well my 81 f100 is petering out on me.. i pressed the gas a little too hard today i guess what started out as a little valve noise has turned into something worse... dont ask me what but it sure does suck to drive that beast right now...could replace the heads...naa.. theres a little knock when ya rev it any way... ill find a good engine at a local salvage yard...at least a good enough one to last me for the next few months....so i come to this... what engine do i get... the one thats in it is a 302.. but from what ive heard a 351 will just bolt right in... but then i gotta hassle with all the accessorys and yada yada yada... distributor and blah blah blah... i should prolly just get a good 302 and put it in i know... but would it really be that much more to go 351? im kinda strapped for cash.. but i know some one that has a good 351 (from a e150 that caught fire) that they would sell me for cheap..but alot of the outside is burnt up pretty bad.... would this be a bad deal? if i used the 351 brackets... what off the front of the engine will work? alt. waterpump power steering etc? also what about manifolds? ive got these cheesy rednecked headers but they are not really angled in one way or the other...just big tubes....so would this be a problem? how about gas... my 302 is absolutly horrible and ive heard that a 351 will get about 12 to 15 highway...wich would be a hell of an improvement. my 302 is gettn about 8 to 10 highway...and thats with a new carb. what is the difference is fuel milage.. id be puttin the 2150 back onto the 351. i really want to go 351 but im pretty happy with the 302 other than the horrid gas milage the thing rapes me for any input is apprecated...im going to the junkyard tomorow to price engines and heads and the like..

 

If your friend's 351W is a good motor, by all means get it. Its a straight swap and about the only thing that isn't interchangable, other than internals, is the oil pan and centerdome(intake). All your accessories ARE, as well as: carb, manifolds, timing set, heads (to put 302 on 351, the bolts holes have to be drilled to 1/2"), valve pans, water pump, cam and the list goes on.

The distributer isn't interchangable, and you will need a 351W crossover pipe, its 2" wider than the 302.

 

I bet that van oil pan on the 351w will fit right in your truck. It should be a rear sump although some of them look sort of like a mid-sump pan.

The 302 exhaust manifolds and or headers will fit the 351w, but the extra wide y-pipe is not all that is different. If you look at the factory manifolds and aftermarket headers, they have different part numbers than the 302 and I think it's because the 351w engine is wider and the outlets on the manifolds are pointed different. At least, this is what I ran into. But who knows, the van exhaust manifolds may be the same as a pickup and you may just need the y-pipe.