BLDTruth

Found a rebuilt roller 351w on CL this past week for a what I would consider cheap. Bored over .02. Hypereutectic pistons. Heads have been redone with new valves and a 3 angle valve job. Came out of a 97 F250 and hasn't been run since rebuilt 3.5 months ago.











Gonna need to get some stuff before she is drop in ready, most notably an upper intake, injectors, and some headers, along with a modification to my current custom exhaust that was designed for a 302.

I am looking for suggestions on building her up. Not looking to go too big because I have an M5OD transmission I would like to keep. I'd also like to avoid going to MAF for the time being, because its all aftermarket stuff for manual transmissions and it gets expensive quickly. I'd rather spend the money on a good cam and heads. Fire away.

SaltEater

That is a pretty cool thing to find. I'm planning to do up a roller 5.8 this winter.

The stock 351w efi intake is a turd. From what I've read, the only real aftermarket efi intake out there that isn't some goofy carb hybrid is the Edelbrock 3881/3884, though i've also read that it falls flat if you try to make too much power/rpm out of an engine. I'm not sure if you need the upper to go with it, or if you can port either a stock 5.8 or 5.0 upper to fit it. Though if you can actually find lightning parts, that could work too but then you're looking at gt40 stuff.

For the exhaust, i'm still not sure what kind of headers to go with, mine is also a 4x4 and i'd prefer to get something mid length or long tube. Your custom exhaust should work, but the block is something like 2-3 inches wider than a 5.0 so the legs on your Y pipe may need some modification.

If you're planning to get heads and cam, a lot of qdeezie's 5.0 thread applies, and this 5.8 thread could be helpful reading.

BLDTruth

The edelbrock 5.8 truck efi intake is on the list for sure. I'll end up paying as much for it as I did for the entire motor LOL.

Headers will be something simple like JBA shorties. Long tubes aren't really an option because of transmission clearance on the M5OD. I will probably just have my exhaust guy craft me a new y pipe off of the installed headers and fit it to the 3" exhaust that he already put on it.

I have read the qdeezie thread a dozen times and it seems I still learn something new every day. Thanks for the link to the 5.8 thread

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

Bolt her in as is. It'll already be night and day from a slightly tired 302.
Port match the stock intake would be a low cost upgrade you can do yourself.
The accessory brackets may be a bit of a challenge to hunt up. Also the engine wire harness.
Just my .02

SaltEater

Yeah, no kidding, I only paid $1k for my whole truck. I figure if I spend 10k over a few years fixing it up, I'm still spending less for more rather than going to a stealership for some shiny new ugly plastic.

I guess there is a trickflow intake out there as well, but its more for top end mustang stuff from what I can tell. "May require aftermarket fuel rails; computer modification recommended to operate properly" turns me off of considering it.

Headers are seriously a crapshoot for anything other than shorties, best chance I figure I have for finding something that might fit is looking for bronco parts.

A couple of other things; do you plan on using EGR? I think it's set up different between the 351 and the 302, and did the shop check your block for cracks? I haven't stripped mine down to check, but it will influence my plans when I finally get to ordering parts.

David Young

You 'MUST' post a video of it running when you are done

BLDTruth

It's a constant battle in my head - just bolt her up vs. build her up. Literally the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other.

The PS pump/AC accessory bracket for the E-series vans will bolt up just fine - figured that out after doing the saginaw pump upgrade. The Van uses the same AC compressor, alternator, smog pump, tensioner, and belt, so my hope is I can find a van with a 5.8 where I can just pull both brackets with all the accessories still attached and it will work.

And the list of stuff I need just to get her bolted in is long - upper intake, injectors (and I am assuming fuel rails), EGR valve and tube, bolts for the intakes and the water pump, thermostat and housing, dipstick, motor plate, new clutch/flywheel/pilot bearing. Probably a new starter since I don't know how old mine is. Since I have the motor off I am going to replace the master and slave assembly on the tranny. And then headers too.

Some of things can be swapped over but a lot of them can't. It's all going to start adding up little by little so we will see how much is left at the end LOL.

Block was inspected for cracks - qdeezie warned me awhile back about the F4TE block cracking in one of the cam bearing journals, so that was a priority when searching.

I really want to get Bassani equal length shorties - they are supposedly the best for these trucks. We will see if the budget allows it.

For the record, I stopped counting how much I was spending on my truck once I passed the $5000 mark LOL

Hell yes ....but it's probably going to take a little while

qdeezie

Here are my thoughts:

1) If you are going to go with these stock heads, the Edelbrock intake isn't going to benefit you much (if any) because the stock heads aren't built to take advantage of the additional airflow that the Edelbrock intake provides. With that being said, keep the stock intake if you're going to keep the stock heads.

2) Look into upgrading your heads to some high flowing aluminum heads if you have time to let it sit on the stand while you get your cash together. You have more options available than what I listed out on the 302 thread. Then you can take advantage of that Edelbrock intake.

3) Go with a custom cam all day long once you figure out your intake/head combination.

SaltEater

So here's something that might be interesting for this thread.




The above is a screen cap from the Motortrend show 'Engine Masters'. That overlay in particular is showing the difference between AFR 220 and AFR 195 heads. The engine itself is a Blueprint 351w stroked to 410 cubic inches, Holley 850 double pumper, Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold, cam @ .050 lift is 218 intake/224 exhaust, .513 lift and 110 LSA, 10.2:1 compression ratio, and 1 3/4 hooker long tube headers.

The premise for the episode is whether or not it's possible to go too big on cylinder heads. They tested three 58cc chamber AFR heads on the same engine, with 220 and 165 cc heads having almost identical overlays (~515 lb/ft @3900, ~471 hp @ 5400), and the 195 heads making the transparent curve in the above image (520 lb/ft @ 3900 and 484 hp at 5500).

The epi is up now on motortrend's site if anyone is subbed to them, it should be up on Motortrend's YT in about 5 weeks.

BLDTruth

Thanks for adding your thoughts. They are highly valued.

I have been doing the math and realistically, if I want to take advantage of what this engine has to offer me, I'm in at least 5k before I even think about it. Heads, upper/lower intake, new clutch/flywheel, gotta get a zf5 or build E4OD to handle it, gotta do a MAF conversion with upgraded injectors, Headers, exhaust modification, etc. etc.

So I am going to hunt down the things I know I am going to need first regardless of whether I blow up my wallet - headers, fuel rails, clutch/flywheel, accessory brackets, etc. And who knows, I might get lucky and find some of the parts I want on CL too. It looks pretty on the stand for now.

I'm also about to get my truck back with 4.10 gears installed, so I am curious to see how that makes it feel compared to the 3.55's. Lots to be determined.