So I've got a little project going at the moment. I have a 351 that came out of a 93 F150 that I would like to fix up and change a little. I'm going to be putting it in a car, and would like to make it as basic as humanly possible.

I'll be tearing the whole motor down, rebuilding it, and maybe just putting a mild cam in as the only real mod to the motor. When I say "basic," I mean that I would like it to be carbureted instead of fuel injected, mechanical fuel pump, no emission control, and no computers. I'm shooting for just a really basic setup, like something straight out of the early 60's.

First question is, is this possible to do with the motor I have?
Second question, is there anything about this motor, having come out of an F150, that doesn't make it a suitable candidate for a car? If it isn't, can anything be changed or fixed to make it work?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

I know you will need a different oil pan/pickup. Probably a front sump depending on the car. Timing cover might need to be swapped for one with fuel pumpboss and dipstick opening.

 

It's going into my 74 260z.



Plenty of room under the hood.

 

I know of a guy who did a V8 swap but he used an all aluminum late model Chevy out of either a Camaro or Corvette. Powerful and light! I hate to day it but you'd be better off going that route. The 351 is all cast iron and even swapping to aluminum heads you're only going to save 50 lbs.

 

yea my buddy did the same thing with a 350 chevy , the car became worthless nobody would buy it, he basically gave it away, It got torn apart after that.

whats wrong with the Nissan ? rebuild that with performance parts and you have a collectors car , or one really fast Nissan.

 

I would have to agree with the above. Would make a great original restorod. I assumed you were referring to a tbird mustang or falcon when I read your original post. That seems like alot of trouble to go through nust to make it all play nice togather. Good luck though and hope all works out!

 

Hey check out RPM Machine

1991 Ford 351 Engine Rebuild Kits

 

I decided to go with the 351mainly because I already have one. The Chevy 350 is a much more common swap, but with a 351 there aren't any issues with the hood closing because the distributor is in the front. I'm not really concerned with the value, and I've always liked the way the cars look but prefer the sound and performance of a v8. Although I did put together a list of what I should need and I'm already at $3200 ...

 

. The stock straight 6 prolly has more power than most stock 351W's... although less torque... I'd avoid the usual crappy general 'rebuilder' pistons... with the 260Z stock rear end ratio, prolly want to build a 351W that will rev kinda easily...

. I built a 425HP 351W for about $1,500... rebored, bearings, Crane cam, KB151 pistons, World WindsorSr. iron heads from Kaufman Racing, VictorJr. intake, Holley 750 carb.... but prolly want aluminum heads, intake, water pump for a small car... light weight tubing headers...

. The Nissans were originally called Datsuns, but the reliability was so horrible, they ditched the infamous Datsun name and improved the quality as Nissans...

 

My first choice would be a Rover V8. More compact and half the weight of a 351W.

Next would be a 5.0 stroked to 347 with aluminum heads. More compact and still ~100lb+ less weight than a stock 351W.

Then a 5.0 and then a shoehorned-in 351W.

 

The straight six in it has 162 hp, what did the 351 have? I have nothing against the motor that is in it, I actually really like them. I'll probably be getting a non running 240 260 or 280 and use the drive train out of this car to restore that one to stock original condition.

I'd never heard that about Datsun, they were always Nissan they just branded them as Datsun. I've personally owned 5 Datsuns and they've always been plenty reliable.

 

I agree, I would rather have the 5.0.

 

Most late model 351 engines(1987+) were rated at a little over 200hp but they were smothered with restrictive intake and exhaust systems, the motor is capable of about 275hp/380tq with nothing but a cam change and free flowing intake and exhaust.

 

. 1969-1970 351W available with 4bbl. carb., 290 grossHP(open headers method), higher compression ratio, heads with smaller combustion chambers, bigger valves, and bigger ports...

. 351W engines from about 1971 to 1985 nearly all came with a 2bbl. carb. and rated around 156 netHP @ 3200 RPMs and 262 lb.-ft. torque at 2200 RPMs... you can see the RPMs problem in that... exhaust ports nearly blocked by air injection (emissions) bosses... bigger chambers, small valves/ports...

. Later EFI 351's were re-improved again... maybe 200-250 netHP range(300 HP in rare Mustang Cobra)... adding a 4bbl. and headers prolly up the HP and RPMs some and weaken the mid-RPMs torque a mite... need to know compression ratio to see if a bigger cam would add anything... prolly roller cams...

. Back in the day, a friend bought a Datsun 240Z new, complained of needing front suspension bushings every 4000 miles and the choke handle breaking off yearly, etc... later got a 260Z which he said was much improved...

. The Buick/Rover aluminum V8 can be enlarged up to about 318"/5.2L... they were made from ~1951 to ~2000 and used in many vehicles including F-1 winning race cars... may still be in limited production in the aftermarket... extremely popular for swapping in Europe... Performance parts harder to obtain than for a 351W... I have a couple, one I put in '75 MG Midget... that V8 about 20 lbs. lighter than the iron Triumph 1500cc/1.5L/91" 4-banger that came in the Midget... aluminum T-50 BW 5-speed tranny also lighter than the stock weak iron 4-speed... stock engine and tranny both were only good for about 25K miles between rebuilds, so not very suitable for American highways/driving... places much closer together in UK and speed limits usually lower...