Our 351 Ford engine was no slouch to begin with, but with the addition of some great looki
We’re always looking to check out the best the aftermarket has to offer—a monumental task in a world chock-full of awesome offerings for anything in the classic truck realm. This time around, we set our sights on putting together a 351 Windsor crate engine for one of our many project vehicles. Now, the engine assemblies from Ford Racing are pretty darned stout on their own but like any self-respecting rodder, we guys can never leave well enough alone. That said, we talked to the pro’s over at Vrbancic Brothers Racing to give us a hand adding some bolt-on horsepower to our already respectable crate engine—what the heck, you can never have enough horses!
This particular SBF has been tweaked a bit already, and with an aftermarket cam, intake, and carb upgrade it already had measured in at a very respectable high of 281 hp at 4,500 rpm.To see if we could improve on this, and to add to the engine’s eye appeal, we hit the Edelbrock website and did a bit of shopping.
Good looks, affordability, and bolt-on horsepower have always been a hallmark of Edelbrock and that’s why we chose to update our latest project engine with a few of their offerings—specifically a pair of PN 60259 Edelbrock Performer cylinder heads, a PN 75814 intake manifold, and PN 18134 800cfm carb—a few relatively easy bolt-on upgrades that’d likely add some muscle as well as good looks due to their highly polished finishes.
And as we’d hoped, the Edelbrock upgrade coupled with the Vrbancic Bros. expertise netted us even more power than we’d hoped. How’s a gain of nearly 100 hp and 46 lb-ft of torque grab ya? A pleasant surprise that left us extremely pleased—and with a powerplant that’s destined to add a lot of enjoyment and reliability to this latest project vehicle. That said, let’s take a look at the installation and testing that went on one afternoon at one of our favorite dyno facilities. CT
-
Here’s all it took to gain an impressive 100hp-plus from our Ford Racing 351 Windsor, not
-
The first step was a minor teardown. The guys stripped the Weiand intake, Holley carb, and
-
While the SBF was be readied for the new components, George Vrbancic started un-boxing and
-
The Performer cylinder heads we chose (PN 60259) are designed with highly efficient ports
-
The Edelbrock Performer RPM heads we used are designed for street high-performance use, ar
-
We also decided to use Edelbrock head gaskets cuz they feature excellent sealing and confo
-
Here’s a shot of our SBF with its newly installed heads. As an aside, we did stick with th
-
The next step was to add a good set of roller rockers to our Edelbrock heads. We used a se
-
The guys at Vrbancic Brothers racing Engines are pros and they made quick work of the rock
-
With the heads and valvetrain installed, the next step was bolting on the new Edelbrock in
-
As before, we used high-quality Edelbrock gaskets. Any gasket can create a seal, but a goo
-
Next came the awesome looking Edelbrock Performer RPM air-gap intake. Their EnduraShine pr
-
Dave made quick work of the install, lowering the manifold into place and torqueing it up
-
-
We (actually they, cuz as you can see, I didn’t do squat except take pictures) then re-ins
-
Once on the cart and hooked, plumbed, and wired for the dyno the guys unpacked the ignitio
-
Prior to the ignition install, the guys filled the SBF with oil and installed the Edelbroc
-
-
Next, the guys used a bit of elbow grease to prime the engine ensuring the upper end was a
-
With the oiling system primed, the new Pertronix electronic distributor was dropped into p
-
-
Ready, set, go. With all I’s dotted and T’s crossed George fired this baby up, let it warm
-
-
I hope that this dyno sheet reproduces big enough to read, but if not, the addition of the