Stroke of luck (Hopefully)

While I have been waiting for my machine shops to start work on my head and block (seems they are very busy and my job is about 3-4 weeks out) I ran into someone on Ebay that had a freshly built 351 Cleveland with 4 bolt mains, 4V heads, big valves and big ports for sale (my mouth waters every time I think about this motor). Also, the person was local to me so I wouldn't have to pay to ship the motor. The deal was that the motor had been rebuilt 30 years ago for another project and the project never got finished. The engine has been sitting wrapped up (never been fired). As you can probably tell, I bought the motor. The sale also included 2 intake manifolds, a new complete clutch, water pump, fuel pump, oil pump, dampener and pullies. The heads were changed to studded rocker bolts with pushrod guides. All I have to do is install my distributer, put on my oil pan and install some roller rockers and pushrods to finish the motor off. The biggest issue I have is locating some 4V exhaust manifolds or switch over to headers. I wanted to keep the engine as stock as I could so if anyone knows anyone with a set of 4V cast exhaust manifolds for a 71-73 mustang, send them my way. Looking forward to rocking the streets of Long Beach CA soon.

Are you sure you don't want to put a nice set of headers on that nice engine...

I wouldn’t just fire up a motor that was built 30 years ago. If it were mine I would tear it down and make sure nothing is stuck and everything is well lubed. Valve seals can go bad sitting that long along with a lot of other parts. Minimum I would pull the plugs and oil every cylinder and turn over by hand. Hope no rings are stuck. Hook a drill up to the oil pump shaft and get fresh oil all through that motor before fire up. Make sure you measure for new pushrods properly also. Good luck with the motor!

Congratulations Mark! There are some nice shorty headers available for our engines. If the engine has been sitting for 30 years, you'll want to make sure there is some good lube on the bearings and camshaft lobes. Use a good break in oil and oil prime the engine well before starting. If it has a high-volume oil pump you may want to change to a standard one.

turtle5353 said:

I wouldn’t just fire up a motor that was built 30 years ago. If it were mine I would tear it down and make sure nothing is stuck and everything is well lubed. Valve seals can go bad sitting that long along with a lot of other parts. Minimum I would pull the plugs and oil every cylinder and turn over by hand. Hope no rings are stuck. Hook a drill up to the oil pump shaft and get fresh oil all through that motor before fire up. Make sure you measure for new pushrods properly also. Good luck with the motor!

Click to expand...

Hah! We were typing at the same time!

Cleveland Crush said:

Are you sure you don't want to put a nice set of headers on that nice engine...

Click to expand...

I would love to, but my car has power steering and a manual trans. I have been looking around at Summit and Jegs and no one seems to have a set at any price that fit the manual trans-P/S cars. I would really prefer a set of shortys. I will keep looking as I am sure if anyone has a old set of cast manifolds in good shape they will want a fortune for them.

turtle5353 said:

I wouldn’t just fire up a motor that was built 30 years ago. If it were mine I would tear it down and make sure nothing is stuck and everything is well lubed. Valve seals can go bad sitting that long along with a lot of other parts. Minimum I would pull the plugs and oil every cylinder and turn over by hand. Hope no rings are stuck. Hook a drill up to the oil pump shaft and get fresh oil all through that motor before fire up. Make sure you measure for new pushrods properly also. Good luck with the motor!

Click to expand...

No worries. I plan to do a partial teardown. Probably replace the main seal and check all the valve seals. Definitely do a pre-lube with a drill. Thanks for the input.

I echo what others have said. I'm not against Mystery Engines but, I'd take it apart and check everything. Have the known failure items been changed, muti-groove valves, rod bolt nuts, nylon timing gear, etc. Are the bearing clearance correct? Are all the oil galley plugs in and correct length? Rocker arm geometry, pushrod length and wall thickness, spring pressure. In other words, everything you would do if you were building the engine from scratch. Trust but verify. Good luck with the build.
Chuck

Mark Jones said:

I would love to, but my car has power steering and a manual trans. I have been looking around at Summit and Jegs and no one seems to have a set at any price that fit the manual trans-P/S cars. I would really prefer a set of shortys. I will keep looking as I am sure if anyone has a old set of cast manifolds in good shape they will want a fortune for them.

Click to expand...

https://www.sandersonheaders.com/sa...rd-351c-351m-400m-mustang.html?category_id=76
You'll pay almost as much for stock manifolds.

Sheriff41 said:

https://www.sandersonheaders.com/sa...rd-351c-351m-400m-mustang.html?category_id=76
You'll pay almost as much for stock manifolds.

Click to expand...

I have the Sanderson shorty headers and they fit very well with power steering although my car is an automatic so I can't speak to the manual trans fitment, It doesn't look like they would interfere with the clutch bell crank to me.

Mark Jones said:

I would love to, but my car has power steering and a manual trans. I have been looking around at Summit and Jegs and no one seems to have a set at any price that fit the manual trans-P/S cars. I would really prefer a set of shortys. I will keep looking as I am sure if anyone has a old set of cast manifolds in good shape they will want a fortune for them.

Click to expand...

Many of the listings and application engines are incorrect. Even Hooker/Holley doesn't know what their parts fit. Power steering is a problem only for the 65-70 cars with their external power assist ram, not the 71-73 with the integral Saginaw PS box.

The Hooker Competition 6915 header fits the 4V headed 71-73s with manual transmission. That's what I've been running in my 71-73 4V, 4 speed PS cars since the early 90s. I just installed a set last year on my new 4V engine, and they fit great as always. They're now made in China, but the quality is much, much better than the previous Made in Mexico sets.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-6915hkr

tpj71mach said:

I have the Sanderson shorty headers and they fit very well with power steering although my car is an automatic so I can't speak to the manual trans fitment, It doesn't look like they would interfere with the clutch bell crank to me.

Click to expand...

I was looking at Sanderson, kinda pricey but I think they would do the best job. I dont suppose they line up with the stock exhaust collectors?

Hemikiller said:

Many of the listings and application engines are incorrect. Even Hooker/Holley doesn't know what their parts fit. Power steering is a problem only for the 65-70 cars with their external power assist ram, not the 71-73 with the integral Saginaw PS box.

The Hooker Competition 6915 header fits the 4V headed 71-73s with manual transmission. That's what I've been running in my 71-73 4V, 4 speed PS cars since the early 90s. I just installed a set last year on my new 4V engine, and they fit great as always. They're now made in China, but the quality is much, much better than the previous Made in Mexico sets.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-6915hkr
View attachment 77551

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Tell me, do you install the headers after the engine is installed or do you loose mount them on the engine and then install the motor.

I've been bit by the "fake rebuilt engine" in the past. A couple meth heads took a junker and slapped a fresh coat of paint on it and I learned a life lesson. I dont take any individual's word when it comes to a used engine being rebuilt or gone through or whatever they want to call it. If I didn't see the engine come out of the crate, then I'm assuming its a 200k mile motor.

Hemikiller said:

Many of the listings and application engines are incorrect. Even Hooker/Holley doesn't know what their parts fit. Power steering is a problem only for the 65-70 cars with their external power assist ram, not the 71-73 with the integral Saginaw PS box.

The Hooker Competition 6915 header fits the 4V headed 71-73s with manual transmission. That's what I've been running in my 71-73 4V, 4 speed PS cars since the early 90s. I just installed a set last year on my new 4V engine, and they fit great as always. They're now made in China, but the quality is much, much better than the previous Made in Mexico sets.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hok-6915hkr
View attachment 77551

Click to expand...

Exactly. I first installed my Hookers in my car having a C6 and PS with no issues, even with the instructions saying that it wont. I now have them with a TKO600 transmission and fit well. The first time i installed them with the engine in the car. Since i have a lift i did it from below and it was relatively easy. However, at that time i did not have the steering in place so that may have helped but not that difficult to remove if needed.

Mark Jones said:

Thanks for the info. Tell me, do you install the headers after the engine is installed or do you loose mount them on the engine and then install the motor.

Click to expand...

I installed them from the bottom with the engine in, didn't even have to remove the Z-bar. Front of the car was up on jackstands.

I run FPA headers with PS and 4 speed, no issues.

http://www.fordpowertrain.com/FPAindex/headers2.htm

giantpune said:

I've been bit by the "fake rebuilt engine" in the past. A couple meth heads took a junker and slapped a fresh coat of paint on it and I learned a life lesson. I dont take any individual's word when it comes to a used engine being rebuilt or gone through or whatever they want to call it. If I didn't see the engine come out of the crate, then I'm assuming its a 200k mile motor.

Click to expand...

Lucky for me that the guy had the original receipts for all the work done. Also, the heads and pan were off the engine for a bit of visual comfort.

73inNH said:

I run FPA headers with PS and 4 speed, no issues.

http://www.fordpowertrain.com/FPAindex/headers2.htm

Click to expand...

I sent them an email to get pricing. Thanks!

Hemikiller said:

I installed them from the bottom with the engine in, didn't even have to remove the Z-bar. Front of the car was up on jackstands.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. The long tube headers are a bit less expensive than the shorty's.