redneck racer

Ok, im pretty new to the mustang and racing world. My question is, how difficult, or impossible would it be for a inexperienced person to rebuild a motor? I know some basic knowledge of how a motor and how parts work and i have done some minor work on cars like alternators, belts, waterpumps. Im looking for a project for myself and i just want to know is this a possibility? and also how much should i expect to budget by rebuilding a 351?

RogueStang

i'd say go for it. How else are you going to learn until you do it. It's gonna give you a headache from time to time, but hey, do you have anything better to be doing? Just find a good friend or friendly shop close by that you can run to whenever you have a question. Also, this board and stangnet will get you through it. Have fun.

my77stang

you can do ALL the machine work including a balance job and buy a complete stock rebuild kit and be in the motor for about 1000 bucks give or take. for another 100 bucks, you can add a few key items to make your motor last like better rod bolts, hard oil pump driveshaft, brass freeze plugs, double roller timing chain, and moly rings. add 100 bucks for misc bullcrap and your at 1200 for a good, healthly motor.

67mustang302

Windsor family engines are actually fairly easy to build, relatively speaking. If you have "mechanical moxy" you can do it, but make sure you're certain of what you do, ask questions if you're not. You learn this stuff best by doing.Stay away from more complex engines for a first build though, like overhead cam engines, Ford's new Modular family, European and Jap stuff etc.

redneck racer

i was thinking me and my dad, who also isnt that mechanically smart, could get a junkyard/old motor and maybe rebuild it for my stang. The motor i have now is nice enough and im really into learning hands on. I figured by the time we figured everything out and finished ide need the new motor myself:P

67mustang302

That's a good idea actually. Build it slow and learn as you go. Take your time and do it right

Blckstng93

+1 on taking it slow.

Dont use a pry bar to remove anything. Use a rubber mallet on parts, not a steel hammer. Dont nick anything, especially the crank. A rebuild manual will help immensely for the first-timer.

My stepdad and i rebuilt an old 260 years ago. It was my first build and was very very easy.

JD1969

Most machine shops will assemble your short block for about $250 or so. Pretty cheap really. They have to do all the machine work and no matter who does the assembly you will still be buying rings, bearings, pistons, rods, etc. Even though I have built many engines in the past myself, I tend to let my machine shop do my assembly work no days.

redneck racer

so your saying it might end up being cheaper to let someone else do it in the long run? or are you just referring to that part of the new engine reassembly.

GreyStang

It's probably best to let a machine shop assemble the bottom end for you like JD said,, there is a LOT of precision machining & tolerance measuring,, get a few of those wrong and the rebuilt engine won't last as long as it should.

There's still a lot of work left to do with the rebuild & you can have fun learning about stuff working on that. If all goes well this time, perhaps the next engine you can try doing the whole thing yourself. By the way, I hope you have a good collection of tools for the task