Whither the 5.8 VV after 1985?

[Billy]

It wouldnt surprise me if they already had the modular designed in the late 80s and had already planned to put it in the panther platform.

[watchdog]

I have a 91 CV 351W and it runs great. Not fast mind you but well. I have had 5.0 LO Police vics in the past and yes, they do run out of steam pretty quick. My 351 pulls for a lot longer, not any harder, just longer. (there's a joke in there somewhere) A couple of years ago I ditched the VV and swapped in an Edlebrock 650 4bbl and a performer intake. That woke the motor up a little. Not much but it definitely made a difference. In the future I'm thinking a cam and heads and I should have something respectable. I'm going for the completely stock look so nothing crazy.

TRWP72 has a 91 with a HO swap and his will run circles around mine.

[P72Crazy]

I'm sure your intake and carb swap helped the performance of the 351. I have contemplated it myself, but with fuel at nearly 3.50 / gal my Vic's have become toys. Expensive toys........

[johnunit]

What people don't realize about the post 1983(roughyl) vic 351w's:

They have a much more aggressive cam than 5.0s.

208 intake and 221 (I've also heard 219) exhaust @0.050 for the 351w's. .444 lift too.

More aggressive than an HO cam.

the lopo 5.0 cam is (according to rockauto, don't quote me) 183 intake 192 exhaust and .376/396 lift.

That's a BIG difference. There are "performance" cams with less lift and duration than the 351 Vic cam. It's just about the only thing about that engine that's truly 'pursuit heavy dude cop shocks cop tires zomg'.

[johnunit]

What people don't realize about the post 1983(roughyl) vic 351w's:

They have a much more aggressive cam than 5.0s.

208 intake and 221 (I've also heard 219) exhaust @0.050 for the 351w's. .444 lift too.

More aggressive than an HO cam.

the lopo 5.0 cam is (according to rockauto, don't quote me) 183 intake 192 exhaust and .376/396 lift.

That's a BIG difference. There are "performance" cams with less lift and duration than the 351 Vic cam. It's just about the only thing about that engine that's truly 'pursuit heavy dude cop shocks cop tires zomg'.

[P72Crazy]

Working around a bunch of Ford mechanics in the 80s and early 90s, I heard the stories about the 351 HO engine cam shaft. I wasn't going to bring it up b/c I have no way to confirm it. I was told the 351 HO cam was not available for sale (over the counter) and if you needed one it had to be purchased on "state letterhead". The grind profile was offered in a "marine application" but something about the marine application with the engine being "reversed" (maybe engine assy rotates opposite) would not make it applicable for an auto application. I haven't given all this much thought b/c I'm not into engine building or racing. I just liked having tough old cars that would go up to 500K miles without a lot of extra maintenance. I've seen these old CVPIs do better than 450K (in taxi service) on the original engine.

[johnunit]

Working around a bunch of Ford mechanics in the 80s and early 90s, I heard the stories about the 351 HO engine cam shaft. I wasn't going to bring it up b/c I have no way to confirm it. I was told the 351 HO cam was not available for sale (over the counter) and if you needed one it had to be purchased on "state letterhead". The grind profile was offered in a "marine application" but something about the marine application with the engine being "reversed" (maybe engine assy rotates opposite) would not make it applicable for an auto application. I haven't given all this much thought b/c I'm not into engine building or racing. I just liked having tough old cars that would go up to 500K miles without a lot of extra maintenance. I've seen these old CVPIs do better than 450K (in taxi service) on the original engine.

It was definitely 'special', but wasn't restricted. Here in Canada, you could get them as a civilian, and naturally replacements ere readily available.

Don't get me wrong, it's not some crazy lumpy race cam. But it's enough that I had a lot of people guess that it wasn't a stock cam. Combined with a converter that stalls at 1200-1300rpm, it really does give the feel of a car that is all top-end horsepower. Bizarre in a 351CI 2 barrel.

[P72Ford]

More aggressive than an HO cam.

Because theres slightly more duration at 0.050" lift?

More important is the actual lobe profile.

And we all know that a roller cam is capable of much greater ramp profiles than a flat tappet cam.

My point is that cam profile measurements at a certain interval don't actually mean all that much. We use them because it often paints a simple picture of what you'd expect from the cam. But two camshafts could have the same measured duration (at the same lift) and max lift, and one could still grossly outperform the other.