ok let me start by saying I am new here...I have aquired a 1974 Mav that I am in love with. YES it needs work, but all I got is time! My question is if I drop a 351w in my car are they as hard to work on as I am reading?!?! My desicion is a 302 with plans for a supercharger or a 351w. I want to be able to drop the engine in with little to no surgery to the car involved. I may race it once or twice but it is mostly for show. It seems everyone takes Mavs and guts them and I dont want to do that, BUT I want it to be a serious little machine. I don't wanna hear "Look at the little girl in her little car!!!" ) Any advice?!?!?
with little or no surgery i'd say stay with the 302. i've got a 351 in mine and it's really hard to change the plugs. to get the headers in when replacing the engine i had to remove the motor mounts from the engine and still had a hard time. the 302 gives you a couple of more inches clearance from the shock towers. also a stroker kit in the 302 will get you to 347 inches and there is a lot of aftermarket parts for the 302. good luck
show mobile Well if it's just for mostly show go, with the 351W with 351C heads. You can use 70 Stang headers, coil over front shocks to reduce the spring towers. Cleveland valve covers look better anyway. The manifold will take some work but theris ways for that too. Show or daily driver makes a big difference. Show car you're not worry about oil, spark plug changes, or tuneups, etc. Just that it looks good and works. A power rack/pinion steering, with manual front disc brakes will work nicely too. One of the big things for show cars is something not everyone and their brother has done. They do give out prizes for "Best Engineered" which to me means a lot more then someone who has a friend working at the chrome shop. A belt driven turbo is easy but nothing impresses judges/people more then a blower. They just look tough and sound tough. The body is probably the hardest part to do. Color and design can make or break your car.
which direction do you want to go with show? modified? personally I would go with a late model 5.0, then if you want, throw a supercharger onto it.
Like Don said, if you value your knuckles when changing plugs, go with the 302. Much easier to work on. If you wanna drag race, go with the 351w, add aftermarket heads, and get ready to rock. We put a 351w in ours, fabricated headers, and chopped the towers, yes it was a lot of work, and yes it was worth it. Would I do it again? No. Next time, a Mustang II front end will be installed, or just fabricate a whole new chassis. But then again, this car has not seen any street use. The header on the driver's side is a bit close to the master cylinder, and I can see where if I was to run it on the street, the brake fluid would bet plenty hot. Also, the collectors had to be built to exit at a 45 degree angle out the sides to clear the powerglide. Makes it tough to install "streetable" exhaust systems. If I was to build another maverick, I'd go with a 302, there are plenty of ways to add streetable horsepower, enough to surprise many big-block powered cars when planned out correctly.
