I have a 78 half ton 2 wheel drive pickup that ive swapped out a 300-6, which ill admit i broke through my own fault. I was a stupid kid but thats a story for another time. I installed a 351W using all factory parts. Meaning 302 mounts (wasnt sure if those would work but they did), a 400 radiator, nos flywheel, and a new clutch. I have two questions. the first, will headers designed for this truck with a 302 fit? The speed shops around here are chevy fanatical and ive already been screwed for a set they assured me would fit but didnt and the restocking fees. Im not going through this again! Next question: this truck had the original 4 spd overdrive pulled out when it was a year old (not very good for pulling) and a NP435 installed. After the motor change i had to get a new bracket to locate the linkage. This is clearly not correct because it hangs off the bellhousing at an odd angle and is wearing the bushing badly. All input welcome!

 

The 302 and 351W can use the same cylinder heads in many cases. In other words a 302 header can bolt to a 351W but since the 351W is wider I'm not sure the header would fit the same when considering the chassis steering gearbox etc.
I'm running 89-91 (Mustang 5.0) Ford Racing shorty headers on my 79 302 2wd. Other than grinding a very small amount off the drivers side collector flange, it fits like a glove and has plenty of room around the starter as well. They may be worth considering on your 351. Someone else may come along that is more knowledgable and may be able to elaborate on this for sure.

 

the 351w has a 1" taller deck height then the 302
so like jade said, you *may* run into clearance issues on things like steering boxes , motor mounts (major problem if the pass. header is split like the 351m/400 where it goes around the mount) starter, plus the collector location will most likely be off, may need to mod your pipes to work if it all clears the cab o.k.

 

OK, the 4 speed OD was swapped for an NP435. What bracket are you talking about, the clutch linkage?

 

theres a bracket that bolts to the bellhousing tha locates the clutch linkage to the shift fork and on my truck it doesnt hold it in the right location. i was told by an old school ford parts man what i needed and he ordered it for me but its obviously not correct bcuz it hangs at q very strange angle

 

thanks for the reply jade79. i know the flanges are correct and the heads are the same. i also know about the taller deck height. my concerns are the same as yours, clearance. also i take it your truck is jade green? mine is too, light jade cab top over dark jade, yours?

 

Mine was all jade when it left the factory, but I put some dark green graffics on the bedsides back in the 80's.

 

so yours is light jade?

 

Yep, light jade.

 

cool mines dark jade, it was sprayed with the light over the cab in the early 90s and everyone asks how i got the special paint code. its a shame they never painted them that way in kansas.