What's going to be the easiest way to figure out what this motor actually is.

So in prep for starting the Daytona Coupe build my thoughts have drifted over to the engine I'll be using from the Mustang donor I purchased. And it has occurred to me I would kinda like to know what camshaft, what stroke, what bore, and other fun stuff like that. Whats gonna be the easiest way for me to figure all this out?

I'm thinking, take one of the heads off, measure stroke from the top of the block, measure CC volume of heads with CC plate and alcohol, measure bore. Can I measure the lift and duration of the cam from the pushrods, or will it need to come out?

I've never messed with pushrod engines before, so help me out GRM.

Edit: It's a 351W block but was advertised as a "stroker" in the CL ad.

get the serial numbers and part number off the block and head- someone should have indexed all of that somewhere on line.

Once you have that- you can measure the thickness of the head and see if it's shaved.

Same with cam.

And measure all of them- it's fun.

Did you drive the donor before pulling the engine?

Take it apart.

That way you know it's good.

I have seen so many "good running" motors have problems I would not do it any other way.

Only going to cost you a gasket kit and save plenty of misery.

alfadriver wrote: get the serial numbers and part number off the block and head- someone should have indexed all of that somewhere on line. Once you have that- you can measure the thickness of the head and see if it's shaved. Same with cam. And measure all of them- it's fun.

it appears the engine in question is a Ford Windsor block.. the numbers off the block really don't mean anything once someone bored it out and throws a crank with a longer stroke in it.. well, it might tell you if it's set up for a factory rolller cam, but just popping a valve cover off and shining a flashlight down a pushrod hole will tell you that.. but, yeah, the only way to know what it is would be to take it somewhat apart and start measuring stuff... bore and stroke are easy to do with a head off, but rod length requires at least one piston to come out.. the camshaft can be measured with a degree wheel and dial indicator, but there is usually a number stamped on the rear face that can tell you what it is- which means that it has to come out..

Tear it down, clean, measure, ring and bearing, enjoy.

Or catch significant problems before they become catastrophic.

Your all wrong the EASIEST way to find out what he has is to run it hard till it grenades and take som measurements off the pieces that fly out.

All of your suggestions are more effective. But not the easiest.

After you measure everything are you still going to put it back together and use this engine the way it is?

If yes why not leave it alone if its a good running engine use it as it is and when you're ready to make some changes then take it apart and do the measurements.

Maybe toss it on the dyno before putting it in the daytona to see what it has four numbers the numbers you get from the Dyno are the ones that are really important.

If you want to pull it apart for fun then have at it. I was just looking at it logically based on a person that doesn't have enough time to get his current projects completed.

Steve

Could be a 408. Look at the crank.

t25torx wrote: So in prep for starting the Daytona Coupe build my thoughts have drifted over to the engine I'll be using from the Mustang donor I purchased. And it has occurred to me I would kinda like to know what camshaft, what stroke, what bore, and other fun stuff like that. Whats gonna be the easiest way for me to figure all this out? I'm thinking, take one of the heads off, measure stroke from the top of the block, measure CC volume of heads with CC plate and alcohol, measure bore. Can I measure the lift and duration of the cam from the pushrods, or will it need to come out? I've never messed with pushrod engines before, so help me out GRM. Edit: It's a 351W block but was advertised as a "stroker" in the CL ad.

The only difference with push rod/ohc engines is in the way the valves are operated. All principals remain the same.

scottdownsouth wrote: Could be a 408. Look at the crank.

PAW used to sell 427 kits for them...

novaderrik wrote:

scottdownsouth wrote: Could be a 408. Look at the crank.

PAW used to sell 427 kits for them...

PAW -- dang -- are they still around???

Unfortunately, I haven't seen them in a long time. They were great!

I knew people who used to think "stroker" meant it was overbored.

You don't know what you got until you open it up and see for yourself. Until then all you have is hearsay.

If you are recalcitrant to knock the heads off of it, I bet and industrious fellow could learn just as much by pulling the pan and measuring things from the bottom.

Or perhaps a boroscope down the spark plug holes and see if you can't find some sort of stamping on the piston to give you an idea of diameter. Stroke could probably also be done through the spark plug holes now that I think about it, but that would probably be a fiddly operation and might be lacking in precision or repeatability.

But the again the question was "easiest way", not "best way".

gaskets are cheap... pull that sucker apart and start measuring.

If it's a stock casting, any bore difference is going to be negligible. You're not going to bore a Windsor to any significant degree, any overbore is simply going to be a cleanup on a worn block.

Stroke is what's important. It would be hard to do that through a plug hole but it'd be a relative piece of cake with the oil pan off. That would also allow you to see what crank and rods are in there. And resealing the oil pan now is a heck of a lot easier than when it's in chassis.

I think if I were going to spend time building a Daytona coupe, I would be inclined to rebuild the engine just so I know that I won't have to do it when it blows in the first thousand miles after I finished the car. That would really bum me out...