When I bought mine, it had a 351W sitting in it. I'm going with a 351C for what I'm doing. After looking at both, and if I was going to drive it a lot, a 351W would be my LAST choice for engine swap. No room around the exhaust ports, can't reach plugs, just no room for normal maintenance. Yes, I'm planning some extensive tower mods and should have a ton of room when it's done but it's way more than most would want to tackle. I own several complete 351W engines, and a lot of other parts for them like intakes, cams, valve covers, pistons and rods but I wouldn't even consider a 351W if it were me. I would head towards a 331 stroker. Best compromise in my eyes and I've raced 351W motors for the last 25 years. JMO, SPark
no room for changing plugs? my personal choice windsor over cleveland If I rebuild an engine and put mid grade spark plugs in it, I figure I wont be changing them for 50,000 miles, so the spark plug thing is really not an issue. I plan on header wrap to minimize engine bay heat and I am guessing that I will have to put about a 3 -4 inch scoop on hood to clear 5 inch dual plane intake w carb and air cleaner. I want to put at least a mid to high flow intake and will probably set rev limiter at 6 k and never take it past 5500. I also plan on either engine plates or similar bracing in engine bay, and if needed some x bracing to support body. I like the idea of a Windsor over a Cleveland due to personal experience, Cleveland does make more power with less money, but all the clevelands ive ever seen built, don't start making power until about 3500 and rev to 6500-7000 on a reg basis. I saw a youtube vid of a guy w a Cleveland that didn't shift till 9500 rpm's, that is insane and awesome, but streetable?
addressing the stroker issue I have limited funds and a stroker would be my first choice also a 331 for sure due to the need for such short pistons and close together rings of a 347, it just seems like they would wear out faster than a 331. I added up funds to build a roller stroker and Im getting by about 2 grand cheaper w a stock stroke engine. those 2 grand will come in really handy for trans headers rearend and body work + paint. Also when I started building the 351w it was going to go into a 1978 Fairmont, but plans get changed. the Fairmont needed complete interior redone, had been sittin for 18 years and body was barely fair on it. Besides 357 Maverick just sounds right to me lolz. Keep the suggestions coming im learning so much from all of you and really appreciate it. God bless, wade
I have a 70 drag car Mav I`m building,already has shock towers done,& trans tunnel heavily modified & still not a whole lot of room w/ the 351w.You might want to consider going with stock manifolds,some on the vans & trucks are a little bigger,therefore flowing better.Would eliminate a whole lot of headaches on the street,easier to work on & not as many problems w/ leaks.
hedman 304 stepped headers? some suggestions for 8 inch rear disc donor? Hedman 88304, Has anyone had experience with these headers in a maverick, either 302 or 351? I would think they would definitely need some mods w a 351 application, but would make some good power and may be a little easier to install due to being 1 1/2 primaries and switching to 1 5/8 after initial bend. If anyone has any feedback positive or negative please let me know. Also if I could get a few suggestions on the type of rear discs that fit to 8 inch application(currently 5 bolt drums) may narrow a 9 inch later and any disc brake swap I do on rear I would want to be able to carry over to the narrowed 9 inch. On a lighter note I got all I needed for front disc brake swap on craiglist local ad, 71 torino, even had the tie rod ends, flex hose w, frame mount and new or close to new rotors and pads both sides for 150.00. Not a steal, but local ewe pull it had zero donors for front discs. thank you and God bless, wade
i couldnt imagine working on one with a 351. the plug installs alone would drive me nuts. bad enough with a 302. just my .02. i wish you the best of luck with this though.
switched charging unit over to g3 alternator for 20$ today Grabbed a small g3 alternator from salvage yard for 14 dollars, with eyelets and some internet help was able to eliminate regulator and a lot of wiring, alternator light not on anymore and runs like a champ. 351W parts still in machine shop, Im really rethinking this 351w swap and maybe just keep the 302 in it. Maybe end up trading it for a vehicle a little more suitable for 351, but not completely dissuaded yet. Need some more negative feedback or maybe some positive from 351w maverick owners to keep me interested in swap!!! thanks and God bless, wade
It depends on how fast you want to go.You can go faster w/ the 351 & do more upgrades but it will take more $ to do it.You can make a 331 go plenty fast in your car w/ a lot less headaches,plus you can make it just as reliable.You can build a 331 to turn 7500 all day long w/ the right components & you would have a very fast car.Type in Roxboro NC dragstrip & look for the video of the Foolsgold 65 Mustang,& you will see what a 331 can do,& this is not a big bore car,a friend of mine knows the owner(8600rpm).
I've got a 70 that has 351w but the car is drag only. The towers have been shaved a little over 2" (which isn't enough) and the headers are custom made just for the car. Each header tube is separate and two are actually two piece. The merge collector is slip fit and I can disassemble the complete header system on both sides in about 45 minutes........out of the car. The plugs are a nightmare to change and you need three separate sockets and extensions to change them. My car is not a street car so changing plugs happens often and it's a pain.........if the headers are hot, well forget it. A couple of comments, there is no substitute for cubic inches, I don't care what anyone says. More cubic inches means that HP/Torque can be made at lower RPM's, and if you want a motor to live, you don't want to be pushing 8500rpm all of the time. I know another racer who races a 347ci 302 and makes about 650hp.....at 8400rpm............on the other hand my 408w makes the same HP at 6800rpm and my max torque is 544lbft at 5700rpm...(the 347 is at 488lbft at 7100rpm)........Oh yes, he runs an aftermarket $2500 block, and I run a $300 71 OE Ford block.....with 4blt caps on the center mains.......the numbers I have just given you for both motors are engine dyno numbers, not somebody guessing what their motor makes. So, if you want to swap in the 351w you need to do something with the towers.....on a limited budget....well, you be the judge.
I am kind of in the same boat right now. I have been collecting the parts, info and know-how to get a nasty EFI 347 going. After I add up all the costs to rebuild the stock front suspension, get a much safer SHP block to support the numbers I want, spend time and money to support the shock towers to fit an EFI intake, get power steering to fit (Borgeson or rack option), worry about headers fitting,... etc, I am at the point of a Full Tilt or Rod and Custom front end, ditching the shock towers completely and building a fun factory roller 408W with acres of wiggle room around it. I get awesome P/S, upgraded front suspension design and components, gobs of bottom end street torque, almost any headers I want (at half the cost), no tower bracing, adjustable ride height, more cubes for a fraction of the cost, all at the same power levels. Just food for thought.
Like Dan mentioned above. It really all depends on what you want to do with the car and how high your performance bar has been raised. IMO, a stock 351W is pretty balsy in such small cars to begin with. Even a bone stock 1969/1970 2bbl 351W is not what anyone would call weak and gives these cars the power to weight of a heavier big block Chevelle. The basic history of hotrodding clearly shows that having 351 CID in these lighter cars makes for VERY EASY high 13's with tuning and proper gear match. Add aftermarket compression, induction, cam, convertor, etc? 12's are easy beans up in the high hills during 90 degree weather. Then add more stroke to the above?.. deep 11's all day long.. high 10's if you know how to build em'. Or,.. if you really want to start going fast?.. spend another 3-5 grand($$$$) on getting the chassis, suspension, and tires up to the task.. add forged and billet everything with reinforcement from every direction.. add lightweight valve-train so you have sufficient durability while still retaining some small semblance of street-ability and lifespan without having to run +700lb valve-springs. While I do agree that stroker motors are good bang for the buck.. they're slightly heavier overall(and that extra weight is located in one of the worst possible places for a corner carver) and induction gets pretty expensive when you want to really start spinning them up to move more air and fuel. The simple fact is that those motors have a harder time throwing their weight around under power than a smaller more compact engine does. Look at Comp Eliminator engines. They have no design limitations yet they are using predominantly short deck engines because such designs move the intake to a taller entry angle and shortens up the valve-train height to enable them to spin up to 12,000rpm. As usual with all things mechanical.. diminishing returns.. pro's and con's.. and all the rest. Personally?.. I'd ask myself a few simple questions and give honest answers. Do I want to drive around corners faster? A shorter lighter motor is better overall and packaging is less critical resulting in a cheaper overall price tag. Do I want to go even faster in straight lines? Then a taller heavier/preferably a stroker 351w.. wins all the way. Packaging becomes much more critical and more compromises($$$) must be made. Or.. would I rather be able to balance both aspects for a more well rounded driving experience? Stroker 302's merge the best qualities of both designs and beats them both by a country mile. Right back to what Dan said.. it all really depends on what you want the car to do.. and what you want to spend in time and money to build it.
I hear ya. Things snowball very quickly. That's exactly what I'd be doing if I wasn't wanting a road race style car with more compact design and major engine setback. Plus, I get tighter and more compact custom exhaust system that actually flows better out of the deal too.
If you want the best of both worlds, buy an aftermarket 8.2 deck block and build a 364"/302. After looking at my car with a 351W in it when I got it, I decided the only sane way to put on in there was with a Mustang II front end conversion first and completely lose the shock towers. SPark
lol.. that's the last feather in my final build stage bonnet. About 5 years back, I helped my buddy build a big bore 347. Awesome motor and I've dreamed about them ever since. 650 horse and fully streetable with a mild'ish roller cam in it(around 250*@.050). Runs 10.40's in an older 91' Stang on cheaters. Mine will be around 600 horse and have much more low end torque for better gearing/limited street duty.
