[DeTomaso] advice needed

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Steve, for a street engine, what you have is fine, assuming its properly 
assembled & tuned. For pro-competition such as racing for money, maybe you'd 
change a few things. 
Cast hyper-eutectic pistons work fine but will crack after a while under 
extreme stress. Larry Stock ran a set of 030-over Keith Black hypereutectics for 5 
yrs of street, autocross, ORR (where he won the 150 mph class) and open-track 
events, before one finally let go at 165 mph during an ORR pre-run, 
destroying that engine. 
In my experience (4 different coolers over the years), an oil cooler is not 
needed in a Pantera unless you regularly exceed 120 mph for LONG periods of 
time. Drags, stop-light GPs or autocross do not need one. Air-to-oil coolers are 
difficult to mount on a Pantera so they catch enough air, unless you cut holes 
in the nose. Water-to-oil heat exchangers from Ford, Aeroquip or Fluidyne 
work well and are easier to mount but some are sensitive to excessive oil 
pressure & will rupture internally. An oil thermostat is valuable if you insist on 
running any oil cooler, as are minimum 1/2" ID oil lines.
Moroso accumulators are used on literally thousands of autocross cars of all 
brands without trouble, but there are several types. None require 'special 
oiling'.
There is no 'secret' oiling mod for a Cleveland, except to use care in 
assembling the engine, being sure all oil passages are clean (some will plug solid 
with hard varnish and must be drilled to clear; vapor degreasers won't clear 
such a block or heads), and on non-racing engines, to use a stock oil pump and 
stock pressure relief spring. Melling sells a fine unit. A hi-pressure or 
hi-volume pump is not needed, but an aftermarket oil pump driveshaft and 
double-pinned distributor drive gear is vital for all Clevelands.
Every now 'n then, you WILL lose a cam. This is a simple quality control 
issue involving a very limited-production engine (351-C) and low-volume shops 
making the cams. Chevys lose cams occasionally as well; its just that the 
statistical likelihood is less since there are thousands of Chevs re-cammed each year 
rather than a couple dozen Clevelands. I've seen stock GMs lose cams just as 
was described on the Forum.
Good builders are invariably highly opinionated but your "pro builder" likely 
has another agenda than giving free advice over the phone. 
FWIW- J DeRyke