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My 1972 Mach 1 has a Q code 351cj, it runs great. I've also got a 1969 Cougar with a stock 351w (other than a cast iron 4v intake with a Holley 600 c.f.m.). The Cougar is my daily driver. What are the strengths and weakness of 351w vs 351c?
Just looking for opinions based on facts & personal experiences.
Thanks, KeithDodgy
Back in the day when Clevelands were normal fare they were considered by those in the know as the best starting platform for real performance motors. The Windsor was considered as a great daily driver motor for the family car.

We had a family friend who raced Pontiacs professionally and he was always defending my Cleveland as the best motor design for dollar to horsepower gain.

Of course the Cleveland only saw production for a few short years and consequently the after market never really came on board. Then came the Fox body Mustang and the 5.0 It became the small block of the 90's and the after market really jumped on board. Consequently the 351 Windsor inherited it's popularity and after market following.

Both are great motors - two different approaches. The Windsor would have never been what it is today (think Roush 427 W) had it not been for the after market boom. The Cleveland should have been the undisputed heavy weight but for it's short life.
The major difference in the 2 engines are the heads and port sizes. It's simple, an engine is nothing but an air pump! The more you can get in, the more you can get out the faster it's gonna run! Stock for stock the Cleveland series engines had the best stock heads on the market. The aftermarket has gone nuts making aluminum heads for just about every engine out there. It's all about getting more air in and more air out. The Clevelands had it to begin with!
Both engines can be strong peformers, if there is a weakness in the Cleveland, it would be the original 315C with the small block bell housing pattern. They had a couple places in the block casting that were thin and would crack, The upgraded block was the 351m which was thicker in the crack prone areas, but also had a 1/2 inch higher deck height. Which also allowed Ford to create the 400m by just dropping in a different crank. It can be quickly identified by the spread out upper bell housing bolts 7 7/8" apart. which made it compatible with the big block 429/460.
The 351w engine has always taken a back seat to the Cleveland as far as performance, as it took a lot of work and money to make it run as hard as a Cleveland.
In my opinion, what killed the Cleveland was in 72 they started dropping the compression ratios due to emissions. The huge ported Clevelands didn't work as efficently with the lower compression. Thus they still made decent torque but the horse power was gone and so was the gas mileage. The 351w with its smaller heads were not effected as much as they retained better air flow at the lower compression. and since it was a derivative of the 302 and all the other Windsors. Ford saw no sense in having 2 distinct engine families, and it was more cost effective to build just the Windsors. Maybe someone else can add to this. JTS 71 Mach


In 1982 when I finished highschool, I worked offshore in the gulf on an oilrig all summer to save for my 351 Cleveland build. To my suprise I saved up $9,500 dollars of which I dumped totally into my engine.
I ordered 351 Australian heads for it, balanced it blueprint it, had two speed shops working on it together as a project.
Out of about a hundred street races, I only was beat twice. Once by a 454 chevelle high boy car running nitrous, and another by a 78 transam running a supercharger on a 400 bigblock.

I have three Cleveland engines in my garage right now on stands just waiting to get built.

Check this out: the Al aluminum 351 Cleveland engine;(750 horsepower)
http://www.racecrateengines.com/titus_en...nents.html

In my opinion the 351 Cleveland will end up being a museum piece due to its lack of support from Ford. With the older blocks deterorating and being bored out not past thier designed limits of 30 thousandths, it wont be long till they are all gone and the newer kids will simply go with what they know. (Fuel injected coyote engines) with 6 speed transmissions.

Honestly, I am now rethinking my whole mantra of keeping the Cleveland platform, and simply just replacing the whole system with a 5.4 liter shelby cobra engine with a 6 speed. Better reliability, better fuel mileage ill bet.SCo_hmmthink....just a thought

I will always love that Cleveland though....