(Sorry but this did end up a little longer than I had thought) I have a 95 GT with around 160k miles. I am about to pay the car off and want to start building the race car I always wanted. I plan on building a 351 to replace the tired 302 that is in now. I just have a few questions:

1- Windsor or Cleveland(whats the difference and which is best?)

2- will this motor have a major impact on the Eibach Pro's I want to install?

3- need a new radiator, should I replace it with a 2 or 3 core? What kinda fan should I get to best cool this thing? I have an aftermarket fan now, but it doesn't cool worth a darn!

4- are there better power steering pumps? I just replaced the rack, not that hard, but it was a rebuilt unit.

and 5- Koni adjustables or coil overs?

thats all I can think of for now. any and all other advice will be great.
One other question, what is the best way to get into this? There is a track where I live, Roebling Road, I live in Georgia. Talked to a guy that had a 94-95 convertable with a roll cage and some suspension parts that was getting gas the other day. He said he had a 347 stroker also. He had just came fom the track and was telling me about a race vette a guy had, said the man was a little upset that a Mustang got the best of him.

Thanks a lot fellas(and ladies)

[GTRaptor]

As far as the engine i would probably start with a "fresh" crate 351 motor from FRPP, but could also be a Stroker from DSS or SCAT, mainly a 331 for durability reasons.
For RoadRacing you want a well balanced car, a stroker 302 to 331 is probably what i would select to have less front weight. On RR you don't need monster torque, you want your HP available at mostly high RPMS, so the shorter stroke engine is more up to it.

Suspension and Chassis would need to be strengthened, definately using Linear rate springs with fronts around 700+lbs
Rears stiffness depends more on the setup, using panhard bars require 300+ lbs depeding on panhard manufacturer specs.

You want your chassis to be fully braced with strut tower and full length subframes.

Depending on the category you could end up needing a race cage.
The Cleveland 351 i would rule out, parts are more expensive than for the 351W and you wont gain much.

As far as cooling, you need a 3 Core, Steeda and Fluidyne offer nice units. The fan has to be reliable, but here i am clueless, i have seen more aftermarket fans fail than stock units.

The stock steering pump will work fine, but would advice on using a cooler to keep the fluid at a reasonable temperature. The same applies to engine oil, get a good oil cooler and remote mount your oil filter for ease of access.

Konis..are the best, get double adjustables. Lifetime warranty on them.

Coilovers...well, depends, suspension should be all tuned correctly so you need to select all your components from the same manufacturer, either Griggs or Maximum Motorsports (probably the favorite among AFM users).

The choice of parts will depend on how deep is your wallet and also how fast you want to go.

How to get involved: The best way is to get to know the locals and ask them. Just be carefull with the Chevy guys, they will want to make you switch to a GM

[Twister]

I would build a 331 with aluminum heads, and get a maximum motorsports catalog...these guys have a great package, and well woth the money...justnlx is building a car with their stuff, Scott has their LCA's and panard bar...and I want their touque arm package and coil overs. the best thing about coil overs is that you can move weight around

Is Linear a company? or a type of spring? whats their web address? What would be the weight difference between a 351 and a 302? You said the 331, why not a 347 stroker? just woundering.

[Twister]

linear is a type of spring, a 351 weighs about 80-100 pounds more than a 302, and a 331 is more reliable and produces more mid-range power than a 347

[GTRaptor]

Springs come in 2 flavors "linear" and "progressive" rate.

Linears have the same stiffness all through their compression.
Progressives start soft and as you increase weight over them they get stiffer.

Linear types are more commonly used on Road Racing, they are predicable but usually harder than progressives.

Progressives are mostly used on street cars. They offer a smoother ride.

Springs are rated in Pounds per inch, say a linear spring of 700 lbs requires 700 lbs of weight to get compressed 1 inch.

On a progressive spring say a 200/500, it requires 200 lbs on the first half to get compressed and 500 on the second.

That "transition" in a progressive spring makes it a bit unpredictable since the rate is non-linear. Thats why a linear spring is more "race" oriented. But choosing a moderate linear springs makes for a fairly decent street ride. Around 600lbs is considered "friendly" for a front spring.

Rear ones require less "weight", rates of around 150 to 300 are the most common depending on the type of control arms or lateral location device you use (panhard).

Struts and Shocks are the 2nd part of the equation: adjustables will help TUNE your suspension depending on track conditions (or street). Some like Konis allow you to adjust compression and rebound, something very desirable for racing. You could also use variable valving struts such as Bilstein.