Reply to "351C Short Block Wanted"

there were no Cleveland engines in 1968!, they began production in summer 1969 for the 1970 model year.

No the early blocks ARE NOT made of better iron.

For better iron, your friend should purchase a block imported from Australia.

The durability of production Cleveland & Windsor bocks cannot be quoted as a hard, fast number. Its a number based on how well the engine is assembled, how much power it makes, how high of rpm it is run at, and for how long it is asked to make the power or sustain the high rpm. Road course racing is much harder on a motor than drag racing, "hard" street driving, or the occasionally blast of acceleration on an on-ramp, or out on the interstate.

For instance, drag racers, making well over 600 bhp, can run a production Cleveland block for years with no problems. Hugh Kleinpeter, a gentleman who raced Panteras on road courses, felt 450 bhp was the limit of the block.

If the car is to be raced on a track, and if the motor is producing more than 500 bhp, I have 3 alternatives for your friend:

(1) build a Clevor using a heavy duty windsor/svo block from Dart, or Ford (FRPP)

(2) locate an australian Cleveland NASCAR (XE192540) block. someone on the BB may still have one for sale. It has one thin cylinder & would need to be sleeved.

(3) patiently wait for Tod Buttermore to produce the heavy duty Cleveland block he is working on. (this is what I'm doing at the moment)

500 bhp & hard street driving, the production block should be OK, so long as the motor is meticulously assembled. Same situation you're in, eh?

cowboy from hell