Early 351 use
- Thread starter hinleys
- Start date
351W did not turn up in a production car until 69 according to Wikipedia.
Ford small block engine - Wikipedia
So 67 would have made it a prototype engine/development engine of some sort.
Ford small block engine - Wikipedia
So 67 would have made it a prototype engine/development engine of some sort.
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I did some research in Ronnie Spain's book when I opted to go for a 351 in my car. Australian driver Paul Hawkins campaigned chassis AMGT-2 with a 351 in July 1968 at Hockenheim and at the Swedish GP at Karlskoga in August 1968. In 1969 Juncadella, Spice Green and Serra campaigned AMGT-2 at the Barcelona 12 hrs, once again equipped with a 351.
I'm guessing you know the mirage history - i.e. 351 c.i. engines were seen in chassis M.1001, M1002 and M.1003 at a number of races through 1967, 1968 and 1969, including the Nurburgring 1000 km, the Spa 1000 km, the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, the Karlskoga and Skarpnack races in Scandanavia, the Paris 1000 km at Montlhery, and the Kyalami 9 hrs in South Africa.
I'm guessing you know the mirage history - i.e. 351 c.i. engines were seen in chassis M.1001, M1002 and M.1003 at a number of races through 1967, 1968 and 1969, including the Nurburgring 1000 km, the Spa 1000 km, the BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch, the Karlskoga and Skarpnack races in Scandanavia, the Paris 1000 km at Montlhery, and the Kyalami 9 hrs in South Africa.
351w were running in UK events in 1967, BUT they were a far cry from production block 351w. They had 'dropped' combustion chamber that extended down into the cylinders and I think they may have had smaller dia rod & main bearings ( not sure on that ), those early events were under Mirage cars & entrants. So it looks like the engine @ 1967 would have been non production based.
Thanks gents,
I appear to have an early H&M 4bolt 289 block that had it's casting adapted to increase the deck height thus giving a 4 inch bore a cubic cap of around 351. It's got casting number starting with XE and the crank & mains caps have H&M ID and $ stamping. From information found here and elsewhere they are rare as period run units as this one surly was. I'm trying to find evidence that these were in fact run during 67 in a GT (I know JWA used these in their Mirage) in a British or European race as from 68 a 5 litre limitation was initiated and so the 351 could only be used outside of the big championship events thereafter.
I need a GT historian for this one perhaps but any info is usfull.
Thanks,
Sim.
I appear to have an early H&M 4bolt 289 block that had it's casting adapted to increase the deck height thus giving a 4 inch bore a cubic cap of around 351. It's got casting number starting with XE and the crank & mains caps have H&M ID and $ stamping. From information found here and elsewhere they are rare as period run units as this one surly was. I'm trying to find evidence that these were in fact run during 67 in a GT (I know JWA used these in their Mirage) in a British or European race as from 68 a 5 litre limitation was initiated and so the 351 could only be used outside of the big championship events thereafter.
I need a GT historian for this one perhaps but any info is usfull.
Thanks,
Sim.
Hi, thanks for your post here, seems that there isn't anymore info out there other than can be found in the R Spain records of the various cars results ending 1970. My 289/351engine shows various marking, casting number etc. Clearly there were vey few 0f this type ever used so its a rare old find. I have attached (I hope) a few of these for your comments as I would like someone else's view of what exactly I have here.
Thanks again,
Simon.
Attachments
Not A 351 but Rob Walker entry I think it was P1004 try to enter the 1965 with a 5.3 litre /325 engine and had to replace it with the 289 . Should be in Ronnie's book.
might be worth seeing if there is any mention of engine numbers in the "racing in the rain" book.
Racing in the Rain
My Years with Brilliant Drivers, Legendary Sports Cars, and a Dedicated Team
By John Horsman · 2006
Racing in the Rain - Google Books
There is some mention of the 67/11 numbered engine in the "Ford GT40 Anthology"
I cant remember what the XE stands for when it comes to USA ford stuff. Is it "eXperimental Engine". Most of the development and race stuff seems to have XE castings.
The production 351 had larger diameter bearings, that allow for higher load, but carry more friction at higher RPM. Be interesting to know if this block has the smaller bearing sizes.
Racing in the Rain
My Years with Brilliant Drivers, Legendary Sports Cars, and a Dedicated Team
By John Horsman · 2006
Racing in the Rain - Google Books
There is some mention of the 67/11 numbered engine in the "Ford GT40 Anthology"
I cant remember what the XE stands for when it comes to USA ford stuff. Is it "eXperimental Engine". Most of the development and race stuff seems to have XE castings.
The production 351 had larger diameter bearings, that allow for higher load, but carry more friction at higher RPM. Be interesting to know if this block has the smaller bearing sizes.
Interesting discussion on Corral about the XE blocks….
www.corral.net
351W XE Block
www.corral.net
I think its painted red over black but not exactly sure. What is striking is that its clearly been stored for a very very long time but its super clean & no corrosion evidenced. Here are a few more images so you can see what I mean. It is a 4 bolt.
Attachments
Neil
Supporter
When Ford stopped racing in the '70s, there was a great "fire sale" of parts at Holman-Moody. I bought a lot of stuff then; one thing was a Boss 302 Trans-Am block. It had an "XE" prefix serial number and the deck surface was machined for copper O-rings. Your block looks like something similar.
The only reference todate I can find is in R. Spains book where 67/351/01 is the motor that won the first race for JWA & Gulf.
