. Any light truck 351 95 & up are roller blocks but have flat tappet cams from the factory.

Re: Roller Block
 

Actually, the first roller blocker were in 1994....not '95
As far as '80's 351's, I would look for something at least before '79 because in '79 the lightened the block to save weight but the strengh is not as strong as the earlier blocks.
If you really must use that '80 block and want a roller cam then you could always by the retro-fit kits that convert a non-roller block into a roller block.

For more info, go to: http://www.geocities.com/8351/351partscompare.html

would an alphabet cam even work? I thought the 302 and the 351w had different firing order.

Yeah, the alphabet cams are the 351 firing order. All 5.0 HO motors (at least the post 87 engines) are the 351 firing order. But even if they weren't they'd still work, you just re wire the distributor wires so that they fire at the right times. Trust me, I've done it. I just didn't know if those cams would make a 351 flow good. But I'm still not sure if I want to go with a 351. If I were to carburate one, and get a pretty hot cam and intake, and possibly port the heads a bit, what carb should I run? 650 cfm? 750? What kind of HP do you think I'd be looking at? Thanks guys!

I never really saw the specs on the different alphabet cams. I'm sure there are a few that would work well. It all depends on what you want to do with the car.
If you have the cash, then I would go with the 351w. It wouldn't be hard at all to get a 400hp. 351w
After I get my engine rebuilt, I'll be stepping up to a 750 carb.