In 2019 the decision was made to finally look for a replacement for our reliable but tired, Ford 351C engine. The Cleveland powerplant had provided us with consistent power and torque on demand for 9 years but had become temperature temperamental. Cooling the 351C had become such an issue that the co-driver had to stare nearly constantly at the temp gauges watching the needle climb before ordering the driver to back down or worse yet, pull over to cool things down. After phone discussions with Ford Performance in Detroit, it was determined that an appropriate replacement would be a combination of reliability and sensible power with period-correct packaging.
Another requirement of this new motor would be a lower compression configuration to run on sometimes questionable Mexican pump gas. The Ford Performance X2347 crate engine is based on a 302 small block Ford stroked to 347 and comes dialed in with aluminum heads, Edelbrock intake Holley carburetor, MSD distributor and wires. In addition to the power increase compared to the old Cleveland (+150 hp) we also lost a significant amount of weight (approx 400lbs) which combined was the biggest change we've ever made to the truck. We bolted up a pair of James Duff's long tube headers and plumbed it out the back in stainless steel pipe to the Magnaflow performance muffler... she sounds wicked!
The 2019 Mexican 1000 was memorable for the lack of cooling issues but perhaps mostly for the smiles the application of throttle created on the mustached drivers. Every corner exit was a joy to mash the skinny pedal and listen to that V8 sing!
- DHM 26
