Windsor or Cleveland?

I don't want to start a pissing contest here, but...

The '70 Ranchero I just picked up has a tired Cleveland 2V in it. Worth freshening up or just build a hellish Windsor 4V & drop that in instead?

How much trouble is it to swap from 351C to a 351W?. Not worried about the exhaust manifolds as it would be getting headers at the same time anyway & either the 351W or the 351C would also be getting Edlebrock intake/carb.

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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ZRX61 on 1/31/04 5:07am ]</font>

It's really up to you, just depends on your wants/needs, but you already have a 351C.



BTW I think you know where I stand.[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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LOL, yeah. How about aftermarket parts availability? a quick shufti thru the Jegs catalog shows a boatload more Windsor stuff...

But what ya say about already having the Cleveland is true, it's here, now....However, if I buy a Windsor &amp; go thru it I can be driving the Ranchero right up until I just pull one engine &amp; drop the other in.... as opposed to having it off the road for a month while the engine shop does their stuff to the Cleveland..

That is very true. It would be easier to build a separate engine and just swap them. One thing to remember though a W is taller/wider so it will require different accessory brackets/belts and so on to fit. The C and W wil interchange very easily except for how/where the stuff bolts to them.

Parts are not a problem for the C, there may be more parts for the W but other than intake, cam, bearings, gaskets and carb(same stuff you'll need on the W) the C can use OEM heads and run with aftermarket W heads.

From experience I can tell you this.

Since you have the c block now, it will be cheaper to build that one for power. The last thing you will need to spend any money on is a set of new heads. You can drop under $1000 into the stock heads (valves, port, polish, screw in studs, roller rockers) and have a great set of heads for the street.

If you have the w block, I would tell you exactly the same thing except with the w block you will want to drop 1500-2k on aftermarket heads.

Then the price difference in some of the parts (intake, pistons, crank, headers, etc) will even out the cost difference between the c and the w for building.

As point of reference I have a stroked out 351c in my 65 mustang. I used to have a 351w in my 67 FB. I like both motors and find both can be very ballsy when built properly....in stock form the 351c had more matza though [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]
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Since you have the Cleveland, I would build it. There are lots of parts for a Cleveland. Jegs and Summit don't advertise much in the books, but if you call them they can get you nearly anything. There is also a lot of parts on Ebay. I have saved a lot of money that way.
I'm also building a 408C this winter. All of the money is going into the short block. The factory iron heads(with good parts) can run with aluminum Winsors easily.
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Supposedly, Edelbrock was going to introduce aluminum 351C heads this year. Whatever happened to that?
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[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img][img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_lol.gif[/img]
Holdth not thy breath. They are studying on it.
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You know it really comes down to what you want to do with this car. Why dump lots of cash into *either* engine if you just need a reliable daily driver.

Now, if you want a street-strip car becomes a different discussion. If you want strip only it changes again.

The 351C-2V motor will wake up very nicely to a good cam and intake (assuming the bottom end is freshened up). This would be the most economical upgrade and provide lots of fun per dollar.

I have FOUR engines for my 1970 Cougar: 351C 4V, 12.5:1 radical cam., 351C 4V mild, 418W 622HP stroker (going in any week now), and a 428W 475HP motor. See I can't tell what's best either![img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]
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