has anyone tried putting a 351 in the explorer? is the hood area just too small or could it be legthened to make it work. just wanted to know is anyone had done this swap or more likly conversion.

You are talking about a 351 Windsor correct? Ford made three different 351's, The Windsor (smallblock), the Cleveland (kinda a smallblock) and the Modified (bigblock). The windsor is the big brother to the 302 and I assume this is the motor you are referring to. Now to answer your question. I thought about it, but the windsor is not only taller it is also wider than the 302. It will fit, but not like a 302. You will most likely need at least a 2" body lift to help the hood clear the intake. The next problem appears when you realize that by dooing a body lift you raise the inner fenders up, this will create a clearance problem with the cylinder heads. There are several other items I have overlooked, but in order to run a windsor it will require alot more work than converting to a 302. Determining if the extra work is worth it is up to you, but be prepared.

It all comes down to how much work you are into and how trick you want it to be. It can be done like boyle said but, with all the performance parts available for the 302, the extra work isn't worthe the effort.... unless! you have one laying around the house. I also caution you to check current or upcoming new laws, a lot of states are going to be following california laws on emissions soon, one big law on swaps in CA is that the engine being swapped in be at least as new as the vehicle. So the engine would need to be your year or newer .. if you were gonna follow that. I am if i ever swap cause i want the fuel injection, but just something to check on.

hope this helps.

dodgerr

The 351/5.8L will fit I have seen pics of that done on Rangers before. So its possible. I do know you might need a special hood and some inner body work may need to be done. Its just a matter of how much fab skills you have and how much Mula$$$ you have. It can be done. I have even seen some pics of a Ranger with a 460 in it.

What does oknut have in his explorer isn't it a 351?? I know it is from a 78 f-250. Anything is possible with the right amount of money and time!

Is it possible? Of course.....a reasonable swap? Not really unless you are a master at modification....there are about 3 guys doing the swap now....The 302 in its self is alot of work.....Like I said, it can be done, but search a 302 swap...and you'll see that it is alot of work
Pete