For The Car Folks. 351 Cleveland vs 351 M same year?

[DrB]

Thanks folks.  A lot of info to drift through.. 

Dave..

[janice6]

9 minutes ago, windowasher said:

I have a 1969 Mustang Mach I that came with the 351 Windsor.  The 351C wasn't introduced until 1970 Mach I

Yes I should have remembered that, and I corrected myself in a subsequent post.  The C wasn't offered when I bought my Torino GT.

[Lazy R]

There was no 351 in 1968. 351 Windsor (a tall deck 302) was introduced in 1969. The 351 Cleveland was introduced in 1970. Its "father" was the 1969 Boss 302, a Windsor engine with the Cleveland heads. However the 69 heads (pretty much the subsequent 4 barrel 351 Cleveland heads) had too large of ports and didn't make power till like 6000 rpm, and the 1970 Boss 302 went to a smaller port so they'd have power a bit further down in the RPM range. The 70 Boss 302 heads were more like the 2 barrel Cleveland heads.

Funny that Ford had **** heads on everything through the 60's muscle car era, then plopped these heads on a small block that had such huge ports they didn't work till the last bit of RPM range. And the plain jane 302's had the same crappy heads all the way through 1995. Exhaust port so small you couldn't put your thumb through it.

The 351 Clevelands made better street engines with the 2 barrel heads. The 4 barrel heads had very large ports and valves. I don't know what Ford engineers were thinking through all this. 

351 M (Milford plant manufacture) is just a heavy crank truck engine.

Gapp and Roush killed with the Cleveland in Pro Stock in a Pinto in the early 70's.

[janice6]

I'm going to quit posting in this thread. 

It seems that my old age is screwing up my memory bad and my facts are wrong.  I first posted that I had a 68 Ford Torino GT which meant that since my previous car was a 67 Mustang, I had traded after one year.  I distinctly didn't trade after one year since my rule back then was two years on the car than into a new one.  I even told the dealer that two years on my Mustang was all I trusted it since I followed the factory recommendation on oil change intervals and I had never gone that long between oil changes before.

That meant that 2 years later had to be a '69 Ford Torino, not a 68 as I originally stated.  Also, I distinctly remember the 351W engine since the announcement for the 351 C came after I had the Torino for a while.   

I apologize to all car buffs that knew I was wrong in both respects.  I found I was thinking one thing and typing another, then proof reading for spelling and grammar, not facts.  Sorry to all that had to correct my errors.

[tous]

You obviously need more naps, sir.

Please tells us that your Torino wasn't tomato red with the a huge white stripe.

Yes, I know the Starsky and Hutch version was mid-70s, but I'm old and comedy is hard to come by.

[janice6]

47 minutes ago, tous said:

You obviously need more naps, sir.

Please tells us that your Torino wasn't tomato red with the a huge white stripe.

Yes, I know the Starsky and Hutch version was mid-70s, but I'm old and comedy is hard to come by.

I said I wouldn't do this, but:  It was a 2 door HT GT version, 351 Windsor. Emerald Green body and Vinyl top (I liked vinyl tops and would put them on a few of my cars) with parchment White interior.  I liked White interiors.  Because of my off time body business I had a good relationship with an interior supply firm and I got vinyl tops in almost any pattern and color available.  Chrome molding and clips were from the same place.  A complete top, my installing, cost me about $50.

No stripes, I don't like stripes.

I made the hood scoop into a real one by constructing another scoop in the Air cleaner lid so it just fit inside of the hood scoop when the hood was down.  I used a foam insert for token air filtering.  I constructed a vacuum motor with linkage on a flap that sealed the hood scoop so it would draw air through the normal filter path.  When you pressed the accelerator hard the flap would open under the top air scoop to pull in cooler air from above the hood.  it worked well.   It made a slight difference, more if the air was cold.  The effect was slight but still noticeable.

By the time I got this car, it was my concession to a "family car" since it had a real back seat, as compared to the Mustang.  I had four kids by then.

 

I used to drive my SIL nuts when she would sit in the front seat.  The bench seat and a four speed on the floor meant that when she sat in the middle I would stick out my little finger while shifting and it would ride up her leg (a little) and she would jump.  Then she would start apologizing to my wife for startling her.  She and I made it a career trying to embarrass each other.  Some good funny stories there.

Edited June 12, 2019 by janice6

[Lazy R]

4 hours ago, janice6 said:

I'm going to quit posting in this thread. 

It seems that my old age is screwing up my memory bad and my facts are wrong. 

I apologize to all car buffs that knew I was wrong in both respects.  I found I was thinking one thing and typing another, then proof reading for spelling and grammar, not facts.  Sorry to all that had to correct my errors.

No worries man, I do like to hear the stories from back in the day even when the details get a little foggy!