I have spent hours reading on the the forum about engine/tranny/rearend swaps for my 48 M-68
So far I have come up with a 351W, T-5 and I was thinking a 2.80 ford 9" rear. Does this look acceptable so far?

What year of truck/van could I get a 351W from?

I would like to keep the manual transmission, so would a T-5 work for this application? Does it bolt up to the 351, or is the belhousing not compatible? What vehicle/years would I get that transmission from? If the t-5 does not work, what other manual tranmission would work?

I want to be able to drive at highway speeds. Is a 2.80 a good ratio with a T-5, or should I be going higher? I believe the rear end from a 68-72 is a direct swap, correct?

Thanks,

Corey

 

I have spent hours reading on the the forum about engine/tranny/rearend swaps for my 48 M-68
So far I have come up with a 351W, T-5 and I was thinking a 2.80 ford 9" rear. Does this look acceptable so far?

It sounds great except for your choice of gear ratio.

What year of truck/van could I get a 351W from?

If memory serves, the first year for a 351W in the truck line was 1980 and the last was 1997. It could be found in cars from 1969 through 1979. There were a few in Crown Vics later than that, but not many.

I would like to keep the manual transmission, so would a T-5 work for this application? Does it bolt up to the 351, or is the belhousing not compatible?

If you get a T-5 and bellhousing from a 1987-1993 5.0L Mustang, then yes, it will bolt right up. You will need to swap the tailhousing and shifter mechanism with a T-5 from a 1st generation S-10 to get the shifter in the proper location. It's a straightforward bolt-on swap.

What vehicle/years would I get that transmission from?

See above. The T-5 was in Mustangs earlier than '87, but I think that was the first year for the stronger World Class T-5. You will definitely want a World Class unit behind a torquey 351W.
If the t-5 does not work, what other manual tranmission would work?

The choices are many, but if you want OD, the T-5 is your best bet.

I want to be able to drive at highway speeds. Is a 2.80 a good ratio with a T-5, or should I be going higher?

Do you mean numerically higher? YES! The 2.80 is way too tall to ever use the OD gear. You need to be closer to a 3.73 with an OD transmission. Without OD, you probably want arount a 3.00 or 3.25.

I believe the rear end from a 68-72 is a direct swap, correct?

Yes, it is.

 

Joe is right on the money with the rear end ratios with the T-5 having an 0.8 overdrive.

With a direct drive transmission and 235/75R15 tires - 88" roll out - (tire size DOES make a big difference in the back) a 2.80 rear end will have you going 65 mph at 2300 rpm.

With a 3.73 rear end the drive train on those tires will have you at 70 mph at 2500 rpm.

So the 2.80 will be too high and the 3.73 perfect with the T-5. If you run smaller tires (245/60R15s - 81" roll out), you might get away with a 3.50 rear.

 

Am I correct when I assume that a 351W is a 351W no matter which vehicle or year is comes from? or are there certian years and vehicles that would be better?

 

A 351W is a 351W. But like any other engine, there were upgrades and mods made, and they were matched with different equipment (like transmissions T-5s, C4s, C6s) in different vehicles.

Also, don't confuse the 351W (Windsor) with a 351C (cleveland), or 351M (Modified).

 

running a t-5 with a 0.72 final gear. have a 3.00 rear gear and tire size 255-60-15. turning about 1700 rpm at 65. so like Julie said a 3.73 would be good. i did mine with a 3.00 because at the time i had a 4 speed

 

A late 60s 351w will be a lot stronger than a late 70s / early 80s 351w.

I don't have the link handy to back this up, but I believe a 1969 351W was rated at around 290hp stock, while a stock '79 351W was only rated at around 180ish.

The late 70s 351W had much lower compression heads, etc due to government regulations.

 

Thanks for help all! I guess now the search begins for a engine, tranny and rear.

 

What is the opinion on a c4 or c6 instead of a T5? The reason I wanted the T5 was becuase I wasnt sure how you would shift the auto into gear as my truck does not have a column shifter, but I was looking at the Lokar shifters and that would work perfect.
Does the shifter line up with the hole in the floor, or would a modification need to be made?
I assume a C4 or C6 is a direct bolt up to a 351. Anyone have pics of this setup?

If I want to be able to drive highway speeds, would an AOD be an even better choice?

 

The early 351W's were fairly stout, but I don't think that they are the best choice. They had a slightly shorter deck height and consequently a higher compression ratio that was above 10:1. Too high for use with todays modern pump gas. The blocks are regarded by many as being stronger because they have more iron in them than the later blocks as they were thinned out to reduce weight. The heavier block is, in my opinion, of dubious value. Find me a busted 351W block of any vintage. Good luck with that. They are a tough block. The last consideration is that the '69 horsepower figure is the old gross rating. The rating system switched to net horsepower in '72 and that accounts for much of the large difference in horsepower. It is true that the heads pretty much sucked from about '75 through '86, but the '88 and later heads were much better - as good as or better than the early ones. Were I shopping for a 351W, I'd be looking for a '95-'97 engine. Those had a roller cam and decent heads. Slip a 5.0L HO cam in it advanced 2 degrees with a set of 1.7:1 rockers and you've got a scrappy little powerplant on your hands that will suck the parts right out of the tailpipe of a '69.

A properly prepped C4 would be great and a C6 would be OK too. The C4 is lightweight and very durable. They can be beefed up to easily handle over 1,000 HP. The C6 is a very tough transmission also, but it's a big, heavy brute. It probably weighs close to twice what a C4 does and is 50% larger. It also siphons off a lot more horsepower just to operate the transmission. Don't overlook the AOD. It is a larger transmission also and is similar to the C6 in both size and weight. But you get something for the extra bulk and heft that makes it worthwhile - overdrive. As for the shifter, if you go with any of the aftermarket shifters, they will all be cable operated. You can mount them wherever you want them and then just run the cable through the floor or firewall to the transmission.

 

I've been doing a bit more research. Am I correct when I say the 87 fords with a 351w were a 4 bbl carb and a 88-91 were efi? I want to stick with a carb for my truck.

 

Right in there somewhere was the changeover from carb to fi. But that really doesn't matter. EFI can be added to an older engine, and a carb can be used on a newer engine. You just have to have the right parts for each to make everything work. Adding a traditional carb and intake along with a non-computer distributor will make a new engine run like old. ;-)

 

I thought the final gear ratio in the mustang t5 trans was .63? that is unless you guys are talking about the s10 trans

 

Yes, that is correct. The 5.0L went to EFI in '86, but the 5.8L/351W stuck it out with a carb until '88. But Wayne does make a good point. A carb, intake and distributor off of an old tech motor will swap right in place of the EFI parts. If you check out the small block V8 forum here on FTE you'll find a recent thread about the 4bbl carbureted 351W HO. It can be found in mid 80's Ford trucks. That would be a nice choice for your truck if you want to buy the entire engine in one shot.

The S-10 T-5 had a whole bucket full of different OD ratios depending on the year and powerplant. The Mustang T-5, however, had a .68 OD ratio from '85 on. The following is from a CarCraft magazine article.

RATIOS
1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH REVERSE
'83-'84 2.95:1 1.94:1 1.34:1 1.00:1 0.72:1 2.76:1*
'85-'89 3.35:1 1.93:1 1.29:1 1.00:1 0.68:1 3.15:1
'89-on 3.35:1 1.99:1 1.33:1 1.00:1 0.68:1 3.15:1

 

There is a guy in town that has a 76 351W from a ford van. It is bolted to a C6, but he also has a AOD. He says it's not stuck, so I'm thinking this may be a good engine to start with. Opinions?