Reply to "351C block"

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Matt W:
I'm going to have my engine rebuilt this winter and just in case we open it up and the news is bad, I want to have a Plan B. I would like to know if anyone in southern Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec or even upper NY state might have a good block they would consider selling in the event that I might need one.[QUOTE]

An excellent idea! This can also allow you to get a rebuild done while still driving the car, with no sense of urgency that often leads to bad decision$. On ANY 351-C OR early '70s Ford block, I would do a sonic test on the donor blocks's cylinder walls to be sure you're getting a useable casting. '69-'70 was the first that Ford used 'thin-wall casting' and up to 90% of the blocks made in the early days were rejected for excessive casting-core-shift. This results in cylinder walls as thin as 0.080" on one side while the opposite wall may be 0.280" thick. Obviously, boring such a block AT ALL results in flexy cylinder walls that will not allow new rings to ever seal. It was so prevalent that Ford only recommended HONING cylinders 0.002" and did not sell oversized 351-C pistons. The war stories you hear about racers radically overboring 351-C blocks were using special castings, not production blocks. Or they had dumb-luck.
True, a few production blocks CAN stand a 0.030" overbore (max) while others cannot stand ANY. How lucky do you feel? A $75 sonic test sends acoustic waves into each cylinder wall in 4 places, to actually map all eight wall's thicknesses. It can save spending money rebuilding an essentially unusable core. Pressure crack-testing is also valuable. After all, these things are 43+ years old and few had easy lives!
4-bolt main caps may lessen what's known as 'cap-shuffle' in a high rpm, high horsepower engine and are easily added to a 2-bolt block by drilling & tapping the ten 3/8-16 SAE outside bolt holes. 2-bolt & 4-bolt blocks are otherwise identical and are equally strong.

When replacing caps, replacement main journals in used blocks can be line-HONED which doesn't remove much metal. I don't think there are short-length cam chains (to compensate for line-boring mains) for the all-but-obsolete 351-C, like there are for much more numerous 350 Chevys. Line-boring results in std length cam chains being slack when new, then they start to wear...

Do NOT accept a block- even free- that needs sleeving- especially in more than one cylinder. It will usually be a waste of time and money. The 351C's real weak spot is at the bottom of the cylinders where too much metal was sculpted away by Ford. Boring out cylinders and pressing in more than one (1.0) sleeve per side will produce notches right at the point where it will be least tolerated, so badly weakening the casting that some have split horizontally just above the crank! Only if for some reason you want to retain a particular keepsake-block would I recommend sleeving at all. If you cannot find a useable block and you orgininal one is wasted, there are two places that produce both cast iron and cast-aluminum blocks for quality rebuilds. They are around $4600 each. They can stand maybe 1000 horsepower.

Undersized crank mains & rods are fine- up to about 0.030"-under, since those are standard bearing sizes. Stock 351-C cranks are arguably the strongest part of the motor. As long as the grinder contours the cut journals into a nice chamfer, not a step. Cranks break at steps.

The 351-C is NOT like a Chevy- it has peculiarities and quirks. Try really hard to find a shop- maybe a race shop- that actually works on Clevelands regularly. Otherwise you may find that both you and the shop are on a steep learning curve... but you're paying the bills! All this can be lots of fun if done cautiously and correctly. But it can also be a truely discouraging money-pit. Ask LOTS of questions and good luck.