First off is the engine category in my humble opinion the Cleveland is far off a mile from the Windsor but to each his own.
Back in the early eighties when I obtained my first 1970 Mach 1 mustang with a 4V Cleveland, It was old knowledge "according to Pat Ganahl the Ford Bible author on "Ford Performance ISBN: 0-931472-05-9, (page 34), : Quote: "Given the existance of the 351 Cleveland Ford engine plus all the specialty parts available to make it go faster than it does, the question of building a ful race 351 Windsor sounds almost silly. For the amount of money you'd spend on the Windsor, including having non-available parts custom made, you could buy at least a couple of Clevelands that would run circles around it."
He suggests that the Windsor engine just doesnt have that many add on horsepower options to really make it a viable candidate for real power, however, after browsing around the hotrod catalogs and internet these days it seems that because the Clevelands were only around for 4 years and the Windsor was produced by the millions, many parts producers are waking up to that fact and are making add on components.
Me: Well I am a die hard 4V Cleveland man all the way: This engine was made to run and breathe. It was developed to run hard from the start. With a few oiling mods it will run hard all day long and I can still remember my racing days in high school when I saved my hard earned cash up and had my Cleveland sleeper engine built up and out of about 300 street races, I was only beat by two cars, A 454 chevelle high boy runing nitrous, and a transam with a belt driven blower sticking out of his hood by at least a foot.....lol
That Cleveland engine was and in my opinion still is one beautiful "MID SIZED" engine. Your engine being a 1972 model will most likely be the lower compression ratio "Open Chambered heads" that will not produce the horsepower you may want. The closed chambered quench type off a 1970 model Cleveland will serve you better.(73.9-76.9cc) as compared to th 1970&71 4vheads which were (61.3-64.3cc). If you are running a 4 speed with high rpm intakeon it , then I would run a 4v quench head set, if you are running that FMX in it then the 2v Cleveland heads may serve you better for more mid range power bands usage.
Now since you show your car, the die hard fans want to see the Windsor in your engine bay. It is argueable whether it lessens the value of the car or not since the Cleveland is a great engine. Its sort of the same thing with placing a Ford 429 Thunderjet (T-Bird powerplant) engine in it since they never came this way, Some think that its sacriligious to do so. I say make it yours.
Dont worry about others unless there is some small chance that you will wish to profit from the sale of the car and we all know that originality is best for resale....... in many or most cases.
Would you buy a pastel colored Mach 1?
Would you buy a Mach 1 that had the entire interior changed out with cloth seats out of a Grenada or modified to look like a candy stripped pimp mobile? I believe its that first glancing judgement on the car that disuades us from pursuit of a purchase on one simply because it is not original.
Most of us I dare say would pass on it because we know that the car has been chopped up too much.
I think that most likely that the closer to original you remain
in spirit, with car values going up, then the higher a resale price you will be able to get......
Now the options: That shaker was the first thing I bought for my newest car. It was not original to that particular car, but it was a Factory option for that year and make and model of that car. The same can be said of say adding a rare map light assembly or fold down rear seat assembly, or tilt steering column, in dash tachometer, or even a Detriot Locker with dragpack and added oil cooler and original in dash factory A/C all of which I am working on to obtain. It is my belief that these options can add value to the car.
At 47 years old....I am not about to have a car without my A/C as I only cruise around at posted speed limits these days and dont need the tickets from the cops.
Again: Its all about the fun of building it any how you see fit.
After you first glance at my engine bay you may not notice it but it has a Windsor shaker assembly that I stupidly bought without knowing the differences between teh Cleveland shaker and the rare Windsor shaker assembly. Secondly, I added A/C and have only a few more items like hoses and a charge left to complete on it......(but its all Ford original) and not that cheap looking aftermarket factory air system with those cheap looking A/C registers that belong better in some RV.....lol
Maybe sometime this year I will be able to drve this car for the first time.
I have owned it since last October and never driven it not one inch yet>>>>>>
Good luck with your show car....My pig still needs more lipstick.....lol
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