So I've been searching high and low while I've got time to try and find a decent website with a 351W serpentine setup description, and I've come up with a ton of contradicting statements which have all lead to a pile of useless information that isn't backed up by anything.

So here is what I've found so far...

I've found that it shouldn't matter what year of block you have for your 351W... they should all go through the same process one way or another in order to get the serpentine setup completed.

Through my searching, I've also come across that many have said that the timing cover needs to be changed, along with the water pump (for directional reasons... i.e. standard or reverse direction), a mechanical fuel pump may not be able to be used based on the timing cover year due to the location of the water pump hoses and the power steering bracket (also year dependant), and lastly... the alternator may not be able to be used because of the direction the pulley will be rotating.

Through all of the above statements, the most common ones to come up are timing cover and water pump direction (they are the two main concerns). The alternator and mechanical/electric fuel pump concerns only came up on occasion, and were based on what type of setup you had for accessories, and what you were pulling your serpentine accessories off of (year dependant again).

Now what I'm looking for by creating this thread is a bunch of reliable information that has ACTUALLY BEEN USED... not just thought of by some user with a keyboard. I want results, information and pictures to back up a serpentine setup that will for my 351W.

Throughout my searches, I found that certain vechiles are "perfect fits" with regards to the accessories on the front of the engine... these two sets of vehicles were listed as candidates for pulling serpentine setups off of:

"go junk yarding for the timing cover and front acesseries from a 88-96 Ford F-Series Truck w 5.8L so everything will line up"

"the 79-82 licoln town car will work because they came with 351Ws and had serpentine setups"

Here is a thread from another forum that used a 94/95 stang serpentine setup in a 78 bronco with a 351W: 351w Explorer Serp conversion - Northern California Bronco Club

I've read somewhere that there are a variety of stangs that have the serpentine setup, and because they have a common 351W in them... it's cheap and easy to install.

Now on to what I have. I have a 351W from an old cougar/stang from the early 70's. I'm not sure on the exact date at the moment, as I have not had a chance to see the casting #... but it should be a 72 with a 9.48 deck height and the beefier webbing block.

Anywho... let me know what information you've all got out there.. what has worked for you before, or what will work period.

I'm interested in the serpentine conversion, but I'm not interested in everyone shouting out opinions without proper info/pics to back up what they're saying. I've read through too many threads where the serpentine setup has gone horribly wrong to be naive enough to run the setup off of words without pics.

I also forgot to mention that I did indeed find March, a site with a setup for order to convert any engine into a serp setup... but I'm not interested in spending the $5-600 it'll take to get it up here to Canada...


http://www.marchperf.com/pg39.html

 

First of all, very few recent Mustangs came with a 351W from the factory. I think only the 1993 Cobra came this way.

But I would expect the 351W to be very similar to the 302 that used a serpentine belt, except it's wider than the 302 so it will need different accessory brackets. Here are some things you should note:

The serpentine belt arrangement will turn the water pump counter-clockwise, so you will need a reverse rotation pump. Since that relies on properly fitting the scroll shape on its back, you will need a matching front cover.

Your alternator is just that, an alternator. It will generate AC no matter which direction you turn it. Its diode pack will rectify its output to pulsating DC of the correct polarity. But that's not an issue you have to deal with. You just need the correct pulley and a mounting bracket that puts it at the right place. On my 302, that bracket also holds the belt tensioner.

All the accessories driven by a serpentine belt have to have their pulleys lined up in the same plane, so you need to get the correct brackets for the PS pump, the AIR pump, the AC compressor, and the alternator. You will also need the correct crank pulley.

The best way to do this is to go to the salvage yard and find a 351W that has a serpentine belt. I think that does mean later model trucks, as I don't think Ford installed a lot of 351W in passenger cars.

 

if your trying to keep a mech fuel pump and a serp setup just get an after market timing cover they are about 100 bucks and they are brand new and you can use the water pump and accessory brackets off a 90s 302 or 351w efi. Im going to do it to my serp setup when i switch to carb ive alrdy got the cover and there pretty nice pieces.

 

The last Mustang to get the 351 as a regular option was the 1973 Mustang which used "V" belts. The only Mustang after that to get a 351 was the 300 1995 Mustang Cobra "R's" that got it. I don't think you will ever find one of those in your local Pick-N-Pull. LOL!

Look at trucks for the conversion parts, more of them and more common.

 

but you dont need a 351w you can use any sbf cover 289,302 or 351w and the converson cover that you can pull is off of a 289 but i cant remember the year it was in a mustang and on ebay ull pay any where from 40 to 80 bucks some times more depending on the shape. you might as well get a brand new one from jegs. you can use a mechanical pump and it can be used with standard or reverse flowing pumps. for a 100 bucks you really cant go wrong.

JEGS Performance Products 50300 JEGS Cast Aluminum SB-Ford Timing Covers

 

Interesting stuff.

Well, that'd be awesome if I could find a mustang Cobra in the Jyard. I'd love to dig into it :P

That water pump looks exactly like what I need, and like you said... it can turn either way...

I've heard that you can also you an early 90's water pump from an F350. I guess I'll keep looking into this more, but that water pump from Jegs sure would do the trick!

 

its not the pump its the timing cover itself that makes for poor cooling with the jegs timing cover you can use a standard or reverse pump and it will cool effectively just make sure you use a reverse direction pump for you serp set up or you pumps impeller blades will be facing the wrong way and not push enough water through your block to cool it ill look up some picks to show you what i mean

 

Standard cover = mech fuel pump = standard rotation pump = v-belts



Reverse cover = no mech pump = reverse flow pump = serp belts



The jegs cover = reverse or standard pumps = mech fuel pump = vbelt or serp set up. this is the aftermarket cover.

 

Nice! Thanks for that, it's really good to know that a Jegs will do it all. And for $100? You can't really go wrong, cause it won't steer you wrong haha.

 

I'm not sure if that JEGs cover will work with reverse rotation pumps. Note how the water ports are shaped; they look the same as the stock cover with the mechanical fuel pump mount. The pumps have "lips" pointed along the direction of flow that have to match up with those ports. So usually, a reverse pump will only match with ports shaped for them, and similarly, forward pumps will only match with ports designed for them.

 

follow the link its for both but if you look up the original mustang 289 timing cover that its based on its the same way it will work either way i have one in my garage right now that ive matched up with both pumps and they both line up yea it has "lips" but i will cool enough for it to work. if you do some research you will see that it is very common mod in the hot rod / resto mod world to go to a serp setup and its atleast 900 bucks cheaper then most march setups making it a big plus. This isnt a big block or a diesel its a small block that doesnt require anywhere near as much cooling.

 

I am running the stock timing cover that came on my 74 engine. The pump is from a 93 F-350. Member JSutton used one from a mustang, he can tell you the year. Basically when you go get the water pump look for a circle on each end of the plate on the backside. It works with either timing cover. The circles mate up to the highest flowing portion of the tombstone ports of the timing covers.

Do not go by the online pictures of the local auto stores. They are generic. You will need to leave the computer and go to a store and physically match them up. I have done a ton of leg work to get this straight for my engine and left many ford mechanics scratching there heads about the water pumps. A friend that buys and sells mustangs for a living took me to his junk pile and gave me the pump with the plate with two circles.

The 93 pump I had bought originally had that plate and I swapped it to the tombstone plate from my 79 mustang 5.0. I then found the arguments about the flow and fuel pump issues. Mine is not running yet, but JSutton is and is running great.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/love_ford_trucks/4605418908/" title="junkyard 108 by ford collection, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/4605418908_4232437007.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="junkyard 108"></a>

 

It's true an alternator can turn either way and will work.
But is there any chance that the manufacturers say that the alternator must turn a certain direction because of the orientation of the alternator's cooling fins?

 

Yeah, just realized that later; the fins are optimized for a particular direction. My feeling is that most of them are designed to turn clockwise, as that's how both V and serpentine belts will turn it.

 

I've talked with JSutton about his serp setup, and it says he loves it on his 302. Apparently he gained 1-2 MPG and had a noticable increase in HP when smashing the pedal.

I never did ask him what kind of water pump he is using or what it's off of.

I'll see what I can do about ordering over the counter instead of online. Looks like Napa might be my best bet, or going out and pulling my own cover from another vehicle.