Hey Ford guys... Question for you.

[MosportGreen66]

What is a side-oiler engine?
What is the difference in motor design between a 351 Cleveland and Windsor? (besides plant construction?)

Thanks...
-Dan

[raw muscle cars]

there is no difference one made in windsor canada one made in cleveland ohio i thinks a 427 side oiler has cross bolt drilled mains and an oiler rail along the block and lemans rods..

[PhilS]

The side oiler was introduced in production cars in 65. Big cars and Cobras only to my knowledge. The early FEs oiled from the center or top as some call it. With the new block came new heads. The early street cars had low riser heads and intake and the side oiler had medium riser heads. The high rise version was comp only. Some racers actually prefer the old blocks to the later version. Something about oil timing. The medium riser heads are much superior though. All of the 427s and even a few 406s were cross bolted. The late 427 used in the early GTE Cougars was different still. A step down from the last great 427 of 67. They are prone to core shift and must be sonic tested for even small overbores. Often they require sleeves. Cleveland heads are the ones used on Boss 302s and 351s as well as Panteras. Quite different than the Windsor heads. The Boss engines got 4 bolt mains too.

[prototype]

Big differece between a 351W and 351C

351W is a physically smaller motor and utilzes the same valve covers that a 289 does. 1969 Mach 1 Mustangs had the 351W in them.

351C is larger and breathes much better. The Boss 351 is based on the Cleveland motor.

Ford tip of the day
The easiest way to tell if a Boss 302 or 351 has an original Boss engine is screw in frost plugs.

[mssl72]

"Ford tip of the day
The easiest way to tell if a Boss 302 or 351 has an original Boss engine is screw in frost plugs."

If I unscrew them to check will they get mad?

[PeteLeathersac]

I'm no Ford expert but didn't the Windsor motors have the bolt on aluminum timing chain cover/assy. and the Cleveland an extension of the block w/ steel cover plate? . I seem to recall some Torino/Montegos w/ engine application stickers noting 351-C too but were really the 351-M Modifieds and easy to tell as all M motors had the big 429/460 bellhousing pattern? . Again no Ford expert here....don't claim to be, don't wanna' be and never will be. ~ Pete

[WWMCMike]

The 351 Windsor and the 351 Cleveland are completely different other than both use a 3.5" stroke crank and both have a 4.00" cylinder bore. The 351W has a 3.00" main bearing while the 351C has a 2.75" bearing. The 351W has a 9.5" deck height while the 351C has a 9.2" deck height. As stated earlier, the 351W utilizes a bolt on timing cover while the 351C has the timing cover cast into the block and uses a flat cover plate. And of course, the cylinder heads on the Cleveland are a canted valve large runner design, while the Windsor uses an inline valve design with small runners same as used on Small Ford V-8's from the 260, 289, and 351W. Both use the same Ford "4 Bolt per Cylinder" head bolt pattern.

The Boss 302 took a 4 bolt main 302 Windsor block, uses a bolt on timing cover, and adapted the 351 Cleveland style heads. The Boss 351 is an entirely Cleveland based engine.

Hope this helps.

Mike McCullough