71 Ranchero GT questions

Welcome Brett. You should be able to post pictures very soon, you'll be upgraded as soon as the administrator sees your new membership.

I think you can buy most of those things you asked about, those are typical part upgrades and many others have gone through them.

What are you planning for that Cleveland, I love hearing about them.

I don’t know a whole lot about Cleveland’s, and in general I’m new to older engines. I currently just want to get it running good, the cars been sitting for a while. I’m thinking some headers, a good cam, and maybe some new heads in the long run. 

The budget will steer your spending, so concentrate on the things to get it driveable first. Then work your way to the other things and upgrades. Try not to buy things early on until you need them, unless you have a huge budget.

The engine might be relatively easy to get going and running good. But upgrades are an whole different level. Do your budgeting as you go, but once you reach the running fine level, then you should reevaluate what you want from the vehicle, what things really cost.

Then you can set a new budget for the engine or any other big ideas(paint etc). Wait until that running fine level before doing the latest planning, things change often with car projects. The old engines in like original combinations did run good, but nothing like today's stuff of course.

The Cleveland 4V was a much different engine than all other OEM small blocks, those heads made the potential easily a 100hp more than any other SB. But the stock cams and intakes, low compression after 1971, small exhaust etc, it all limited the engines to similar rpm ranges and power levels. The 351C-4V has the potential to make a bunch more power than other 70's engines above 6000rpm. If you use typical dual plane intakes and 70's tech cam technology, the high rpm will not be special at all. It will be like other small blocks, nearly the same power in that 3000-5000rpm range. Plus the bottom rpm's will be mediocre too.

So build yours to match what others commonly do, run a stock rpm range with similar parts, and get what everyone else gets, which is nothing special. But if you want more than that, spend a little more to upgrade to a roller camshaft and lifters, have the simple oiling system upgrade done(to run over 5000rpm), and make the compression at least 10:1 for sure. Use headers and the RPM Air Gap intake, plus the heads must be rebuilt with new valve seats, guides, and valves if they are original parts. You can run 6k or so with the stock pedestal rocker type, but the lift will have to be limited to about .550", aftermarket rockers are not expensive.

Don't use pedestal roller rockers, those are all too weak(the studs are tiny stock 5/16" bolts). The only decent roller rockers mount on 7/16" studs, which requires cutting the heads to install those. Those great aftermarket rockers plus the machine work is fairly expensive, most people skip that cost and choose lesser parts. Note that stud roller rockers are much louder, the sound bothers most people, and it takes great care to get the stud locking jamb nuts properly tight. The bolt down OEM type rockers are much quieter and more reliable almost always, so those should be a first choice.

Do continue as you are planning, there are going to be a lot of things you discover along the way that slow things down, cost more etc. Get it driveable for starters, it's much easier to work on or upgrade, than one that needs a lot more.

I've got plans to refresh my complete 73's 351C-4V. It has closed chamber heads and the prior owner stated he paid about 6k to have it built. But with no real receipts except for the cam and pistons, I suspect it might not have the oiling mods done yet, or the heads properly rebuilt. So I'll take it out and apart, to see what's there to work with. 

So far I've just bought the RPM Air Gap intake, and a new set of 1.75" headers. It takes a long time for machine work to get done, expect months of time to wait for the shop you use. Spend plenty of time looking around for a decent trustworthy machine shop.

If my Cleveland turns out to be nice and usable, best case is to not have to modify the shortblock except in putting it back together with roller cam parts. I know the upgrade for that alone will be more than $1100, the lifters are critical and expensive, you have to carefully plan and measure the rockers and valvetrain geometry etc. If things turn out right, I'll have it shifting automatically around 6000rpm. The right cam and intake will make the 3500-6000 range very special. You shouldn't treat it like they did in the 70's, make the cam really big and don't let off the gas until you reach your rpm goal. It may get to 6500rpm or more, but with a "Performer" intake or similar, and flat tappet cam/lifters, it won't impress much.

The 4V heads are most happy at high rpm, but the stock type intakes and cams are much too small for those huge intake ports. What I'm saying is the combination of parts needs to be much better than any stock level 4V engine, and the oiling system is not adequate for much beyond 5000-5500rpm. The oiling system basic upgrades are not hard for any good machine shop to do, nor very expensive. So don't skip that and later discover spun bearings or other big failures from lack of oil at high rpm. It's not about the oil pump, that should be a good Milodon standard pressure pump.

It's not that hard to get it done, it's just time consuming and some more cost, plus careful selection of parts, and the assembly.

Don is a wealth of knowledge. Rockatansky on this forum is also our resident Cleveland expert.

Check out this project build of a '70 Torino that might give you some ideas for your engine build.  He ended up building a really nice Cleveland for his Torino.