Cleveland powered box?

[Lincolnmania]

well i just talked to my buddy, he found my cleveland 2v heads and crank that have been mia since 03.......the block is covered with dust at my friends machine shop and i have the rest of the goodies at my parents house

my 86 vic wagon burns oil really bad (qt every 100 mi) so i'd like to freshen up this cleveland and drop it in.......this is a 73 block, i'm no specialty engne builder like you guys.....i'm the mang that makes it all run and no other parts fall off the cars and stop good lol......i know the 73 motor was low compression....what do i need an engine kit for a 70/71 cleveland? i wanna be able to run on 87 octane, so 11:1 is out of the question.....and i dont have the bucks to get crazy with this one, simple 4bbl intake, 4bbl carb, mild cam.....with a fresh rebuild.....will be an aod behind it with prob a 3.55 rear.....what oil pan do i need? is this a worthwhile project? car needs a gas tank anyway and the fuel pump is noisy as hell

[nitroracer]

Sounds like a good use for a homeless cleveland.

[gadget73]

I think the drop in compression had a lot to do with bigger chambers in the heads. Should be able to shave them down to bump it back up. No idea if they had dishes in the pistons or anything like that.

first thought that comes to mind for an EFI solution is one of those adapters used for 351 Clevors, one side bolts to the Cleveland head, the other side bolts to a 302 manifold. http://www.pricemotorsport.com/Intake_Adapters/AP-06C_and_AP-06W/ap-06c_and_ap-06w.html Looks like 245 bucks for the adapters.

[Grand Marquis GT]

Not a bad idea, really...

[Mercracer]

The ticket to pump gas and a Cleveland is closed chamber heads. It isn't the compression ratio, it is the crappy open chamber design. For all-out drag racing power, the open chamber heads are preferred because there is no shrouding of the valves. Expensive race gas is needed to take advantage of this though. A closed chamber head and a Keith Black hypereutectic piston with a 13cc dish will give you about 9.8:1 compression.
With open chamber heads, a stick or an automatic with a looser than stock converter is called for along with 3.55 or better gears.
I ran a Cleveland 4V head engine with a FMX w/stock converter and 3.50 gears and had no problems with a soft bottom end. I ran a mild cam and was happy with it. Just enough lump to let you know that you don't have a stock 302 in there but it idled fine with nice manners.
If a 4V head or an Australian 2V head is out of the picture, then I would think about polishing the chambers of the regular 2V heads so that the chance of hot spots would be diminished. Premium fuel along with conservative timing would be a must.
For oil pans, you may be able to find a 351M/400 dual sump truck pan. Otherwise there are a million Fox body swap pans out there.

[Pirate]

My experience with 1970-1971, 9:1 compression, open-chamber 2v clevelands? Some recommendations:

1. simple flat top hypereutectic with valve reliefs, KB piston for example

2. Make sure it is a D3 cleveland head, with no exhaust thermactor bumps, as in the later 351M/400 heads

3. A comp 268 high-energy, or 270 Magnum cam is excellent for this engine. I have ran both, plus a few others.

4. Valvesprings, and stainless valves are an absolute necessity, Clevelands like to break stock valve heads off when bigger springs are used...I have pulled a couple apart, however, that broke valves with stock springs. Clevelands have a heavy valvetrain. Got any extra money? Get the Comp Cams beehive springs and mini retainers, they shave a shitload of weight and spring pressure from the regular double and triple valvesprings. Yes, they work.

5. A simple Edelbrock aluminum dual-lane 4V intake for the 2V heads works great. Don't get any of the other garbage intakes for a 2v head, single plane, blah blah. Good luck finding one cheap, however, I only got lucky once, and bought it for $25 on Ebay. I flipped it, and sold it again for $125 right back on Ebay. Amazing what a nice picture will do for you. It is also possible to use a 351C 4V intake, but you will have an obvious step to deal with. I know of a couple of guys that ran the 4V intake, step and all, and claim they ran great. Once again, make sure any intake you run is a dual plane.

6. Using exhaust manifolds? Get a set of early 1970-1971 351C 2V units, as they use a 2 1/4" exhaust outlet. Smaller 1972 and later units use a 2". It is also possible to use 4V exhaust manifolds, but it is a pain in the ass to get them to seal up. There is also a possibility of using a 400 truck manifold, and they may actually work better, due to most trucks using a 400 run a rear-sump pan. I haven't researched it.

7. Oil pans? 351M or 400 Truck rear sump pan and oil pump pickup, they bolt straight on, no problems.

8. Carb? If running a dual plane 4v intake, a 600 holley will be fine, I prefer a 750, however.

9. distributor? Grab a duraspark and wiring out of a 351m-400-460 truck or 1975-up 351M-400-460....and put in the lightest advance springs you can find (Mr. Gasket kit for HEI's), they all bolt right in.

10. If you are going to keep a fairly mild cam in there, remember to throw away the stock aluminum rocker arm fulcrum ramps, and replace them with later hard metal 351M-400-460 ramps, as the aluminum fulcrums wear out and make noise.

With a good cam? This engine, even with good manifolds instead of headers, should make an easy 300-330 HP, depending on how the engine is set up, and who is doing the tuning. I have several of these 2V engines under my belt, in various states of tune, and is the first Ford engine I started out with.

Some other notes: You will not be able to get away with much ignition advance. 10-12 initial, maybe, unless you run super (and you still won't get much above 14 degrees), as these open-chamber heads have zero quench.

[gadget73]

More important considerations though, what are you going to use for AC?

[Mercmarquis]

That is one of the main things you need to worry about with a cleveland, PS pump, alt and a/c compressor. Along with headers/exhaust. Looking back I wish I woulda considered buying the cleveland tom has sitting around. Seeing as the only accessories I'm running right now are a water pump and alt. Headers would have been a bitch tho.

[Mercracer]

Windsor to Cleveland bracket adapters are available.

[gadget73]

Hmm, more info on this? I'm not having much luck with Google.