If you are mechanically inclined, go with the 351. If not, stick with the 302 or a stroker version of that motor. I have a 351 stroked to a 421 and it is a blast. You can change the heads and the plugs without cutting the spring towers. It just takes careful planning. The plugs are easier if you remove the valve covers. I can do it in about an hour. By the way, my little sleeper has run a 12.34 @ 110mph. Lee "THE MAV" Richart
If I had it to do over again, I would probably keep the 351W and further modify it as I had already completed the task of installation. As others have stated, why go through all the work of installing a 351W when you can install a 302 based stroker motor up to 363ci. (I would purchase a stroker short block and build from that point.) https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mll-bp3472/overview/ http://www.coasthigh.com/P3471F-GT-F347-SB-p/p3471f-gt-f347-sb.htm My thoughts on installing the 302 is there is just something satisfying about kicking some butt with a peanut motor.
I installed a 351w in my comet back in 2006. To get the headers to fit i took a hammer to the shock towers. Now that i'm getting ready to do a full resto on the car I have to rebuild my towers. I wish I hadn't smashed the crap out of them. But at the time I was a stupid kid. We dropped a 351w in my brothers 75 grabber. We didn't notch the towers and ended up using a passenger side exhaust manifold from a 66 mustang with a 289 and I believe the drivers side came from a 66 fairlane with a 289. It is tight and we had to grind some of the bumps off the passenger side manifold. He would have stayed with the factory 302 but we picked up a rebuilt date coded 69 2 barrel 351w from pick and pull on half price day. It was in a 72 mustang. It would defiantly be easier to stay with the 302 but if you are really good at making things work I would say go for the 351w.
