[john kerr scotland]

hi
i'm looking for some advice on putting a ford 351m in my forty coupe which at present runs a sb chevy 327. it appears the problem is the engine sump, fouls the steering rack so i would need to reverse it (the sump). thats the problem? how do i go about it? where do i get the parts and what parts? remember i live in scotland uk. and am not that familiar with american engines. any advice would be helpfull. thank you. john kerr.

[Nico]

If you are going to swap engines, you may have to replace a lot more than you bargained for. What kind of transmission/ rearend do you have in that? I don't know the bolt pattern for the 327, however I doubt that your tranny would bolt up to a 351M.

I'm sure someone will chime in and say yes/ no for sure, however I'm going to bet that you will more than likely have to either find some way to adapt it or replace all that good stuff as well.

Again, I'm no expert on ford->chevy->ford swaps so my info may be incorrect.

Nico

[trees]

John, I'm not an expert on putting Fords in Fords, but know a lot of reasons not to do it. But you want to know about doing it. The oil pan you need is off a 66 thru 77 Bronco 289/302 motor. You also need the oil pickup plumbing to get from the pump to the rear sump. Next problem is the tight fit in length. The small block Ford is approximately 2 1/2 inches longer than the SBC. Look at your 327 installation and see if you can come up with that difference between the fan and radiator and thehead and fire wall. Of course you can cut the firewall and make more room there, but then you will really have to cut into the X member of the frame which is the strength of the frame itself. Using a manual tranny will reduce the amount you will have to cut. If you presently have a pure Chevy drive train, you will need to do some innovative u joint modification or will need to go to a Ford rear end. Here , the same vintage Bronco will provide you with the correct width and a very strong setup. The gear selection is very good and I would suggest the 3.55 for your Scottish countryside.When you investigate your proposed swap, you may just want to stick with what you got!!

Trees

[woodz428]

I would say that the 351M isn't that good a choice. For the problems you'll have to work around you'd be better off doing a 429/460. They use the same trans and although a little longer they are about the same width as the 351M. There are many more HP parts available too.

[Max Keith]

I dont recommend using the 351 M. If you are going to use the M block, go ahead and use the 400. A possible cure for your oil pan problem is to use a mid sump pan from a pickup truck, using them on 351 winsors in stock cars got me past that problem with the front cross member on my engine set back on my late model. I would recommend as a matter of cost and availability of parts, going with the big winsor. There is a lot of stuff out there for them now, and it doesnt cost anymore than for a small block chevy.

[4 Jaw Chuck]

Full size Broncos (4WD) with that engine had rear sumps and a special pickup for the oil pump, you will need a Ford trans etc for your swap and probably modify your driveshaft...linkage...cooler lines...engine mounts...trans mounts...the list goes on.

Why not just rebuild the 327? It's the better engine and you don't have to fabricate anything? I'll bet you can rebuild that 327 for the price of fitting that Ford engine.

[Max Keith]

I guess it doesnt occur to some people that there are a lot of us that prefer not to wear bow ties, and be clones. True there are initial exspenses of drive shaft, trans swap etc. As for transmissions, there are many C-6's and FM/FMX/MX ford automatics out there and they are bullet proof trannies, that bolt up to the M block, being it uses the same bell housing as the Lima (429-460). My recommendation is if going M block, go with the 400. However, for parts availability, go with the winsor, which shares the same bellhousing with the small block, as well as cleveland engines.