That huge difference translates to about an inch in width.. Sure the deck difference is 1.3", but that only moves the heads outward by about a half inch per side, the angle of the towers negates some of that.
ya the 351 in in a 72, the 302 is in the 76. the towers are exactly the same though. i took the pics at diffrent angles so they may "appear" diffrent
i have a 351w in mine. i decided to cut the shock towers to make it easier to change plugs and put some headers on later. but the 351w is a tight fit but can be done
ive got some really tight 289 mustang manifolds im trying to use, the drivers side is the same part number as the maverick one but the pass side is much smaller even after doing some grinding on the manifolds theyre still too tight. im going to hammer in the towers slightly i think. it should be enough but at that point were talking a paper thin space between the manifold and towers, if its even going to work
Tony: When I put a 351c in my 75, I found that the engine wouldn't even go in. Turns out that the towers had sagged because the car spent some time without the tower braces installed. The towers naturally sag inward towards each other, narrowing the engine bay. I had to put a porta-power between the tops of mine to get them back to spec. I expanded them far enough that when the porta-power was relaxed, the braces fit perfectly. You have to take it a little further because the towers settle right back when you let off pressure. I am not suggesting that you for sure need this, you will have to decide. However, it gained me quite a bit more than I would have imagined. My towers had sagged 1.5-2 inches, measured from the top. Edit: For cars that have sat only a short time without braces, it is said that simply letting the car rest a few days on jack stands, will relax the towers back into position. Just using gravity to undo the damage gravity did. You would just have to make sure the jack stands are placed where they not only safely support the front end, but also allow the maximum gravity pull on the towers. Probably on the rear of the front subframe. To put the stands on the front suspension, or even on the subframe directly under the towers, would take gravitational load off the towers, I would think. Something else to consider. If I was to do this, I would leave the engine in, wheels on, and tower braces on with loose bolts. When maximum relax is reached, tighten the bolts of the brace before taking pressure off the towers. Might work... Disclaimer: Use care doing the porta-power thing. I didn't and dented the tops of my towers a bit. See pic...
hopefully sagging towers isnt my issue, the braces have been in place while it ran but ive had them off since yanking the I6. while trying to shoe horn in the dressed 352 with the help of a 2x4 and other pieces of wood i could see some tower flex ohh yea, i didnt have to remove the braces to put a 302 in but to put a 351W in you definatly have to take the shock tower braces off if that tells you anything about the width. heres the manifold i went with on the pass side. i cant imagine a stock manifold comming any smaller and ive shaved this and the other side down since i havent fitted it with the altered dr side yet, just the altered pass side piece with the stock dr manifold and she was tight still... i pretty much cut off the big red thing in the back and shaved down the other red areas. it was still kinda tight on the yellow spots but that was when i was fitting it with the stock drivers side manifold so it may have been pushing it over heres when i tried to put it in befor cutting at the drivers side. the "collector" of the manifold kept getting lodged in the recess the side of the shock tower rather then going behind it and the tighest fit which is still currently holding me up was the top of the middle "primaries" against the side of the tower which tapers inwerd i pulled the motor back out and did some grinding in these areas, hopefully it'll be enough, but like i said, we're talking paper thin clearences. i bet if i had a set of those frame mounts ratio411 was talking about a few weeks ago that "lift" the motor within the engine bay this swap with these manifolds would fit much better if i could get the motor down another 3/4'' it would be on the frame mounts. at one point the idea was even mentioned for me to stand ontop the motor and jump on it lol
Yeah, Ford manifolds have a bunch of excess iron that can be ground off. Good work. Looks like it's coming right along... can't wait to hear how it turns out.
