1982 Ford LTD-S 351W Police Car

[Tiggie]

If your driving habits are like mine (mostly conservative old man style), the stock cam and valve springs will be okay. Nothing wrong with stump pulling torque at low rpm, smooth idle, and fair mpg.

If you are going north of 5K rpm, I’d consider new springs.

I prefer 351’s as lower rpm engines anyway. Crank is a bit heavy to swing quickly. Just a preference of mine. I am sure lots of people run ‘em past 6k with and without problems. Not me.

[Brown_Muscle]

I'm pretty much an old man driving, if i bring it to shift at 4500RPM (where it normally shifts) it's an exciting day.

[DerekTheGreat]

170HP/271ft-lbs at the rear wheels is pretty respectable. I've driven crap that was much worse haha. Wouldn't a stock LoPo SEFI car be about 131HP/250ish at the rear wheels?

[Kodachrome Wolf]

170HP/271ft-lbs at the rear wheels is pretty respectable. I've driven crap that was much worse haha. Wouldn't a stock LoPo SEFI car be about 131HP/250ish at the rear wheels?

Assuming 15% driveline loss on a single exhaust SEFI LoPo rated at 150 HP, that's 128 HP, so yeah, depending on the condition of the car your ball park is pretty accurate for RWHP.

Your current output of 170 RWHP is pretty close to a 90s 4.6, but you make a ton more torque at the wheels compared to one of those. That engine should make that car lighting on its feet with a new top end.

[gadget73]

I seem to recall NA dynoing his stock tired lopo at like 123 rwhp which seems in the ballpark once you figure dyno, weather, and wear variables.

Considering the Continental is rated at 115 hp and 180 ft-lb and its adequate for old man driving I'd say you're fine.

For whatever its worth, typical stock HO numbers are fairly close to what you're getting, though the power is at a higher rpm and they're absolute shit under 2500 rpm.

[DerekTheGreat]

...For whatever its worth, typical stock HO numbers are fairly close to what you're getting, though the power is at a higher rpm and they're absolute shit under 2500 rpm.

After owning an HO equipped Mark VII with 3.08's, this is accurate. Although while the torque doesn't put you in your seat at lower RPM's like a LoPo 302's, the car does seem to accelerate just as quickly in part throttle situations under 2,500 rip'ems.

[gadget73]

I will say that the HO responds to improvements in the lower intake more than you'd believe though, even with the stock heads. Ported stock lowers on an otherwise stock engine will improve the weak low rpm performance considerably. Doesn't turn it into lopo off-idle torque but its certainly a lot less "wait for it, wait for it, there we go".

[DerekTheGreat]

I will say that the HO responds to improvements in the lower intake more than you'd believe though, even with the stock heads. Ported stock lowers on an otherwise stock engine will improve the weak low rpm performance considerably. Doesn't turn it into lopo off-idle torque but its certainly a lot less "wait for it, wait for it, there we go".

[Brown_Muscle]

Well 3 days turned into 6.... Nick aka Cheesesteakjim and I pulled the engine and trans, regasketed everything, put GT40 heads on it, and painted the engine. Lots of scrubbing and degreasing. The stock pushrods were the correct length.

A word of warning. Both pioneer and Anchor motor mounts are crap. The pioneer one was angles so badly we couldnt get the engine in. The Anchor one was good enough to make it happen, but I still had to cut the crap out of the motor mounts to make sure the metal part of the mount wasn't touching the metal part of the bracket. Absolutely AWEFUL quality. All in all it took us an extra 8 hours of cutting and fiddling to get the motor into the mounts.

The felpro 1 piece oil pan gasket is leaking in the rear, it doesn't appear to be the rear main. Online people have stated that even though fel-pro says not to use RTV...they've had to. so I have to figure out a way to slightly drop the pan and squish some in there while its still in the car.

My radiator cracked on the way home, it's a 4 year old spectra 3 core brass one, so just be wary... I ordered a 2 core aluminum champion unit, the core is actually thicker than my current one (1 5/8 current vs 1 3/4 new). We will see how it does.

Ordered a new power steering pump because my original one is leaking like a pig...it always was, however it wasn't as noticeable with everything else leaking. Oh and my transmission cable is leaking pretty good, not out of the tailshaft housing but the cable itself, between the metal crimp and the sheathing..ordered a new one.

Besides that she's got a NOTICEABLE increase in power, finally feels like there's a V8 in there. She's not fast, but torque is up. I also drug 700 pounds of engine and parts in my trunk home, and got 17.6MPG over a 210 mile trip. That's only a little less than what I got before without the weight and my nose up, so I have a feeling efficiency is up. Based on what I found i went from 8.3 compression ratio to 8.8, a nice little bump.

[gadget73]

Good deal. Makes me wonder what mounts I put in my car because they didn't give me any trouble that I recall. I did them with the engine in the car though. I had the lower control arms out for suspension work so I did the mounts. I know I've had the motor out since and it went back in too.

[87gtVIC]

Nice job.

I dont have a 351 but the newest mounts I put onto the Vic gave me hell. I to had to cut shit to make it work. Previous set went in without issue. I was changing the engine though so I wanted that new new in there.

Good luck with getting the rest of things sorted.

[Brown_Muscle]

New speedo cable fixed the trans leak. I installed the new PS pump, only to discover today it has a slight leak out of the shaft seal. It seemed to have a decent amount of lateral play on the bench, so I was skeptical. Mine was a rebuild A1 cardone. I'll be returning it, does anyone have any recommendations as far as rebuilt units? I also would consider rebuilding my old one, has anyone done this, is it difficult?

I also installed a new 2 row aluminum radiator, mentioned in another post. Car runs 5 degrees cooler in all conditions in comparison to the 3 row spectra brass radiator. Pretty pleased with that, we shall see how long it lasts.

[Grand1]

Everything is cool!
Put a cheap oiler cooler in there right by your(new radiator)? Just a thought.

[gadget73]

The pump I stuck on the Towncar was just a unit from Napa. Works fine, doesn't leak, doesn't make that Ford PS pump noise.

I have a seal kit and the tools to install them if you want. Its in my Fox rack service kit. Never done it but if you've got a pump that leaks now, about the worst that will happen is it will still leak.

[Brown_Muscle]

Thanks man, it came with an oil, trans, and power steering cooler from the factory, part of the police package.

Yeah I may just return this to rockauto and go local, easier to return if the next one is sub-par. Sounds like its not worth my time to rebuild if it requires special tools