Re: New block
Tod, I am aware of your 351C block. Didn't know you were involved with the Genesis and Pond FE blocks. Those are all excellent pieces and I applaud your talented effort.
My thoughts are get the bore size and air flow characteristics better then build a stronger block around those parameters.
Flathead intake ports do not flow well due to the lack of a good short side radius. A gently curved intake port that maintains the stock inlet location would do wonders. Eliminating the removable guide and making the ramp up to the backside of the intake valve real nice and smooth would really provide a performance kick in the pants.
Bigger bores helps everything and I don't see any reason not to take advantage of that free power. I'm talking 3 3/8" as a starting point. Maybe all the way to 3 1/2" is possible?
The end exhaust ports in the French blocks are good. The exhaust valve pockets could be curved towards the port to help even further.
In the center just fill that in curve the port walls to direct airflow down and out and do the best you can with that. No heat riser is needed. We can drill if necessary.
A few other thoughts: extra material around cam tunnel to provide for larger cam diameters in race engines if one chooses that.
Original bell pattern along with the SBF pattern to facilitate easy trans updates. (Probably the single best performance Mod you can do for and early Ford)
Remember with a Flathead Ford with performance improvements for $2500 is a bargain. After all your getting the equivalent of good block and heads as in a souped up OHV.
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