Capri 351w build up and install
Sept 18, 2000
(Under Construction)
Some basics: Many people have put 351w's in fox body stangs for a long time now, but I still had trouble doing the job right. Even Ford Motorsports kit doesn't fit very easily. The 351w sits 1" taller and almost 2" wider than the 302. This means you will have hood interference. You can also expect the 302 headers to not fit, the accesories to be a pain and a few other nice surprises. Follow along as I try to show some of the hang up points involved with this install. With this being a turbo application I didn't have to worry about different headers (which you need running N/A ) or the extra hood hight required with a EFI installation.
Alright, lets get started with the bottom. Here are two oil pans. Even the oil pan is different between the two because the 351w uses larger bearings which translates into larger main caps. The grey pan is a stock 5.0 liter pan. As you can see it has two oil drain holes, one front and one in the rear sump. Also note that the hump is only 4" deep so it clears the K member with 1" easily. The blue pan is from a '83 f-150 2wd. It's the one FMS will send you when you order the conversion kit. As you can see it has a shallower hump that's about 6" deep. I had to raise the engine off the motor mounts 1" to clear the K member. Also note that it has a fitting for the dipstick tube to screw into the pan on the drivers side (not shown). They had to do this because none of the 351w blocks were drilled to hold the tube, like the 5.0l's were. I had slight interference with the K member on the passenger side, but even though it sits against the K frame it doesn't cause a vibration problem. I used the deeper Melling 83HV high volume oil pump with this pan and had to slightly clearance the front corner to get 1/16" clearance on the pump. You can also use the early '80's Crown Victoria 351w pan, but they are getting very rare and I understand they won't take a HV pump. The CV pan does have the deeper hump so it should allow the engine to sit lower.
To the front, here is what I ended up with for pulleys. Remember I'm running the turbos so I had to tuck the accesories in close to the engine for maximum clearances. The alternator is the stock 65amp unit, and the same for the power steering unit. The alternator pivots on the lower outside head bolt and the power steering from the inside bolt. The two T brackets were homemade and have since been reinforced with turnbuckles after eating the belt due to the brackets 'giving' too much. What I ended up doing was measuring the factory brackets behind the accesories and making aluminum spacers to keep the belts aligned with the crank pulley. The heads are tapped for 3/8" bolts vs the 7/16" bolts the accesories formarly used so I put a 1/2" alignment step on the spacers and turned down some bradd nipples to work on the front of the alt and PS bracket, then drill the alt and PS out to 1/2". The power steering pump bracket rests against the water pump and the belt tension is maintained by the alternator brackets. The crank pulley is a Moroso 'race' unit I got for $30 at a swap meet and the water pump is stock. The water pump is stock late model aluminum and I had to reroute the water hoses so the short 90 degree piece connected to the lower water pump port (not like the picture) and the heater hose to the top port. My application used a 65.5" belt that routes from the crank to the alternator, to the PS pump, to the water pump and then back to the crank. The stainless lines are oil feeds for the turbos.
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