1972 mechanical rebuild

[1973grandeklar]

No real update to progress, but a little more about how the car drives and runs.

You get in the car and press the gas pedal one time, set the choke, and the engine fires right up. Runs fantastic. Driving it around and I find that the transmission shifts really good when you light foot the accelerator. But if you accelerate with any vigor and the transmission will not shift until it winds out and then; pow shifts. I think with this intake, I have a weak vac signal. Maybe I could change the vac modulator? Anyway, the transmission does shift crisply.

The other thing is the ride of this car seems very wishywashy. I would expect the ride to be a little more firm and spirited, not slow and clumsy. This is probably a good indication that the suspension needs a good rebuild. And I am pretty sure the shocks are shot. I know the rear springs need replacing. I am also not to keen on the smallish 14" wheels. They work well enough, but seem tiny on this car.

Inside, we find that the heater control for Hot to Cold does not move. The cable or flapper door is stuck. As we do not have the heater core hooked up (yet), this is not too big a deal. Just something that we need to repair when we replace the heater core. I also need to get under the car to adjust the shift lever a little. The shift position does not quite line up with the indicator. I think this is a small deal and easily adjusted. It just means I have to jack the car way up as it is hard to get under these cars.

Parting shot. The Mustang is being watched over by its big brothers! 1986 F150 (black truck) and a 1981 F150 (camoflage truck).

 

[matrixx]

Must have a 302. My engine has sat for months before and still fired on first crank hot or cold. It's a nice feeling taking that first drive isn't it?

As far as your tranny check fluid and level, also seems like it's behaving as if it has a shift kit or possibly a wacky modulator.

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[1973grandeklar]

It has been awhile since an update. My wife had surgery so I have had to do the cooking, cleaning, and take care of her. So no work has been done to any Mustang for several weeks.

Well, this last weekend my wife says she is doing better and I should go outside and finish the 351W I was working on. I had the gaskets and oil pump to finish putting this engine back together.

It started as this:



Tearing it down I found the bearing look like new, the cylinder walls have virtually no wear, and this is a 1969 351W-4V with closed chamber heads. I was told it came from a Mustang. The only internal issue was mouse turds and dog food:





And I found the block plugs were rusty and replaced:



New timing chain:



And bolted it all back together with a new oil pump. Painted the engine:









My son and I are planning to put this into the 1972 Mustang and sell the 302 that is currently in the car. This 302 runs great, no leaks, and fires right up every time. The car actually doesn't drive to bad with decent tires on the front (we are burning up the rear tires before replacement). I was thinking I could sell the engine for $650? Too much, not enough?

I think the 351W will be a pleasant surprise. More displacement, a bump in compression ratio, and bigger valves should give a little better seat of the pants feel. The 302 winds up nice but the low end is a bit weak (I think it is the cam and single plane intake). This 351W is a factory four barrel intake. What do you guys think, should feel stronger from the drivers seat?

 

[jbojo]

The 302 in 72 was only about 140HP and Torque around 240 Ft/lbs. The 351W in 69 was close to 300 with torque around 380 Ft/lbs, so yeah I would expect much better performance.

 

[1973grandeklar]

Been awhile since I have updated this.

Put the 302 currently in the car on CL Friday morning at 10 am, by 11 am I had the motor sold. The guy came by Saturday morning to hear it run and drive. Loved it, it is exactly what he was looking for to put into his 1966 Mustang. He said that by the time he purchased something out of a salvage yard and gone through the motor, he would have several grand into it. He was confident with what he heard in this 302 and the many, many pictures of the internals (which I only showed a few on this thread) that this would drop right in and he would not take anything apart. Interestingly, I have driven this car around this summer and I cannot detect a single leak anywhere on this motor! Hope I am not sorry for selling it?

Here is the 302 prior to us removing it:



So now I have to pull this motor ASAP and get the 351W set into the car. Stay tuned to the new updates coming!

 

[1973grandeklar]

[/i]The 302 is out! My son and I got the 351W put in. I took the exhaust out of the car and cut the pipe nad place the manifolds back on the engine. Now I just have to weld an extension onto the exhaust and place it back under the car.





I also have a full exhaust system from a 1970 Mach 1. I am going to trial fit this under the car. May end up cutting the valence for the tips to poke through. We will see how this fits. It may not end up on this car?

Saturday we are going to pick up some 17" wheels with slightly used tires on them. I am curious how this will look on this car?

 

[1973grandeklar]

Check out the wheels! 17" monsters from a 2002 Mustang. I have to add spacers to bring the wheels out a little as they are very close to the inner fender and will rub over the smallest bump. I also need to space out the front as they rub on the upper ball joint. Need about 1.5" to be safe. Could probably get by with 1" but it would be very close.

What do you think?

 

[1973grandeklar]

So I get home Tuesday night and my son has decided to spray paint the car with farm implement red paint from Tractor Supply. He taped off all the windows and trim well enough, but he tried painting it in high wind and it rained that night. I did not discourage him, but I did give him the heads up that the paint is probably ruined.

Come home the next day he has all of it sanded off and he removed the original red down to the gold. Now I take the time to instruct him NOT to paint the car until we erect a portable paint booth. I also tell him to stop using the spray cans and we will go buy a couple quarts and use the spray gun.

Then I also instructed him I will show him how to putty up a few areas and he can paint using the spray gun. So it seems the mechanical rebuild is now going to turn into a quick street paint job. A sort of 20-20, looks good from 20 feet or 20 mph!

Who knew a faster motor and 17" wheels would motivate him so?

I will get a bunch of pictures up this weekend for everyone's scrutiny, but remember, he is practicing on a car that really needs a lot of new sheet metal. So what if he wants to practice on bondo covered rust!

 

[protouringstang73]

Looking good, but will look even better if you put spacers on like you said I can't wait to hear your opinion about the difference with stepping up to a 351w from a 302. I think it's gonna be awesome, you will deffently get a lot more power. My dad had a 1970 coupe where he installed a all most stock 351w. Damn that was fast! The 351w is making great power.

 

[1973grandeklar]

Looking good, but will look even better if you put spacers on like you said I can't wait to hear your opinion about the difference with stepping up to a 351w from a 302. I think it's gonna be awesome, you will deffently get a lot more power. My dad had a 1970 coupe where he installed a all most stock 351w. Damn that was fast! The 351w is making great power.

Main hold up for the 351W at this time is finding a suitable crank pulley. It has the three hole mounting and everything I find on ebay is like $150 plus. Are they that hard to find that they demand that kind of pricing?

Could go aftermarket, but kind of wanted it to look stock.

 

[matrixx]

I want to swap my 302 to a 351w as well. Looking forward to hearing how it works out for you. The 351 should put a lot more torque down.

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[Totalled]

Main hold up for the 351W at this time is finding a suitable crank pulley. It has the three hole mounting and everything I find on ebay is like $150 plus. Are they that hard to find that they demand that kind of pricing?

Could go aftermarket, but kind of wanted it to look stock.

Get a 4 bolt dampener from a '70 and later. Then you can use your 302 stuff. They are cheap new.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-594-011/overview/make/ford

 

[1973grandeklar]

Here is another update from the weekend:

My son and I starting building a paint booth just outside the garage. The car is inside and we will start sanding and touching up a few areas:









Notice the 17"wheels. They fit perfect with 1.5" spacers!

One area I am still looking for help is the barckets for the alternator and the P/S. The alternator brackets all fit, but then the pivot bolt does not line up with any hole in the 351W heads. Is there another bracket that spans across this plug?





The P/S has the same issue. Is there a bracket for this? I know there is an A/C bracket that seems to have this hole in it, but is there a nonA/C bracket?

 

[c9zx]

I know this is the solution for the alternator, may work on PS as well but, I don't remember. It has been a long time since I built a 351W. It is reproduced but not cheap for what it is. The build is coming along nicely. keep up the good work. Chuck

 

[1973grandeklar]

I found exactly what I need for the PS brackets! You were close c9zx, it is another head attachment. Here is a picture I found that shows exactly what I need! I hope this will help others doing this type of swap. I will give more details and pictures of the brackets when I get them installed and tested. Note, this is not my car only pictures I found online.

 

[Totalled]

Are you using 302 brackets on a 351W?

 

[1973grandeklar]

Are you using 302 brackets on a 351W?

I find that the brackets are different, so I am ending up purchasing new brakets to fit this engine (1969 351W). The actual alternator and PS pump will work, just new brakets.

When I initially researched this swap, 302 to 351W (not the cleveland), everything I found seemed to indicate that this is an easy swap. Several sources even stated that they are essentially the same block (other than the deck hieght). And for the most part the swap was easy. It is mounting the brackets and hooking upp the exhaust that has stopped this swap. As shown in the above pictures, the 302 brackets do not align to the head bolt holes. The exhaust had to be cut as the pipes do not reach the new manifold position without hitting the floor boards (even though the exhaust manifolds fit perfectly).

In about a week or two (depending on part arrival times), I should have this fired up. Then I will update with a detailed swap so others can see what is required to fit a 351W into a 71-73 mustang.

 

[1973grandeklar]

Some more updates. My son went to town and stripped the car down and we started some of the body work. The roof seams need a little work, so I used metal to metal to fill them. This is where we are at now:








I should add, that at this point I do not think we will use the implement paint. We are going to epoxy primer the car and use Eastwood paint.

 

[protouringstang73]

Cool idea with the paint booth instead of painting in the garage! Great progess so far, looking good.. What color is the car going to be?

 

[DK73]

Hi that's a good Thing to yuse those 2 types off paintB-)

Regards DK73