Strokers Wild: Part 2

After you build a serious 347 cubic inch Ford five liter -- complete with ported Trick Flow Twisted Wedge aluminum heads and a high flow EFI intake -- what do you do for an encore? Build a bigger, badder brother.

In this second installment of the Stroker’s Wild engine series, you'll see a 393 cubic inch 351 Windsor. If you are just tuning in, Stroker's Wild is documenting the buildup of three Ford stroker motors -- the 347 cube 5.0L in the first installment, this 351W, and a 520 cubic inch 460 in Part 3. Then, all three will be taken to the dyno and flogged until they come up with some big numbers.

Even though the 347 is probably the most popular small block Ford stroker variant (with 100 billion or so five liters to build one from, do you have to ask why?), the 393 is starting to get some attention.

First and foremost, the 393's extra 42 cubic inches mean power, and lots of it. Need low and midrange grunt for a street car or for towing? A 393 is a veritable torque monster. Horsepower? Properly built, a 393 can make an easy 450 to 500 HP. And all in a package that will fit under the hood of a Mustang. Well, a tall hood.

A 393 can be pretty inexpensive to build. The only custom piece you really need is the crank -- the rest of the combination uses a .030 in. overbored stock block, stock length 351W rods, and stock-type 302 pistons. If you're conservative with the rest of the engine, you can get those extra 42 cubes for just a few bucks more than a stock-stroke 351W buildup.

This 393 is designed with a hot street/bracket race Mustang in mind -- a Mustang with a 150-shot of nitrous oxide. The engine features goodies like a Summit cast stroker crank and H-beam rods, Trick Flow/Arias 10:1 forged pistons, Crane roller cam, Trick Flow R-Series aluminum heads, and a Holley 750 cfm double pumper on an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake.

This combo can get close to that 500 horse figure before turning on the nitrous. If you can't have fun with this motor, you can't have fun.

Roller Cams for Everybody Want to run a roller cam and roller lifters in your non-roller 221-302, 351W, Boss 302, or 351 Cleveland? It's as simple as getting a Crane Retrofit Roller Lifter Installation Kit and matching camshaft. The kit doesn't require any machining of the block -- just drop the stuff in and you have yourself a roller cam setup. The installation kit includes hydraulic roller lifters, special lifter guidebars, a guidebar hold-down plate (also called the spider), reinforcing bar, and hardware. You will need to get one of Crane's retrofit cams; they have an extra-small base circle that makes the swap work. You'll also need longer pushrods and a steel or bronze distributor drive gear, which Crane also has available. Take a look and see just how easy this swap is. The first step for installing the Crane Retrofit Roller Lifter Kit is to determine which of the center oil return holes is needed to mount the kit's reinforcing bar. Special threaded inserts are then installed using the tool provided in the kit (Click thumbnail 1). We use the middle holes for the inserts (Click thumbnail 2). You can compare the Crane "retrofit" hydraulic roller cam on the right with the stock roller on the left (Click on thumbnail 3 for a larger illustration). Designed for use in pre-roller cam blocks like the 1979 351W, the cam is ground on a very small base circle for use with the roller lifters and guidebars in Crane's Roller Lifter Retrofit Kit. This is the reinforcing bar that is bolted to the block (click thumbnail 4). The bar also serves as a spacer to properly position the lifter guidebar hold-down over the guidebars. Note the threaded bolts that will keep the bar and hold-down in place. With the hydraulic lifters and guidebars in place (click thumbnail 5), the hold-down (more commonly known as the spider) is snugged down with nylock nuts. Retrofitting a roller cam really is that simple!

Click on these thumbnail photos for larger illustrations. Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5

Block:
1979 351W with .030 in. overbore
Crankshaft:
Summit, cast 3.850 in. stroke
(SES-5-53-05-000)
Connecting Rods:
Summit H-beam, 5.955 in. long
(SES-5-48-05-200)
Pistons:
Trick Flow/Arias 10:1, forged
(TFS-51404010)
Piston Rings:
Speed-Pro, plasma moly
(SLP-R9771035)
Main Bearings:
Federal Mogul
(FEM-5078M)
Connecting Rod Bearings:
Federal Mogul
(FEM-3380CPA)
Camshaft Bearings:
Federal Mogul
(FEM-1204M)
Camshaft:
Crane hydraulic roller
(CRN-449761)
Roller Cam Retrofit Kit with Lifters:
Crane (CRN-44306-1)
Timing Set:
Cloyes True Roller
(CLO-9-3135)
Harmonic Damper:
ATI
(ATI-918911)
Oil Pump:
Melling high volume
(MEL-M83HV)
Oil Pump Pickup:
Moroso
(MOR-24514)
Oil Pump Shaft:
Ford Motorsport
(FMS-M6605A341)
Oil Pan:
Moroso 7 quart
(MOR-20520)
Cylinder Heads:
Trick Flow Twisted Wedge R-Series
(TFS-52400002)
Rocker Arms:
Trick Flow, roller, 1.6 ratio
(TFS-51400520)
Pushrods:
Trick Flow, chromemoly, 8.500 in. long
(TFS-21408500)
Valve Springs:
Crane
(CRN-99895-16)
Valve Covers:
Trick Flow, cast aluminum
(TFS-51411802)
Intake Manifold:
Edelbrock Victor Jr. 351
(EDL-2981)
Carburetor:
Holley, 750 cfm, double pumper
(HLY-0-80528-1)
Distributor:
MSD Billet
(MSD-8578)
Spark Plug Wires:
MSD (MSD-31329)
Water Pump:
Meziere, electric
(MEZ-WP111B)
Water Pump Blockoff Plate:
Meziere
(MEZ-WP113B)
Flywheel:
Ram
(RAM-1527)
Gasket Set:
Trick Flow
(TFS-51400915)
Main Cap Studs:
ARP
(ARP-154-5403)
Cylinder Head Studs:
ARP
(ARP-154-4003)
Camshaft Bolt:
ARP (ARP-255-1001)
Harmonic Damper Bolt:
ARP
(ARP-150-2501)
Rocker Arm Studs:
ARP
(ARP-100-7101)
Flywheel Bolts:
ARP
(ARP-350-2802)
Engine Accessory Bolt Kit:
ARP
(ARP-554-9503)
Expansion Plug Kit:
HPX
(HPX-710-585)
Valve Cover Hold-Downs:
Summit T-handle
(SUM-G3421)