1979 bronco engine swaping 351m/400 to a 351w

[kmeyers]

What complications should I expect from swaping a 351m/400 out of a 79 and putting in a 351w. I am thinking of doing for the availability of after market parts for the 351w.

I currently had a c-6 auto in it. Can I just change the bell housing? what about the transfer case, motor mounts etc. Any place that sells such stuff? I googled put couldn't find much for a 1979.

Thanks,

 

[Broncobill78]

What complications should I expect from swaping a 351m/400 out of a 79 and putting in a 351w. I am thinking of doing for the availability of after market parts for the 351w.
I currently had a c-6 auto in it. Can I just change the bell housing? what about the transfer case, motor mounts etc. Any place that sells such stuff? I googled put couldn't find much for a 1979.

Thanks,

351W's come from Ford mated to the C6 so you should be good to go there & since the rest of the driveline remains intact you don't need to change anything there. The problem you're going to run into will be mounting the engine. I couldn't find any kits for it either but the 351W is pretty close to the 302 and you *can* find 73-79 F-trucks with the 302 so that's where I'd start as far as the frame perches go. Might just be that a 302 frame perch and a 351W motor mount will line up closely enough to bolt it all together, if not some fabrication will be in order. Radiator hoses will just be a matter of bending youself a mockup of the hose from a coathanger & taking it down to the parts store to match it against what they have there or going with aftermarket universal hoses. I doubt you'll find any headers for this so those will have to be custom jobs if your heart is set on headers toerhwise I'd just be sure to use exhaust manifolds from a truck rather than a car since the one's for trucks shoot out the back instead of down and make running the exhaust a lot easier.

Quick edit:

I just finished taking out the front driveshaft in my 88' & happen to notice that the underside of the engine perch was stamped "255, 302 & 351W Only". Granted the 78/79's are a different generation but I still would think that if you found a pair from a 73-79 F-truck with a 302 then it should work pretty well.

 

[cowboydan]

don't want to argue or anything, but speeking as i have done this a few times, i have an opinion.

the biggest issue i had was none really. i used an '85 351w, 351w mounts. the c-6 tranny from a 351m/400m won't

match a small block as they are big blocks. using a small block c-6 tranny means not using the 205 t-case because then you need a different adabter. but it's not really a problem because the 205 has no gear reduction, which is a bad thing when you lack the low tourque of a big block. i matched my small c-6 to a 1345 borg and as a benefit solved my rear driveshaft problem by because the borg is smaller and it has a nice gear reduction