I wouldn't mind... and I was asking as I visited a small yard last week that had a Grabber and a Comet GT in it. Just wasn't sure what a boomerang was, and figured if they were hard to come by I'd keep an eye out. Seen a few Mavs in yards around here - tons of Pintos too if you know anyone into those.
Yeah,....a turbo'd Windsor is all fine and dandy...... but imagine a turbocharged 460! :evilsmile (that'd take the "Wind" out of nearly any a Windsor! )
Seen one with a 514ci twin turbo stang here in cincy running the 10.5 tire class running in the mid to low 7's
i think that if i put the m2 conversion in my car i would have to go with some sort of big block. i read an article in car craft a few months back about building a 460 with alot of power. it was a bit more expensive. i just like the idea of having a big block in my comet.
Yeah, the 351w is a great engine for Mavericks, but I've never been interested in the hassle of installing one. Gonna run a nice little 302 while I save up for a 347 stroker...
Man have I learned a bunch of new stuff here. Don't shave the towers for a "W" swap, just use Bosch spark plugs. Big blocks are the only way to go with the m2 front end. I get schooled in all this every time I have visitors to our pit area at the track and at our shop. Thing is, never seem to see any real results of all the folks that have or want to do these amazing things. I either don't have enough mechanical ability or the funds to accomplish their results. Anyway the concensus is that most who have done the windsor swap, agree it was not an easy job, but can be done. Those who say it was a piece of cake please give us all a detailed build and cost sheet, pic's, including labor hours etc. so this dumb Arky, can do it the "easy" way. Getting to old to work hard anymore, but not to old to learn.
You are preaching to the choir brother! I don't agree with everything you say about price, been there myself, but I love a good Cleveland. Welcome aboard! Dave Old Guy: My C install was a piece of cake. The problem is maintainance after the swap. Both C and W engines use all the mounts, pulleys, trannys, ect... that the 302 uses. Then almost all brackets can be used or mix-matched to work just fine. The result was easy. The plug changes were not! Actually I didn't even try... Sold the engine out of the car by the time it needed plugs.
cjjtulsa: I just moved to Tulsa and wondered where these junkyards with Mavericks might be found. I am in need of some stuff. I moved from Florida where parts were hard to come by. Cary
As long as you use the older 289 or 69-71-ish W exhaust manifolds and run an auto,it's a piece of cake to drop one in.Doing anything to it once it's in there is a different story though.I had one that had a 351W and it ran great(old stock motor w/holley 2v)but plug changes were impossible w/o jacking up the motor off it's mounts.Also had to run a 318 mopar oil filter(it's shorter,the stock one was really close to the framerail).If I ever done a W swap I would definitely notch the towers,but with all the 347 stuff around,I would not do a W swap unless it was a 393-408 stroker.JMO BTW,I hope you didn't beat up the towers too much with that hammer.I've got a '74 thats ruined because the owner tried to put in a 351 w/later,more bulky manifolds.He beat up the towers and done something to the upper a-arm geometry,it never drove right afterward.Couldn't get the alignment right either,even after a full frontend rebuild.
I pretty much like all things Ford, but the 385 and 335s are some of my favorites (still have a soft spot for the 289 though). I got into a heated argument one time on a message board over the W vs. C cost to build thing, and broke it down, part by part with a Summit catalog. If I remember right, it almost came out in favor of the Cleveland by a small amount (without aftermarket heads on either), and that was the last I heard out of that guy on that topic. Depends on what a guy wants to do. Too many guys are uninformed and just base their rhetoric on what someone else says. Had one guy telling me how hard it was to get parts for the 351C; he couldn't locate a timing cover plate anywhere. Ever hear of the 351M/400? Same plate, and yards are full of them. I think some of that flak on message boards comes from a younger crowd that doesn't remember that the Cleveland was the performance 351. If it wasn't for the five liter Mustang craze the 351W would still be sharing time with the 351M as one of the "other" 351s (which now more and more folks are coming to the realization that a 400-ized 351M can also make huge power with some mods). Folks need to remember that Ford based their 351Boss on the Cleveland, and opted to put Clevelands and not Windsors in the Pantera. Bottom line is I like all of the blue oval stuff, and if it thrashes Chevys than it's a friend to me. How's that for too long of a post?
I like my 281. I also agree that the cleveland is the dominant 351. It's the race version. The windsor blocks were more for economy. The cleveland is beefier in almost every way, and the 4V heads are absolutely enourmous. The intake valve on the 302 boss is bigger than a 460 I think. Unless you see a cleveland head in person, it's hard to quantify just how much better they are than a windsor head. It's literally night and day different.
Its not the motor its how old you are. I think the baby boomers remember that the 351W was a piece of crap 200hp motor that got dropped to 150hp by 73 and remember the Cleveland being a race motor that had heads you could drop golf balls down them. Its the younger generation that see's the Windsor's as being a candidate for a 408/427 stroker motor, they probably have never even seen a cleveland before. I disagree with the Cleveland being Beefier, it doesnt really matter in most cases, a good 69 windsor block will hold 550-600hp all day long
I agree here with the block - actually the Windsor block is it's strong point, the Cleveland is it's heads. Clevors are a good combo of both. I'm not a baby boomer; I did my teenage years in the 80s, and the Windsor wasn't seen as much more than a "truck motor" for the most part even then. It's the genesis of the 5.0 and all of it's potential that gave the 351W the most life. Now, if you want to talk cool cubes, a 434 stroker from a 400 is something that has my attention. A 427W would be a neat deal though.
Sorry man, didn't mean to forget your question! It would be hard for me to explain where they are - they are out in the sticks. The one that has tons of cars (and I can't remember what all Maverick-wise - but it has some) is down near Muskogee. It took me a while to find it too as it was by word of mouth. The one with the Grabber and Comet GT is another that is hard to give directions to, but let me know what you need; the next time I get out there (after the monsoon is over) I'll see how much is left on them. I know the Grabber had some parts missing; can't remember how much had been scavenged off of the Comet. Might save you some chiggers and ticks if they are stripped of what you need. I don't know much about them as I'm a Comet/Fairlane/Torino guy, but I like to learn about the other models, and love to go boneyarding.
