351 windsor tuning

[tommy18]

Hi,
About to start rebuilding a 1971 351 windsor to put into a southern GT GT40 and need some advise as what mods would get me what I need.
Originally I was looking into stroker kits but I'm starting to think to much torque will destroy the renault un1 gearbox quickly.
The gearbox will be freshly rebuild with a quafe lsd and a high ratio 5th gear.

I'll be using weber 48 IDA carbs for the original look and if I was to use aftermarket Aluminium heads, roller rockers and forged pistons, performance camshaft what sort of power could I expect?
Would the standard crank be ok?
I'm new to ford V8's and any advice would be welcomed.
Thanks

Edited by tommy18 on Friday 10th July 10:56

[KevinCamaroSS]

I cannot answer your question directly, however, I believe the De Tomaso Pantera was fitted with the Windsor engine and they were around 330-350 bhp.

Hope this helps.

[anonymous-user]

KevinCamaroSS said:

I cannot answer your question directly, however, I believe the De Tomaso Pantera was fitted with the Windsor engine and they were around 330-350 bhp.

Hope this helps.

The Pantera switched to 351W early in the GT5S model run once the supply of 351 Clevelands dried up. By then the 351W was only good for around 200bhp! Buying one new, DeTomaso had an expensive "compulsory" engine upgrade to bump up performance. Unfortunately, it is well known now that they "forgot" to put anything decent in there and you ended up with the miss-match of an 8:1 compression smog engine with headers, dubious cam and double pumper holley carb. At best it "might" have been good for 220-230bhp.

I soon got fed up with the performance of mine and did things properly with a 393 stroker setup - the only thing left original was the block. This turned the car into what it should have been all along. The ZF was likely at its limits handling the torque, but it was a fantastically flexible engine and like night and day to drive before/after the work.

[KevinCamaroSS]

Hi Andy, got and photos of yours, sounds iinteresting!