'83 351 vs '88 351 engine

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May 10, 2005 | 09:40 AM

timo2le

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Joined: May 2005

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'83 351 vs '88 351 engine

Hello,
I have an '88 f150 with a 351 EFI. It has a broken crank or connecting rod. I have the opportunity to buy an '83 351 carb that come out of a van. The '83 has been rebuilt recently. Will the '83 longblock accept the EFI manifold and all the other '88 bolt on components? This is only going to be a farm truck, so things don't need to be perfect. Any suggestions or comments will be appreciated.

Thanks, Tim

May 10, 2005 | 09:56 AM

LilDuke

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Joined: May 2004

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From: Danville, Pa

As far as I know, you should be able to swap all the efi components over. Is the 83 a 2bbl or 4bbl? I know the 4bbl will swap over with no change in firing order but the 2bbl uses the 302 firing order. The distributor, intake, exaust, and other components will bolt right up. I say go for it, if you get stuck, someone here will have the anwsers your looking for.

May 10, 2005 | 10:16 AM

351 power

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Joined: Apr 2003

Posts: 180

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From: NB, Canada

I have used a 78 intake and an 84 front cover on an 88 block with the 88 heads. Everything bolted right up.

May 16, 2005 | 11:04 PM

gov2mod

Tuned

Joined: Jul 2004

Posts: 476

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From: Delaware

One thing to look for is the 83 block may not have the hole in the left side of the block for the oil dipstick tube. I ran into this (the hard way) after I installed an older 302 block in my 90 Bronco only to find that there was no where to install the dipstick tube. The older blocks had the dipstick in the pan on trucks and in the timing cover on cars. With the 90 Bronco oil pan (no dipstick hole) and I had to use the 90 Bronco timing (no dipstick hole) cover due to the serpetine belt water pump I had NO WHERE to install the dipstick.