Looking for performanc suggestion

Looking for a small project to add some performance to my 73 351 Cleavland..

I had it in the shop over the winter, had the carb tuned and adjusted. It still is a bit muddy and low on power. If I floor it, it's more likely to stall out than take off..

In talking with the garage then mentioned the 73 is detuned and the best way for more power was to do a stroker kit for big $$..

Looking for some suggestion on other things to look at or add to get some more power and make it a bit more responsive. Will be adding some new wheels and have a few bucks left over - what do you think?

Thanks the ideas..

I'd make sure the engine and drive train is healthy and working normally first. An engine of that capacity should inherently have a bit of grunt. Where to start?

Where to start? I suppose you should figure out where you want to end up. If you want an all out brute, then upgrade your suspension and brakes for that big block you want to build. if you want a great driving street car, track car or whatever, plan for that. Just backwards plan to what you want to where you are and fill in the gaps.

Does what you want, require 4v heads? Do you have 4v heads? If you are stock now, a nice combo could be something like this:

351, 9.5-10:1 comp, 224/232 @ .050 (cam), 3.25-3.50:1 gears, Edelbrock Air Gap intake, 650-700cfm carb. Whatever you like for exhaust, etc.. That combo on a 351 Windsor will get you in the neighborhood of 400hp at the flywheel. Of course, you ask 10 different people, you get 11 different answers. I always thought gears was the best money I could feel and exhaust was the best money I could hear.

Talk to your local engine machine shop...preferably a racing engine builder as they can have some suggestions for you. Or PM c9zx with the info you have and he can help you out

I would recommend gears also. What rear gear do you have now?

Also if it's stalling out, the carb is not working right. If he can't fix it, maybe it's time to dump the mechanic and get a new Edelbrock carb. That Autolite carb i had was junk, a few months after a mechanic rebuilt it. The new Edelbrock's been running great for almost 5 years now. It gained alot of power with the new carb also.

Looking for a small project to add some performance to my 73 351 Cleavland..

I had it in the shop over the winter, had the carb tuned and adjusted. It still is a bit muddy and low on power. If I floor it, it's more likely to stall out than take off..

In talking with the garage then mentioned the 73 is detuned and the best way for more power was to do a stroker kit for big $$..

Looking for some suggestion on other things to look at or add to get some more power and make it a bit more responsive. Will be adding some new wheels and have a few bucks left over - what do you think?

Thanks the ideas..

Click to expand...

I had to dissagree that a stroker kit is the best or easiest way too get alot of power out of a cleveland...Do you have 4v heads?..A stock cleveland crank is good up too 600+ hp... Best way too get power of out a cleveland is a huge cam...big carb...single plain high rise manifold....headers...But sure...If your looking for more than 600 hp...You could stroke it...Nothing wrong with that..."besides price"...But i hardly say its the easiest way to get alot more power out of your cleveland..Nor the cheapest.

How much hp you want? post your engine specs..and we will give you a idea of how big of a cam and carb and such you will need...4v clevelands have a advantage over all other small blocks ...Huge heads...No porting needed.....Im putting in just a 5.30 lift with 280 duration...keeping the motor mostly stock...just 10.05 compression...750 holley carb...aluminum intake....Im expected too get 430ish too 450 hp."factory my cleveland pushing 260hp"..according too my desktop dyno and all the techs at jegs over 400 easy up too 450 at peak.....And im hardly runing as big of a cam as you can...with a 600 lift like they had during nascar days and stock crank...a cleveland pushes 550 hp...And the heads are known for flowing much more than that even.

First get the car running correctly. Sounds like you just need to play with the carb(or replace it) and play with the timing.

The most common upgrades usually yield the best improvements. Rear gears, headers, exhaust, intake, carb. All are relatively easy to do, compared to an all out engine build.

We need to know exactly what you have, a 4v or 2v? What is already done?

get a smaller carb if it is wanting to stall you have too much air to the air fuel ratio a friend had a 750 cfm carb on a 351w and it would stall if you stomp it so I happened to have a 650cfm I swapped it out for and now it runs fine

I went from 2.75 open diff to 3:89 with a spool. Made a huge difference In performance. I would do gears first, when u upgrade to a cam and etc. it all requires lower gears

I have been thinking about the carb being the issue.. It has a Holley 4150 670cfm on it today.. It was tuned .. Installed a larger jet went from 65 to 68. Still muddy when it first starts, as soon as I put it in gear it stalls out. I restart it, it goes in to gear but if push it to the floor it stalls out..

I always start with the ignition, then the carb. Need a powerful and controlled spark. More gas is easy. You car wont stall when you improve/adjust the ignition.

What are you wanting from your engine? If you're not going crazy with it, you should be able to get pretty good power even if you have 2v heads. I agree you should get your car running properly first. But if you know you wasn't to change the intake, take a look at the Air Gap from Edelbrock. It works well with 2v and 4v heads and helps with low and mid range power.

It's a 2v.. is a Holley 4150 670cfm a good carb for the 2v? I recently replaced the ignnitor (w pertronix) and put on a msd coil hoping that this would help but it did very little.

Not looking to get anything crazy some nice get up and go and some power. Just a street car with the kids. A little squeal now and again lights up the kids faces.

I like the idea for some new gears, but I need to have some power first..

I would think you should be able to get at least 400hp from 2v heads. You done need much for 400. Right now, I would have your carb looked at, maybe a tune up, a good aftermarket intake, gears and exhaust. Besides, even if you don't hit a specific HP goal, you will still end up with a nice driver.

Check your wires. 8.5 msd's help and then check your gap. The perteonix/coil works great and i have the same carb. He 2750 edelbrock intake is cheap.. Right there you should be getting 325hp i would think. Cam, headers, gears are more work, but get your carb checked by someone else. Shouldnt stall.