gothand

I put a 351W into my '65 fastback and it dyno'd 394 ft-lb at the rear wheels. The thing was a beast and had way more power than I could put to the ground. That said, when it was time to freshen up the engine (it had been sitting in storage for over 10 years and had 100K or so miles), I replaced it with a 302. The 351W was a major PITA any time I had to pull a plug and hood clearance was a bit tight, not to mention getting headers to fit. It is my understanding that they have swap headers available, but I had to get custom headers fabricated due to the fact that I was running Alan Root heads with the diagonal mounting pattern.

IMO, you can get all the power you can use for a lightweight 65/66 out of a 289/302 and the 351W isn't worth the hassle or extra expense.

Good luck!
Jeff

67mustang302

67-up ftw with the larger engine compartment!!

eZ

i agree with gothand...keep the 65 light and use the 289. i had to grind my towers a bit for my 302 with tri-y's. a 351 would be a PITA

javier146

Just get some hedman swap headers for like 200 and the same motor mounts and it will fit. That's what I did.

andrewmp6

For headers id go for hedman or http://www.fordpowertrain.com/FPAindex/headers1.htm or motor mounts try ron morris his are adjustable so you can get the header room you might need.

jonm1a1

I thought the car was really light for a 351. I agree I think I am going to find another 289 or a 302 and make it one heck of an engine. I really don't want to go through to much hassle to get a lot of HP that I can't use. I bet you guys saved me 10 hours easy. I guess I will trade this 351 off or sell it. It wasa great deal couldn't let it go by. $250 with high rise intake and a really good looking Elderbroke carb.

Thanks A Lot Guys

cmanf

Do a search on the net I had no luck here.
I have seen a 66 with "BOXED and Shaved" shock towers.
Asked the guy what it was he told me he used to have a 428 CJ in his car!
He said the shaving gave him room to get it in and still work on it and the boxing gave it enough strength to hold up.
I do know he had run a dry sump system. I cant imagine what that ride was like.

rpmcarter

I would suggest "GotHand" has the right idea. A 302 raps up faster than a 351 and less trouble. IF you have to have one check out the cousin "Cougar" cuz it had a few with 351's in the bay and check the bay compartment for spec's and parts of course. When buying parts ask for Cougar parts, they are cheaper...."for the same part"

JMD

A 351 in an early Mustang is no big deal, as said, the headers will be the hardest part. I used Headman swap headers from summit, I "modified" these headers with a hammer to make them fit instead of modifying the shock towers.

IMO, for the money you are getting the engine for you can't go wrong.

Keep in mind that the 351 is a little taller than the 289/302 as well as wider. It has been said that this engine will not fit under the hood of an early Mustang with a "high rise" intake, but ours fit under the hood with an RPM Air Gap with a very pow profile air cleaner. There was no room for a carb spacer though. It is very, very close....

A 351 is virtually the same as a 289/302 except that the cylinder deck is about an inch taller. This means that the swap is virtually a bolt in affair, but most (or all?) of the accessory brackets on the front of the engine will not interchange with a 289/302

As far as the weight difference between a stock 351 and a stock 289 goes it ain't much, not enough to worry about IMO.... I think the difference is less than 100 lbs, much of this will be offset by using the aluminum intake...