Despite what you might believe, at OnAllCylinders, we love pretty much any kind of vehicle.
In the context of automakers, that means we like Ford AND Chevy AND Mopar AND a bunch of this and that from overseas.
Generally, not any one over the other. Like many things in life, math can influence how we feel about the world. Of Detroit’s Big Three, General Motors produced the most vehicles and the most engines. So GM, namely Chevy, gets a lot of discussion time.
But Ford Motor Co. made a lot of vehicles too, and we found some on Instagram by searching #Ford, like a bunch of smarties. You should check them out because several are quite awesome.
I have to admit that I’m one of the people that complain frequently about what I perceive to be a noticeable lack of Ford vehicle coverage. The aftermarket also has some of the most impressive and largest selection of OEM and performance parts for the Classic and current generation of Mustangs than ever offered before but most of it never gets mentioned in the media.
It’s great to see the expanded coverage featuring some excellent examples of Ford vehicles in this edition of On All Cylinders. I hope to see more of this in the future. OAC always does a good job of keeping the readers well informed of the latest trends involving the classics as well as the newest cutting edge automotive technology.
When it comes to Ford and the technology they utilize in their new performance vehicles, even most non Ford guys will acknowledge the impressive performance of the small displacement naturally aspirated and Supercharged Coyote Engine family. The modern Ford power train gets a good deal of positive coverage in the media.
But there’s an old school pushrod Ford Small Block that, thanks to modern design technology, is making a strong comeback but definitely isn’t getting the media attention that it deserves. It’s the one that got plenty of attention while it dominated Pro Stock and NASCAR until it was conveniently “factored out” of competition by the sanctioning bodies and their mighty rule books.
It’s part of Ford’s “335 Series” of Small Block Engines and better known as the 351 Cleveland engine. Thanks to internet ignorance and a few publications by misinformed journalist, the 351C got a bad reputation as being unreliable when built to take advantage of its 4-V quench chamber heads flow potential. The finger of doom pointed at the production block oiling system design which directed oil to the valve train first and then to the crankshaft main bearings.
While this worked fine for most street builds, it was problematic at higher power levels and sustained rpm’s above 6000. The problem was easily controlled by using screw in restrictors installed in the oil feeds to the upper block and/or bronze bushings with small orifices installed in the lifter bores to limit flow from the large oil feed galleys. The restrictors along with precise block preparation kept the oil feeding the main bearings where it was needed the most in production iron blocks.
But in recent years, modern design technology and manufacturing techniques have made all new Cleveland major components available. Modern blocks featuring priority main bearing oiling are available in stronger iron or aluminum alloy and are being fully manufactured in the USA by two top Ford Specialists. Cleveland alloy heads are available from several manufacturers in Australia and the States. State of the art induction systems for carbs and EFI are also available.
There have been some recent stroker Cleveland builds for street machines and dyno competitions that featured dual quad tunnel ram carb induction and NO POWER ADDERS that exceeded 1000 horsepower verified on dynos !
These modern Clevelands are definitely hitting On All Cylinders and worthy of a little media coverage.
And the beat goes on…..
I have to admit that I’m one of the people that complain frequently about what I perceive to be a noticeable lack of Ford vehicle coverage. The aftermarket also has some of the most impressive and largest selection of OEM and performance parts for the Classic and current generation of Mustangs than ever offered before but most of it never gets mentioned in the media.
It’s great to see the expanded coverage featuring some excellent examples of Ford vehicles in this edition of On All Cylinders. I hope to see more of this in the future. OAC always does a good job of keeping the readers well informed of the latest trends involving the classics as well as the newest cutting edge automotive technology.
When it comes to Ford and the technology they utilize in their new performance vehicles, even most non Ford guys will acknowledge the impressive performance of the small displacement naturally aspirated and Supercharged Coyote Engine family. The modern Ford power train gets a good deal of positive coverage in the media.
But there’s an old school pushrod Ford Small Block that, thanks to modern design technology, is making a strong comeback but definitely isn’t getting the media attention that it deserves. It’s the one that got plenty of attention while it dominated Pro Stock and NASCAR until it was conveniently “factored out” of competition by the sanctioning bodies and their mighty rule books.
It’s part of Ford’s “335 Series” of Small Block Engines and better known as the 351 Cleveland engine. Thanks to internet ignorance and a few publications by misinformed journalist, the 351C got a bad reputation as being unreliable when built to take advantage of its 4-V quench chamber heads flow potential. The finger of doom pointed at the production block oiling system design which directed oil to the valve train first and then to the crankshaft main bearings.
While this worked fine for most street builds, it was problematic at higher power levels and sustained rpm’s above 6000. The problem was easily controlled by using screw in restrictors installed in the oil feeds to the upper block and/or bronze bushings with small orifices installed in the lifter bores to limit flow from the large oil feed galleys. The restrictors along with precise block preparation kept the oil feeding the main bearings where it was needed the most in production iron blocks.
But in recent years, modern design technology and manufacturing techniques have made all new Cleveland major components available. Modern blocks featuring priority main bearing oiling are available in stronger iron or aluminum alloy and are being fully manufactured in the USA by two top Ford Specialists. Cleveland alloy heads are available from several manufacturers in Australia and the States. State of the art induction systems for carbs and EFI are also available.
There have been some recent stroker Cleveland builds for street machines and dyno competitions that featured dual quad tunnel ram carb induction and NO POWER ADDERS that exceeded 1000 horsepower verified on dynos !
These modern Clevelands are definitely hitting On All Cylinders and worthy of a little media coverage.
And the beat goes on…..