at first i was thinking about putting a 302 in my 1973 ford maverick 250 inline 6 and i was wondering what is the difference between the 302 swap guide and the 351w swap would i still buy 302 motor mounts and can i still use the radiator and c4 bell housing on the 351w. The only thing i thought you had to get different was headers and im not to keen on cutting the shock towers i have no problem jacking the engine up for spark plugs.
Then don't cut the shock towers, they don't give you header clearance. Unless your building a drag car i would go 302, they can make all the power you would ever want.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Windsor_engine Although related in general configuration to the 289-302 and sharing the same bell housing, motor mounts and other small parts, the 351W had a unique, tall deck block, larger main bearing caps, thicker, longer connecting rods, and a distinct firing order (1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 vs. 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8),
the clearance on the 351w will not work like the302 will. me and my son found this out on his 1964 fairlane the wider deck limits the clearance for the headers or the. manifolds
so where can i get heads for a 351w to put on my maverick on a tight budget because i found 302 headers for 150$
if you dont want to cut the shock towers you might have a hard time getting headers on the 351. my maverick has a 351 windsor in it, and with the exhaust manifolds it is a VERY tight fit.
302 headers wont fit the 351 in a maverick. the 351 sits taller in the engine bay on account of the raides deck height. so the 302 headers wont drop down far enough. you can always doas mustang II front suspension modification to just lose the shock towers all together. then you can run whatever header you want. But thats pretts spendy. my advice is stickl with the 302. They can make plenty of power.. As for the bellhousing question. Yea a 6 bolt C4 will bolt up to a 351 block.
The biggest issue is that the 351W is 1.5 inches wider than the 302 at the exhaust ports. The header pipes and the upper A-arm bolts want to be in the same place. Oil filter gets close to the shock tower, too. On top of that, you can barely get the carb under the hood. Forget about getting a decent manifold with a bit of height to it without tucking the air cleaner under a scoop. A 302 fits really well and a 351W almost doesn't fit. Like Dave said, if you are on a budget, go with a 302-based motor. 351 headers are a very big added expense. These cars are almost featherweights and it is so much easier to build a strong 302 now. The next time I pull my 351 out of my Comet, if it needs more than just rings and bearings, I will probably be going 331 stroker next. Even with a 302 motor, I would still cut the shock towers back. It really makes it much easier to do plugs and header bolts. I used to go through two beers changing the plugs in my stock 302, and I don't quite finish one when changing plugs in the 351 with the cut shock towers. Usually no cussing or bloody knuckles, any more, either. The three scales on which I rate the difficulty of automotive work ...
