it will fit , cutting shock towers are for plug changes and header install its highly recommened that you cut em IMO of course if you dont want to change your plugs w/o removing the engine
i had a 351w in my 71 grabber for a while. after 4 years i blew the engine, never did change the plugs. if you want a 351w cut the shock towers you'll be glad you did. without doing that i'd stay with a 302 and stroke it to 331 or 347. that'll give you all the power you need.
I agree with Don. Stick with a 302 based engine unless you're racing it. I did mine with a 351w for a while...stock front suspension/cut towers, and even then header clearance was non-existant. Plug changes weren't that bad...but a LOT harder than a 302.. Had to remove the shock tower braces to pull the valve covers as well. Would I do it again? Probably not...I'd drop in a mild 302 and a 4,5,6 speed manual and have a nice fun street driver.
i have the shock tower braces from MPG in my maverick. just pull the pins and take the shock tower braces right out. makes pulling the valve covers a cinch.
This is interesting stuff. There's a Maverick with a 351W for sale on E-Bay right now that I'm going to look at. That sucker is in there tight. By cutting the shock towers, do you mean cutting small access holes to reach through from the other side? Does anyone have any pictures of the towers being cut with a good view of the work area? Please e-mail them to me at dkratz@nc.rr.com. This sounds like a head ache to get into, but this is a pretty fresh engine .030" over and I'm tempted to snap this one up and sneak it past my wife into the backyard, hehehe! Later, DAVE
im thinking of racing it but having a sleeper on the street at the same time and the 351w has a powerful punch dont you guys think?
I agree w/ sticking with a 302 based motor The 351w is a tight fit As for cutting the towers. they mean cutting out a huge chunk of it... straight down even w/ the springs and then welding in a thin layer of metal to cover it back in. It takes a L shape out of the towers. The 351w doesnt make that much more power than a 302 in stock form. I honestly thing putting a little bit of a cam, intake, carb and headers will benefit more in a 302 than a 351. This is due to head chamber size, etc... If you want the 351, go for it. But I suggest the 302 motor honestly.
Ya man, I hear you, But this car I'm going to look at is assembled already and the block was supposedly professionally built by a buddy and his SC based racing crew. Hence, it's a fire breather and it's set up for street with no manditory requirement for special racing fuel, even though it does marvelously on it. I'm thinking of adding a small second gas tank and a couple of T connections to draw on the "nasty" fuel when I need it. How's that for environmentaly concious, heheheh! I can't believe this car still has vacuum advance on it. Let's hope they didn't cheap on anything else either! The pictures look like they put the right headers in to deal with the space problem, and I don't think you should run NOS through this block without setting it up properly with the right heads, pistons, etc. I'll be tempted to change it to more h.p. later of course. The guy is claiming this block pulls around 500 h.p. but I don't know,..that seems pretty generous. If I opt to put a 302 in later, that will be a build from the bottom up. Frankly, a buddy of mine put a 289 in his 1967 mustang coupe "sleeper" and stroked it up to 304 Hemi with AMC Javalin pistons. Here's the good part. He also put in a geeky little quarter inch Nitrous Oxide plate between the manifold and Holly carb. He welded on three chains from the frame to the block and had a cross over "gangster style" connecting pipe between the dual exhausts which lowers the resistance in a cross fire engine without increasing the noise output. I must tell you, it was the fastest and quietest car I've ever ridden in. There's nothing like going down a straight street at 90 in 3'rd gear/manual and then kick on the NOS. The ass end starts to shimmy back and forth from the axle spin and you know that you've just launched forward like there's no tomorrow. He literally buried the speedometer well under a quarter mile. That would be fun to put into a Maverick, eh? The part that I don't understand is that he had nothing more than two little Monroe shocks in the front and no armor plating around the transmission, (a C-4) that was throwing heat like nobody's business and emmiting a high pitch that felt like a needle going through your e-drum. I felt like I was at the dentist with no pain killers, OUCH! Well, there's your moment of thought and meditation for the day, heheheh! Later, TROG (DAVE)
