connor90

how difficult is it to swap from a 289 to 351w? we're considering doing it for my '67 fastback i just got. i thought the blocks were relatively similar but i just spoke with someone and he discouraged it. thoughts?

diabloh

I did it to a 68 but i also shaved the shock towers with mustangII kit which made alot easyier

connor90

well we're more concerned about how its going to mount up to the tranny...it has a 4-speed currently and id like to keep it. will we be needing a different bell housing? beautiful car btw

diabloh

mine has a small block c6 auto.I believe the 67 is a 5bolt engine so the manual tranny wont bolt direct to 351.A 68 manual would

JMD

A 67 should be as easy as falling off a log...

It was no big deal getting a 351 into a 66....

Tranny no prob at all, you might want to make sure your headers are "swap headers"...

connor90

awesome. yeah, we're going to pull the 289 out tomorrow. we tore the heads off and looks like the valves were hitting a couple of the pistons probably from a lose timing chain or something. now searching for a 351w block. JMD, do you know how much power you're putting down?

Adrenolin

Not installed yet but I have a 351w I'm building for our 67 coupe along with a 4-speed toploader. It'll fit between the shock towers however it IS tight! I'm going to be cutting the towers back as well and using an AJE Racing setup (whenever the replacement ever arrives -- another story). A 351w, especially if built up at all, should get an 11" clutch setup which won't fit in the original bellhousing. There are 10" twin disk setups available but for the same price step up to the 11" and get a lakewood SPI safety bellhousing. Stronger and much safer.

I'd suggest the mid-length headers from JBA also. Start around 360-400 for the headers and for 550-600 bucks ceramic coated (I got the ceramic headers and complete SS dual exhaust from JBA). I've seen these headers installed in a few 67/68s with 351w and they fit great without the typical issues. Check out their site.

connor90

ok, thanks ill keep that in mind...and on a side note, how much power can a toploader handle?

Adrenolin

Depends on how the toploader is built and the condition its in. Has it been rebuilt or is it a 40 year old hard used unit? I'm looking at 425/450 ponys from our setup and rebuilding the toploader myself (rebuild kit from Toploader Heaven). I'm told it should handle that fine.

edit.. I've always wanted to know just how much power one would take.. stock as well as rebuilt.

connor90

what's done to your 351? we were planning on doing a complete build and im just curious what i should expect from one of these things.

and chances of it ever being rebuilt are pretty much non-existent haha. im guessing we should probably rebuild the tranny just to be safe though