What year 351W rebuilt should I order

[Dejavu]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, but old to the hobby(way old). I was going to rebuild the 302 in my 66 but I am very tempted to buy a rebuilt 351. The price is better than the cost of just parts for my 302 rebuild, and I get a 70k warrantee . My problem is what year 351 should I look for? I know there were a few very low compression smog years, but thats about the extent of my 351 knowledge. Any advise would be a great help.
Thank,
Fred

 

[Edbert]

69-70 are considered the only Hipo types until the EFI versions came out much later. I am not a historical 351W expert but I do know that one of the major "good-things" about the 69/70 big windsors was the heads. By the mid 70s the combustion chambers were so large you'll need pop-up pistons just to get a 9.5:1 cr.

If you are telling the vendor which spec you need tell them it is for a 69 Mach1. You could tell them it is a Boss-351 but that would get you a cleveland

 

[Max Power]

It really depends on the vendor and what they are selling you. You need to ask a lot of questions. It is very common for rebuilders to sell generic 351 windsors, mainly meant for vans or LTD sedans. make sure you get the 69-70 heads, make sure you know what the compression will be, make sure it is properly balanced, make sure you know what parts will be going into it, like cam and pistons.

 

[BrownPSU78]

I beleive the 69 mexican block was the strongest, but if you go with a 93-95 351 you can get it with a roller cam. If you get the lightining motor you will get gt-40p heads and a roller motor I believe
--Brown

 

[D Durden]

It only matters if you are going to hot rod the car. And if you're going to hot rod the car, you probably have your own heads in mind. And if you're REALLY going to hot rod the car to need that Mexican block, you probably want to have an engine built.

 

[MO351]

I beleive the 69 mexican block was the strongest, but if you go with a 93-95 351 you can get it with a roller cam. If you get the lightining motor you will get gt-40p heads and a roller motor I believe
--Brown

As for the Lightning 351W they had the regular GT-40 heads. If you get a Lightning motor and want to put a roller cam in it make sure the casting number on the block starts with F4TE. The early 93 Lightning 351W was not roller ready. Late 93-95 are roller ready (came with flat tappet cams).

 

[BrownPSU78]

Thank you MO351, I didn't realize that they made that change mid year. Sorry bout the mistake on the gt-40 thing.
--Brown

 

[Dejavu]

Thanks for all your input, I''m going to write down a ton of questions for the rebuilder. It would be a big plus if I could get to get a roller ready motor with decent heads as a starting platform.
Thanks again,
Fred

 

[mustangdave]

Look into buying a main stud girdle. It will tie all of the main caps together making the bottom stronger. Also, there will be a huge power difference with aftermarket heads such as AFR's.

 

[D.Hearne]

As for the Lightning 351W they had the regular GT-40 heads. If you get a Lightning motor and want to put a roller cam in it make sure the casting number on the block starts with F4TE. The early 93 Lightning 351W was not roller ready. Late 93-95 are roller ready (came with flat tappet cams).

My 95 E150 van's 351 has the roller cam too.