1982 Ford LTD-S 351W Police Car

[Brown_Muscle]

yeah, headers, 2.25" mustang catted h-pipe, and 2.5" all the way to the tails. No idea if the carb I put on there helped at all, possibly. it's only...350cfm i believe.

I would love to see what yours would put down. the 351 police engine apparently had a "High Output" cam. so it would be interesting to see what a civi 351 puts out, especially a post '84 one

[johnunit]

From everything I've been able to find, I should have the same cam as the police 85's. Not sure if 82's had the earlier smaller cam.

I will say that, assuming you were locked up in 3rd and all the corrections were reasonable, you are putting down 10-15 more HP than I'd come up with from my engine sim software I had a couple years ago. I had my setup (variable venturi carb, underdrive pulleys, otherwise like yours) showing as about 203hp to the crank. Conversion factor has you somewhere around 215hp. In other words, unless I really screwed something up in my inputs your engine is making strong numbers for what it is. 30HP+ from a non-performance carb swap, shorties, and exhaust is a killer gain.

[gadget73]

The stock engine was horribly crippled in terms of airflow, both in and out. I can believe that much gain from letting it breathe a bit.

[johnunit]

The stock engine was horribly crippled in terms of airflow, both in and out. I can believe that much gain from letting it breathe a bit.

Yeah, now that I think about it the discrepancy is probably that I had to handicap the engine elsewhere to get stock HP down to 180 in the simulator. There was no input for just how uneven and pinched-down the exhaust manifolds are, just an average internal diameter. Even with probably giving the stock exhaust too much credit, the simulator always spat out 17-20hp on fairly stock 351w's by going to the BBK mustang shorties and a 2.5" catted system. Either way, good to know that the mods give strong gains and the holley 2 barrel swap makes at least as much power as the stock carb.

[Brown_Muscle]

Yeah, wish I had a reading from when it was stock...

we will see what some ported GT40-Ps and a 4bbl intake and carb do

[Bobcat]

Yeah, wish I had a reading from when it was stock...

we will see what some ported GT40-Ps and a 4bbl intake and carb do

Wooooo!!!

[88Vic]

Get a bigger cam in it too, even a newer off the shelf cam will have more low-mid range than the HO cam does. Is the 82 engine drilled for roller lifters/cam?

[Brown_Muscle]

I'll consider a cam, but since I'm building for fuel economy as well, and the stock cam doesn't do half bad, I may wait and see.

As far as I'm aware (never had the intake and heads off before) It is not drilled. There is a small possibility it has the castings that can be drilled and tapped, however since it's at least a decade before they started using them in the 351, i doubt it.

[murphmobile2]

Why not maybe a towing cam? They're geared more towards lower rpm's for pulling anyways, correct? Shouldn't hurt the mileage, just help move it better off the line...

[88Vic]

If it's probably not then I guess it's not worth the trouble. The heads and 4bbl will wake it up plenty. Also I probably missed it but what axle ratio does it have, being a cop car are you a lucky one with 3.55's?

[Hearsesrock427]

Regarding cams: There's the 31-255-5 unit from Comp Cams. It makes good power in the low RPM range, and might even be compatible with your 351. You'll probably need the HO firing order though. I got quoted $270 for the cam and lifters.

[Brown_Muscle]

the 351 police cars all came with 2.73 rears...unfortunately. However I have a 3.27 trac-lok rear from an aero in there now. I'm fairly certain the heads/intake/carb will do well, and I can always put a different cam in it later.

Anyone know of a nice carb? I know a lot of people go with the edelbrock's 600CFM carbs (1406?), but surely there is something newer that is efficient when I want, and has power when I need it. I also know some carbs have adjustable secondaries- I really like the idea of that.

[johnunit]

What I've gone with is the 600cfm holley vacuum secondary. Mine is a 4160 but a 4150 is basically the same but with changeable secondary jetting. More tube able and usually better power than an edelbrock.

[Brown_Muscle]

you have that on there now? I will also have to figure out how to adapt my rod setup to whatever carb I get, I do not want to go with a cable

[gadget73]

I've never been overly impressed with the Edelbrock carbs. Its a design out of the late 50s, and is about as advanced as you might expect. They're easy to tune, because there is very little that can be adjusted. Every one I've fooled with has always run OK, but never better than OK. Holleys I just don't understand, but I know they have more options. Never owned anything with one, so I've not been forced to learn that black art.