Alfie's 351 Engine Build

[Alfie623]

I've been a member for a few years with limited input or sharing so I thought I'd share my engine build here  and then hopefully you'll see my next project in the works in the next few weeks.  

First I started with this 1986 351 HO.  I bought the truck, which was in a pretty bad shape, just to get the engine, knowing that I would be finding a good recipient soon for a swap.  It turns out the truck I bought had a lot of good parts and when all said and done I was able to make a few bucks after pulling the engine and I helped some other's out with parts they needed.  

Here is the engine on the day I brought the truck home.



About a year later I found a truck I thought would be a great recipient, a 1983 Bronco found in Northern California.  After some negotiating, some wire transfers and arranging transportation, the truck arrived.  The truck is in great shape and has a bunch of options that I really wanted including the blank interior, power options and factory fog lights.  

Here is the old engine, a California emissions ECU controlled, carbureted 302.  There is a whole bunch of stuff going on in there and it was a shame to tear apart a California compliant engine from 1983 but it just had to happen.



Next up, I got into tearing the old engine down and finding new parts....

[Alfie623]

I stripped the 351 down to the bare naked block and got it ready to send to the machine shop for new parts.   The machine shop used Melling components and Lightning specs for the cam.  Rather than dictate how I thought the engine should be built, I gave the builder my goals and used his expertise as a 40 year race engine builder to spec the parts.  The finished product is still an unknown at this point but I have confidence that I'll be happy.



I knew the '86 351 was going to need to breath better so I found some GT40 heads on eBay and bought them.  The heads were freshened up as part of the engine work.




I also knew that I didn't want to run v-belts so off to the junk yard I went to find the parts and pieces to swap the engine to a serpentine drive.  I learned along the way that I would want a Saginaw pump so the quest was to find a late '80's E-series with the correct engine.  

[Gary Lewis]

Good story, Alfie.  Can't wait for more installments.  

[Alfie623]

While the engine was at the machine shop I started acquiring the components I needed to complete the job.  My goal is to build an engine that looks like it rolled off the factory line while using parts and pieces that would give me modern day power.  You'll see I stayed with the grey color on the block and the accents are stainless, black and yellow.  






In addition to the Saginaw pump, I've decided to upgrade to a 3G alternator.



I've added stainless shorty headers that flow into a 3" stainless exhaust.



Here is most of the engine assembled.

[Alfie623]

The engine is now in place and connected to a ZF5 that I found.  The ZF5 swap meant I needed pedals, a steering column and to do some fabrication on the driveshafts, the crossmember and the transfer case linkage.  Another Bronco was purchased to get a lot of the key components.  

Here are some pics of the engine.





In the next few weeks I plan to reinstall the radiator support and radiator and then fire her up for the first time.  Spring is right around the corner and I can't wait to get this truck back on the road.  

[Gary Lewis]

Looking GREAT!  Well done!

I see a Red Head steering box in there.  And the Eddy AVS2 carb.  Plus the Sag pump from the other thread.  Quite a transformation.  

[Rembrant]

Alfie623 wrote

Excellent thread!! I am a big fan of the 351W engine and I suffer from a severe case of 35W envy! (I have a 302 in my 1984, with the same 3bar GT40 heads that you have).

Love all of the pictures. A friend of mine has a 1997 F350 with a 351W roller engine in it that I would love to get and build up like yours.

Anyway...

Curious what you did for your fuel line there. Are you running a mechanical or electric pump? I see the hose there, but can't see where it goes...

[Angelo Voltura]

Glad to see you on here Alfie! Looks great as always.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thank you for sharing!!  

That looks like a very nice driveline build.  

[Alfie623]

Sorry, I've been meaning to reply to this.  

Obviously because of the serpentine swap I lost the mechanical fuel pump.  Because I'm running an Edelbrock intake and carburetor I decided to go with their fuel pump as well.  Because the pump pushes better than it pulls I mounted the pump along the frame rail 1/2 way between the trans and tank where there is already a hose connection or stress relief.  I then used new hoses to connect to the stainless lines along the frame.  

In the engine bay I replace the hose from the hard line to the old fuel pump and ran the new hose directly to the filter you see in the photo.  I have yet to start up the pump so the jury is still out but I have faith it'll all work fine.  

[Gary Lewis]

Sounds like a good plan.  But did Edelbrock give you a pressure #?  Their carbs don't like more than 6 psi, but surely their pump would work with their carbs.

[Alfie623]

Their fuel pump is set to 6.5 psi from the factory for use with their carbs so no tinkering.  There is an adjustment if necessary but it should be plug and play.  

[Gary Lewis]

It is interesting that they set it to 6.5 but in their own documentation they say to set a regulator to 5.5 psi.  At least that's the way I remember it.

Anyway, at least you don't have way too much.  

[Gsmblue]

Great read, thanks for sharing! I am thinking I will do something similar next year for my Bronco, I would love to build an engine...

[myrl883]

Alfie623 wrote

Obviously because of the serpentine swap I lost the mechanical fuel pump.

I'm curious about this comment. Why did you lose the mechanical pump? I did a serpentine swap on my 302 and still have a mechanical pump on it. Is there less clearance with the 351 brackets?

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm interested too.
Did you have to go with a later timing case to get the serpentine front dress???

[Alfie623]

myrl883 wrote

Alfie623 wrote

Obviously because of the serpentine swap I lost the mechanical fuel pump.

I'm curious about this comment. Why did you lose the mechanical pump? I did a serpentine swap on my 302 and still have a mechanical pump on it. Is there less clearance with the 351 brackets?

Hmmmmmm, I don't know how this is but I'm no expert.  Where did you get the serpentine setup for a carbureted engine?  I know Jeg's sells a timing cover that allows the reverse direction water pump to mount along with the mechanical fuel pump but as far as factory parts all I ever knew existed was timing covers with reverse rotation water pumps and fuel injection.  

To answer your question, the serpentine setup I have on my engine came from an Econoline (providing a Saginaw pump) with fuel injection so I needed to find an alternative for the fuel pump.  

[Alfie623]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I'm interested too.
Did you have to go with a later timing case to get the serpentine front dress???

Yes, I went with the timing cover from a 1988 Econoline.  

[myrl883]

If you compare normal rotation and reverse rotation pumps, the D shaped coolant passages are different, and you'll have a leak if you install the wrong one. If you use a pump for a reverse rotation Mustang, it won't leak because the openings in the rear plate are round. When the Mustang went to serpentine in 1982, they still had mechanical fuel pumps.

When I did my serpentine conversion, I used my 1981 timing cover, serpentine parts from my '96 donor (roller) engine, and a Mustang water pump. I did have to clearance the P/S bracket quite a bit to clear the fuel pump as the P/S pump is mounted closer to the block on a serpentine drive setup, but it all works together in harmony!