Ford IMCA stock car engine

[WRH]

What is every body running for 500cfm engine option with a ford? GT40 heads on a 351W block or what? Cleveland head? I know next to nothing on ford OEM 2bbl stuff.

[fastford]

the old 2 brl Australian clevland head works good , but the ford 351N head is the best , if you can run them

[Krooser]

I know a guy who swears by the 347 combo as it's lighter... he runs at two non-sanctioned joints who have a 'blended USRA-IMCA-WISSOTA' set of rules.

[WRH]

347 is what I would do but "stroke must match block" is in the rules.

[stock car driver]

347 is what I would do but "stroke must match block" is in the rules.

ford is at disadvantage with 500cfm motor rules due to weight now

[Hurst390]

I'm told this is a ford by many...

[soonermod]

ford is at disadvantage with 500cfm motor rules due to weight now

302 base setup is lighter than a SBC.

[fastford]

I'm told this is a ford by many...

looks like a AMC to me, could be a 304 to a 401.

[stock car driver]

302 base setup is lighter than a SBC.

A 302 is not going to be competetive against a class of 360 cubes on a 4412.

not to mention a 302 with oem block cant keep the crank in it long enough to finish oval track races

[soonermod]

clearly you dont run a Ford. the older blocks will certainly hold fine unless you plan to run in 9000 every night then maybe not. Ford has heads available that flow great as well. no reason a Ford wont be competitive. Keith Craft and others show you can certainly win with a ford in the bmod or sport mod class.

[stock car driver]

clearly you dont run a Ford. the older blocks will certainly hold fine unless you plan to run in 9000 every night then maybe not. Ford has heads available that flow great as well. no reason a Ford wont be competitive. Keith Craft and others show you can certainly win with a ford in the bmod or sport mod class.

Ive raced with guys who have tried to make ford 302 blocks work in the 347 configuration for 22 years and NONE have made it work... The first was a rich guy from Canada and yes he was turning them 8500 in a pavement late model, they ran great blowing the rest of us away... until they broke almost every night out. He resorted to some known boat motor builder building them and still broke those blocks.

the latest I raced with weekly was just a little shop known as speedway motors... they built and broke no less than 10 sbf blocks in 2 seasons. They broke or had main problems with every performance based 302 block. Again building a 347 to be as light as a sbc crate motor... They only turned those 7000. If you open up their catalog you can see they gave up on that and are now using a DART block, not that anyone is buying them....

A ford in the sport mod class as in IMCA would have to match the stroke to the block, so no 302.

Stock car is same thing, not legal.. a 347 would have to run a 350cfm carb.

Since this thread is about IMCA stock car my replies have all been in regards to IMCA stock car legal builds.

[Hurst390]

looks like a AMC to me, could be a 304 to a 401.

Could be a 290!
Whatever it is it runs extremely well, doesn't break, has a steel crank, oem heads that flow over 300cfm, and is lighter than aftermarket chevy heads and blocks.
4.75 bore center and doesn't require a billet cam and tool steel lifters to run a flat tappet over 600 lift...

[fastford]

clearly you dont run a Ford. the older blocks will certainly hold fine unless you plan to run in 9000 every night then maybe not. Ford has heads available that flow great as well. no reason a Ford wont be competitive. Keith Craft and others show you can certainly win with a ford in the bmod or sport mod class.

ive been running the steel head 302 based block for years , it is the best 360 and under combo i have ever dealt with , gm or ford . i use the mexican block with good main studs and a stud girdle, got one right now making 600hp with "N" heads. its also 70 or so pounds lighter than chevy, i also half fill the block with moroso hard block to strengthen the mains. i know these blocks are getting hard to find but ford did cast a b50 sportsman block right at the end of the 302 production era, these are great if you can get one.

[WRH]

I have done extensive testing on chevy 360 deals in IMCA SC. A good one makes about 415-420 peak hp on my dyno. Never messed with a ford though... I have a 70's block and think I am going to go simple route for now and just use a GT40 head on this one to see how it runs. Then maybe a set of Cleveland heads for the next one. Thanks for the replies!

[fastford]

hey WRH check your PM.....