I Have a 351 winsor from an 86 f250 and a 351 cleavland from an 72 grand torino.  I have always heard about the famous cleavland engine but dont know the real story.  All views would be appreciated.  I use this truck daily  as a work truck but pretty soon it will just be my play truck.

Thanks guys and gals, I am new to the site and look forward to hearing from you all.

the cleveland is the tougher of the 2 motors. im a chevy man myself but i must admit both 351 are good motors, but its proven that the cleveland withstands abuse better and is capable of more power etc.  

I have an 88 f250 with the windsor, The 351c is better for speed but the 351w is more for power than speed. Heres a true story. Me and my dad were going to the store in my truck, It started knocking really laud and then it just stopped running, We pull off to the road and it was completely out of oil 100%, we put 5 quarts of oil in it and it fired rite up and havent had any problems since.  

Do you want top-end power or bottom end?

I read in an old Ford magazine that ppl who build a 351W are often disappointed with the top end power and ppl who build a 351C are often disappointed with bottom end power.

I just thought of something though, if there are any stroker kits for the 351C that might be able to put out a lot more bottom end torque and then you'd have a well-rounded engine. Maybe if the 351C was stroked to 400 or more it'd be torquey and still have high horsepower.

It seems the stock 351C's just don't make much low end torque despite any camshaft or valve train combinations.

Does your 351 cleveland have the 4 barrel or 2 barrel if it's the 2 barrel they have small valves and opean combustion chambers if you use this motor and its a 2 barrel look for some 4 barrel heads and only the cobra jet's have 4 bolt mains but all 335 series (351C, 351M,400m) all have the space to convert them to 4 bolt. the only deffience in all 3 motors is the rod length and main bearing size the 351/ 400m's have the largest bearing's, and the tallest deck hight and they use the same bellhousing bolt pattern as the 460 big block the diffence of these motors and the 302,351W is the timeing cover. the C,and M motors has a integrated timing cover in front of the block and the 400M has the longest stroke. the 400M is also referd to as a square motor couse it has the same bore and stroke with is 4.0 in" and in displacement that is a 402 in(6.6 L) making it the larest sb V8 in its time . if you have to have more power you can reduce the stroke of the 351C from 3.5 IN to 3in and have to get some 302 heades with smaller combustion chambers to make up the diffence in the stroke this will turn it to a 302 cleveland  these were built in AUSTRALIA  so you can build with ever motor you wish to do what ever you want is it more low end or high end thats your choice just a little info on what you have P.S. the 351w is a fast reving motor it a shorter stroke the (M) motors is longer stroke these are often built for pulling low end power but either can be built for what you are looking for.

The main advantage a cleveland has over the windsor is the canted valve design compared to non canted valve the windsor has. But you can install a set of cleveland style heads on a windsor. Called clevors set up. dirt trackers used to utilize this big time back in the day. the austrailian head www.chiracing.com or check www.enginemasters.com will give you some good info on several builds. New technology on old iron. I know the 351 windsor has some lower end issues but install stud main girdle to stiffen up and should have problem solved in regular hot rod situation. The cleveland engine is great but headers for 4wd is extremely limited. had to heat and modify a set for a 78 ford 4wd for driveshaft clearance once. But it was a great truck once we got done at 11.5 to compression. It would buzz 7000rpm no problem Great mud runner and daily truck. Cleveland have some oiling issues in sustained high rpm situations but they are easy fix if you do them during overhaul. One of my favorite build I've ever done because of the simplicity and performanced gained in this old truck.  

For a 4wd do not use the 4barrel cleveland head. Not enough cubic inch. I have seen 495 hrspwr with oem/ported heads and 750 two barrel carb from barry grant. But have to be careful not to lean out furthest cylinders. It was a dirt track restriction situation on carb.