This morning I thought I had a 351 w from an original 83 f250.After looking at one of the decoding links, it looks like I have a 79 351w from a galaxie. Did Ford make Galaxies in 79? My real question! When i took the cap and wires off I made note of the order and it dosen't match the Chilton manual I'm using. I have an order of 15786342(cc).The engine casting # is D9AE-8015-ED-17 and the distributor #is E3AE-12127-FA.There is no vacuum advance or wires comming from the distributor. Can anyone tell me something about this engine? My plans are to install an aluminum intake, 4barrell carb. and a new distributor. and eliminate all the electronic and emmissions equipment.Then install in my 86 F350 farm truck.Some one from my parts supplier told me the cam may have a different grind to get this firing order, and if i change the cam I can get back to the original order?Any thoughts are desperatly needed and greatly appriciated.
Mike

 

you sure its not a 351m?

a cam swap should be done regardless.

 

Is their a simple way to tell an m from a w?

 

i think the valve covers are different. one has more bolts then another but cant remember which. might search im sure its been mentioned a few times

 

If that's a windsor you definitely have the wrong firing order, it should be 13726548.

 

The casting number in no way determines what vehicle the engine or any other part was installed in at the factory. It only tells you what vehicle line the part was designed for and the costs of development were assigned to. Six valve cover bolts = 302 or 351W. Eight cover bolts = 351C or M. Look at the fuel pump bolts, horizontal = Windsor, Vertical = Cleveland or Modified. A 79 block casting would have also been used more than 1 year, so in all likelyhood, if you pulled it from that 83 F250, that's the original engine that came from the truck.

 

From what you are saying, it is a windsor. The fuel pump bolts are horizontal and the valve covers have 6 bolts. After some more rubbiing I found the windsor fireing order on the intake manifold. This engine did run when I pulled it up to the garage last weekend. Is there any chance it ran with the wires that crossed up? The wires are still connected to the cap and I have rechecked them several times? I guess my main concern is if I buy the aftermarket distributor and hook it up in the proper order, will it work? Thanks for the input.
Mike

 

Well the dist does not care what the order is in the motor as long as you hook the wires up. IMHO if you got the motor out, get rid of that cam anyway.[thats what controls the order] The late80's-early cams were TERRABLE!!!! Just wire for whatever cam you get.

 

Ford stopped making Galaxie's in '74. However, the A in the D9AE code means "auto engine" as opposed to "TE" which is "truck engine." I don't know if Ford put "AE"'s in trucks but I'd imagine they did. D9AE doesn't sound like a 351M; I don't know of many that were cast after 1977 (the D7TE casting) -- but I could be wrong.

 

Sounds like I need to add a cam to the parts list. The last engine swap I did was on another 351 windsor in my 72 f100 back in High School. These engines seem to be pretty dependable, thats why I wanted to go with this one.
Thank you all for the comments and advise.
Mike

 

The letter "A" was used to denote a full size Ford car, the letter "E" means it's an engineering part number, not "engine"

 

It looks like I have a 79 car engine in an 83 truck. I did find the trucks serial # on the left rear corner of the block so it is the original block. When looking through the Northern auto parts catalog they list many different rebuild kits for 79 to 85 cars or trucks with the 351W.If I were to do a overhaul, I wonder which one I would need?
Mike

 

since its carbed and needing rebuilt why not stroke to a 393 or 408. the rebuild kit wouldnt cost anymore then a stock rebuild.

 

Since you're going to replace the pistons, order a kit for a 69 351W 4 bbl motor. You'll get flat topped pistons to raise the comp ratio to 10 to 1 or less, since your heads probably have larger chambers.