Is a 351 worth it?

[Pesty351]

I had a 90 stang with a c6. It was fun but it also had a hurst quarter stick to slap it around.

[pvillese]

Now you got me thinking. Maybe I could find someone that wants to use the c6 for racing (I'm told they are very durable) and I could take there T5 off their hands. My sister's boyfriend has a built mustang (I think he races it) so I wonder if he would know someone. I'll have to give her a call. Also I was going to see if he knew someone with a set of headers for cheap. The stock headers off a 5.0L Mustang are what I'm looking for right? As for the H-pipe, I'm guessing the stock h-pipe off a mustang won't work or maybe I could widen the H a bit since the 351 will be slightly wider since it is taller right? Any other parts that guys racing mustangs might be getting rid of that I might want for this?

[andymac0035]

I seem to recall P72ford saying something about the H-pipe on a whale being wider. If that's true, perhaps you could get one cheap and have the upper ends hacked off and have larger flanges (ends bells whatever their called) that will match up to the headers welded on?

[Pesty351]

The h-pipe is the same the headers are different.

[King_V]

Question on this . . would it be just as easy to maybe go 331 or 347 on the 302 block as opposed to going with a 351?

I know this all depends on how tame vs wild he wants the engine to be, and I don't know how well the oil-control-issues of 347 builds have been solved - but might not the missing 4 (or 20) cubic inches be compensated for by a slighty smaller, lighter block?

Just tossing the idea out there.. he did say fun but not anything extreme, after all.

Of course, I'm a cheap SOB, so I'd probably go with whatever I had more stuff on hand for, and put together without busting my budget.

I am also, admittedly a fan of the precision of SEFI, so I'd go with that, within the confines of the "what I have, and how much money I have" rules...

[pvillese]

Question on this . . would it be just as easy to maybe go 331 or 347 on the 302 block as opposed to going with a 351?

I know this all depends on how tame vs wild he wants the engine to be, and I don't know how well the oil-control-issues of 347 builds have been solved - but might not the missing 4 (or 20) cubic inches be compensated for by a slighty smaller, lighter block?

Just tossing the idea out there.. he did say fun but not anything extreme, after all.

Of course, I'm a cheap SOB, so I'd probably go with whatever I had more stuff on hand for, and put together without busting my budget.

I am also, admittedly a fan of the precision of SEFI, so I'd go with that, within the confines of the "what I have, and how much money I have" rules...

So long as this deal I'm making right now does not fall through the 351 option will be cheaper than any other, along with the fact that I don't want my car non-drivable while I rebuild the engine(I live in a neighborhood in the city and it is my dd) so even if I went with a 302 I'd have to pick up a block to rebuild while I continued to use the one in my car. I wish I had SEFI then I'd probably just do the HO swap stuff and be done with it(at least for now). The added low end torque of the 351 will be really nice though when I tow my camper, and then it should give me enough power that I could go to a bigger camper if I wanted to.

[P72Ford]

I seem to recall P72ford saying something about the H-pipe on a whale being wider. If that's true, perhaps you could get one cheap and have the upper ends hacked off and have larger flanges (ends bells whatever their called) that will match up to the headers welded on?

The h-pipe is the same the headers are different.

The h pipe on a whale P71 is wider (pipe center to pipe center) than the h pipe on a box. Actually... I was using the h from a 2004 P71. Maybe the pre '03 cars were the same width?

I ended up sectioning the h to make it fit on the burnout box.

[Pesty351]

He was talking between a 351 and a 302 width wise.

[pvillese]

The h-pipe is the same the headers are different.

So if I had to I could run my current exhaust on the 351. I'm not saying I would want to do this but say I either have the money for the new exhaust or better heads I'd rather do the heads right away and then when I get the money do the exhaust. I probably would not leave the whole stock exhaust on if I didn't have the money for a new exhaust, I'd probably just cut the y-pipe and clamp strait pipes back to the axle.

So what I want to find are some shorty headers and then a mustang h-pipe off a 5L.

Thanks

[gadget73]

Question on this . . would it be just as easy to maybe go 331 or 347 on the 302 block as opposed to going with a 351?

You could drop a mild 351 in for a lot less than you'd pay for a 347 stroker kit and machine work. Plus, you'd have a motor you can make 700 hp with and not have to worry about the block splitting in half where you're talking 500ish out of a 302 block. You could recycle a 302 intake for the 347, but chances are you'd want something much better, so theres no real savings there vs a 351 intake. Oil pans are also no big deal, and its gonna need exhaust either way so truthfully there is very little in the way of reusable parts from a stock 302 on a 347, even if it does physically bolt up.

[pvillese]

Since you mentioned oil pans that reminds me of a question. Someone mentioned that when they put a 351 from an e350 in their panther, they needed to change the oil pan and water pump. Will I need to do that with this engine coming from a F-250. If the truck oil pan won't fit my car, do I have to find a panther with a 351 and get the oil pan from that or will my 302 oil pan work? Same question about the waterpump.

[johnunit]

351 Panther oil pan only, AFAIK. The 5.0 one won't work. A mustang 351 swap pan is the exact same shape if you have trouble finding a crown vic pan.

[gadget73]

truck pans are different. Need the panther pan, which is what the 351 swap Fox Mustang pan actually is. You can get them brandy new. Water pump will just be a standard replacement pump for a Vic. I think the truck ones might spin backwards, or have different pulley spacing or something. Would be a good excuse to pull the timing cover and check or replace the timing chain anyway.