Show Transcript
Howdy folks, Ed here. Welcome back to Bullnose Garage. It’s the day I’ve been waiting for since I bought this thing almost 5 years ago. Today, I’m starting to tear down this 351 Windsor engine, so buckle up, come along, and you’ll see what surprises I discover, both good and bad, from some shocking discoveries, oh, cut all these, to truly painful lessons, and even how much profit, yeah, profit, I’m making off this B. Boy, you don’t want to miss it. Let’s dig in.
Hello. So before we start, I’m going to put up what I paid for this ’95 F-150 chassis with the 351 Windsor and an E4OD transmission. I basically stole it from the guy for 500 bucks, so let’s put that on the screen and we’ll tally the score as we go. What you see is what I got, plus ECM and wiring harness, the steering column, steering wheel, and the gauge cluster. Now, I’ve already sold the gas tanks, the gauge cluster, and the steering wheel with column, so I’m well on my way to at least breaking even and getting the block for free, if nothing else. But I think I’ll do a lot better than that. Let’s see. By the way, I’m future commentary Ed, and I’ll be with you the rest of the way. Double dose.
The first thing I pulled off was the cruise control module, followed by the throttle cable. Both were connected to the throttle body linkage and right on top, so they’re easy to get to. And just like that, a quick $25. Cru. Oh yeah, I remember this part, so does my thumb. That’s going to hurt for a while. Try to take off one of those stubborn rain clamps with pliers. It wasn’t pretty, and there’s the pain I promised you. The brake fluid reservoir pretty much rotted away completely, so there was no way to drain it without getting brake fluid everywhere. I only got some, got more in my shoes. That’s what being out in the southwestern sun every day for 5 years will do to plastic.
So back when I got this donor chassis from a guy in Facebook Marketplace, he was planning on a build but decided to go another way. I suspect it might be because the frame is bent. He didn’t tell me that, but it doesn’t really matter since I’m not using the frame. He even trailered it over from the next town for free. It’s like an hour away, so nice guy. But you know, when you inherit someone else’s project, cleaning things up, there can be surprises. You’ll see what I mean later. I am so adept at everything, so amazingly amazing. Wait a minute, that, oh man, yeah, the bolts for the brake fluid reservoir and master cylinder were practically welded together with rust, so I ended up taking the whole assembly off. And guess what? It wasn’t worth anything. Straight to the trash it goes.
All right, what’s next? I’m not sure if they drained this fluid or not. Oh, it feels pretty empty. Day one may not seem like much progress, but hey, I’m a noob. Newbies got to learn somehow. At least I managed to make a quick $75 and get a bunch of hoses and bits off to start cleaning things up. What about that solenoid? The EGR vacuum regulator solenoid can be a bit more valuable, especially good work. Oh, and by the way, I use AI a lot. You might have already noticed from the images on some of my videos. It’s a huge help. It’s like having a mechanic but in my pocket. I can ask questions on the fly and get instant answers for part numbers or how to remove something. I know there are mixed opinions about AI, but I’m not going to apologize or make excuses for using it. It saves me a ton of time and energy. If you’re not at least checking it out for yourself, you’re kind of missing the boat. If you’re interested in how I’m using AI to help with this tear down and with my channel, let me know. I might just make a video about how I use it.
Finally getting the radiator off here. It’s hung off the front of this thing for 5 years. Do yourself a favor and always be sure to drain the radiator and cooling system before pulling one off. Foreshadowing. I’m planning on keeping it to use in my engine run stand later, so I won’t be selling it. But if I did, that’d be a quick 80 bucks. Little bit. By the way, I’m sorry you’re spending so much time watching my back in this video. I was more focused on working my way around the engine than keeping an eye on the camera. But don’t worry, I mean, that’s why future commentary Ed is here today, keeping you company. Ant hoses, not worth jack in this condition. Like I’m saying, those aren’t worth anything. As I go, I’m snapping pictures to check part numbers, find values, and decide what might be useful for my new build. Spoiler alert, there’s not much I want to use, so most of it’s either going in the trash or up for grabs on Marketplace.
This part is a DPF sensor, and I know that thanks to my AI friend. I also know it’s not worth much. Here I am taking off the alternator, a 3G. By the way, this one won’t fit my Bullnose since it’s side mount, not pivot mount, so up for sale it goes. That’s 40 bucks in my pocket. And hey, if you’ve got an older truck and haven’t done the 3G swap yet, what are you waiting for? I’ve got a great video on just how to do it. Trust me, it’s an easy mod that makes a huge difference. You should go check it out. Amazing, you have part number, but you probably don’t, Mr. Unidentified Bracket. Unidentified throttle body bracket thing. Sh, no part number. I’m guessing, I’m guessing the gasket is not worth jack. You’re right, past Ed, the gasket isn’t worth jack. Most of them aren’t. Oh, that’s dirty. Some, and off comes the throttle body. But even dirty as it is, cleaned up, it’ll probably net me around 65 bucks. So that’s day two in the can and another $85 in my pocket. If you’re keeping score, you notice I’m almost breaking even and I haven’t even talked about the transmission, which will be in the next video. Differential or wheels? Yet not too shabby, right?
Know what that is? It’s a vacuum reservoir or something. I don’t know what it is. That’s what it is. It’s a vacuum something. By the way, if any of you know what this hose is, let me know in the comments. I spent an hour searching for one and just came up empty. Just like that, I guess I ended up removing the entire bracket for the smog pump. Why? Well, because to take off just the pump, you have to pull the pulley off so you can get to the bolts. It’s easier just to take the whole bracket with the pump still attached. I can always separate them later or sell them as one unit. But for accounting sake, let’s break it down. Smog pump, 80 bucks. Bracket, 75. Now, I bet someone who knows what they’re doing could have stripped this thing in a short afternoon. For me, it took 4 days spread over 3 weeks to get to the point at the end of this video. But hey, I mean, that’s how you learn, right? I mean, at least that’s how I do it.
The AC compressor comes off pretty easy, provided it’s already drained. And just a quick reminder, if it’s not empty, make sure you handle it safely and legally. Uh, mine was already drained, so it was an easy removal. You have to drain it. You have to make sure that you don’t discharge it into the air. Well, that’s another 80 bucks added to the total. Next up, the transmission cooler. That came off quickly too, and I’m hoping to get around 20 bucks for it. Oh, and then there’s that. Not sure what size that is. Oh, it’s that size. Ooh, it’s that size. Now can I actually get this in here? Probably not. Oh, maybe. Hey, look at that. I decided to just cut the power steering pump lines here since it was a pain to remove. The lines aren’t worth anything in this condition anyway. I did gain a valuable lesson in environmentalism, though. Come on, you there, just go in there. Whoops, okay, okay. I thought it was interesting how the power steering lines loop around the front of the chassis here. It’s for cooling, like a poor man’s radiator. I didn’t know that until I worked on this thing. So that’s day three and a cool 255 bucks.
Day four, I decided to get the radiator fan out of the way. I even rented the special tool from the parts store, only to find out I didn’t need it. Turns out the fan had four regular bolts. A socket and strap wrench took care of the job with the clutch included. That’s another 80 bucks. Power steering pump, same story as the smog pump. You have to remove the pulley to get it off the bracket, so I took the whole thing off instead. Now, I could use this pump for my new build, but I’m probably going to go with a saginaw pump, maybe even like a nice chrome one. So this old one is going to go in the sale bin. That’s another 65 bucks for the pump and 50 for the bracket.
I discovered that the intake has one star bolt in the middle on the inside. I’m not sure why they would do that, but clearly, I’m not an engineer. I’m sure there’s a good reason for that. I don’t know what it is. Are you joking? Not only is it a different bolt, but it’s tucked down under and between the intake runners, so the star bit I had originally wouldn’t fit. The base was too big around. Fortunately, like any man card-holding member of society, I never throw away a tool, so all I had to do was search long enough to find what I needed. Please be the right size, kind of small. Please be the right size. There we go, and off comes the upper intake. That right there is a big chunk of aluminum and a big chunk to the kitty.
Remember when I mentioned inheriting someone else’s project? It’s moments like this that remind me that you have to take the bad with the good. Oh, he cut all these. He just cut them all, so these are garbage because he just cut them. Like, he just cut them. I didn’t even realize he did that, but yeah, whoever had it before me just cut them. Just straight up snip, snip, snip, snip, motherfucker. Oh, bastard. My guess is that he tried to get it off reasonably and then probably couldn’t, and then so he just decided, you know, fuck it, I’ll replace all that anyway. But this harness is garbage because you could tell all the wires. So unfortunate. The fuel rails might be worth something, but the harness is garbage. HOH. I thought maybe I dropped that into the unit tank. Doesn’t really matter. I’m taking it all apart anyway, but that would just mean I had to take it apart. I wouldn’t have any choice anymore. Let’s go put garbage in the garbage. This harness would have been around 80 bucks, but the previous owner cut the wires to the injectors. Still, just look at that total down there. I cannot complain. And that’s as far as I got on my 4-day adventure. Let’s head out and take a closer look.
Okay, so here’s how it sits right now. Fuel rails are still on there. I’ll probably go ahead and pull the engine off those. You see, I’ve got my intake holes covered up here. I still got the transmission to get off there and all that kind of stuff. I still got to drain the oil and the fluid. I’ll do that probably before I move it. Obviously, I’ve got this issue with this tire here. It’s pretty much roached. I’m not sure if I can roll it like that or not. I don’t have to go very far, just up out this gate and over to the garage over there. So I got a plan for that. See, yeah, like I said before, I’m leaving the exhaust manifolds on here because I just don’t want those big open gaping holes out into the environment here. I’ll take that stuff off once I pull the engine. I don’t quite yet have a plan for how I’m going to pull the engine in the… I don’t have a tranny hoist, but I do have some jacks and, you know, a lot of wood, so I think I can figure that out. Backyard mechanic special coming at you.
So that’s where we are now. But what’s the plan? Well, this video is just a start of a whole series covering the complete rebuild of this 351 Windsor from pulling it out of the chassis all the way to running it down the strip. My goal is to strip this engine down to the block, take it to the machine shop, build it back up, drop it in the truck, and then take it out for a quarter-mile run. And I’m going to cover every single step of the way for guys like me who don’t really know what they’re doing but they’re ready to learn. Next up is getting that chassis into the garage, and since it can’t move under its own power and it’s heavy as hell even without the body, you’re probably wondering how I’m going to do that. Don’t worry, I got a plan. Stay tuned for that.
Once the chassis is in, I’ll be pulling the engine off and we’ll tear it down together. We’ll go through it with a fine-tooth comb, looking at how the engine’s been treated, what signs to look for during a rebuild, and everything else you need to know when tackling a project like this. Once that’s done, we’ll get the block to the machine shop and talk to the machinist. We’ll cover all the services they offer, what they cost, what they’re for, and why you might need them or not, depending on your build. We’ll go through the whole nine yards. Then we paint the block. After that, I’ll walk you through the entire engine build. We’ll talk about component choices, camshaft, valves, lifters, rotating assembly, everything. I’ll explain why you choose certain parts, how they work together, and how to build the right kind of engine for your needs, whether it’s high torque, high horsepower, street, or strip. And I’ll share why I’m making the choices I am for this build.
Hopefully, by the end of the series, you’ll be able to grab my parts list and replicate my engine build from scratch, even if you’re not a mechanic. My goal is to be that detailed with you guys, especially during the build process. Look, I’ve done my homework. I’ve bought books, I read up on everything, I’ve watched dozens, probably hundreds of YouTube videos, but there’s still a lot that I don’t know. So I hope to bring in a pro to help fill those gaps. When you’re building an engine, missing even one small detail can come back to haunt you later, so I’ll make sure we go over everything step by step. That way, we can learn together. And if I succeed, great. But if I fail, well, you know, that’s great content too because it’ll help you avoid making the same mistakes.
Once it’s built, I want to get this engine on a stand and fire it up first. Then I’ll pull the 3006 out and I’ll go through that process with you so we can talk about what parts need to keep and what to replace, cleaning and painting the engine bay, decluttering and cleaning up the electrical system. Then we can drop the Windsor into the truck, get everything hooked up, and take it out for a test drive. And I want you to be there with me for every step. The ultimate goal? Well, the last series of this episode will hopefully be me taking that truck to the strip and getting a quarter-mile time. That’s where I want to end this series, but not the channel. There’s lots more to do than just the engine. Now, it’s going to take a while. I’m a busy guy. I got a family and a job and a lot of other stuff going on. But my hope is to create a series of videos that you can sit back, watch, and binge like a Netflix series. And by the time you’re done, you’ll know exactly how to take an engine off the chassis, rebuild it, and get it running.
Guys, if you’re excited to follow along with me, here’s the ask: like and subscribe, hit the bell for notifications, and keep up with this build. And if you want to support the channel and help me buy some cool performance parts, grab yourself a hat from the merch store. Thanks again so much for watching, guys. I hope you join me for this adventure, and we will see you next time around the edges. But she’s doing fine, take her away, getting things to shine. She’s consider. Thanks again for watching. We will see you next time. Thanks again for watching. We’ll see you next time.
Hey folks, Ed here from Bullnose Garage. After five long years of staring at this hunk of metal, I’m finally diving into the teardown of the 351 Windsor engine from my 1995 F-150 chassis. This isn’t just about wrenching on an engine; it’s about turning a $500 purchase into something profitable. If you’re curious about how much dough you can make from parting out an old engine, or if you just want to see what hidden nightmares I uncover, stick around.
The $500 Steal
Let’s start with the basics. I picked up this ’95 F-150 chassis with a 351 Windsor and E4OD transmission for a mere $500. A deal so good it feels like I should be checking my rearview mirror for the cops. Included in the purchase was the ECM, wiring harness, steering column, steering wheel, and gauge cluster. I’ve already offloaded the gas tanks, gauge cluster, and the steering wheel with column, so I’m already on my way to breaking even on this thing.
The Teardown: What I Found
Starting with the Easy Stuff
The first items to go were the cruise control module and throttle cable, netting me a quick $25. Of course, nothing ever goes off without a hitch, and I found out the hard way that pliers and stubborn ring clamps don’t mix—my thumb paid the price.
Rust, Rot, and Regrets
Next up, the brake fluid reservoir was so rotted it practically crumbled in my hands. Years in the southwestern sun will do that to plastic. And here’s where the plot thickens: the frame might be bent. Surprise! But who needs a straight frame when you’re just after the engine, right?
AI and Engine Part Value
I’m not shy about using a little AI help in my teardown process. From identifying parts to instantly finding their values, AI’s like having a mechanic in my pocket. Some folks might scoff, but if it saves me time and energy, I’m all for it.
Radiators, Solenoids, and More
I managed to yank the radiator off without a hitch—it’s going to find a new life on my engine run stand. Took a bit of effort to identify the EGR vacuum regulator solenoid, but it’s part of the job. And hey, I even got a 3G alternator off this beast. If you haven’t done a 3G swap yet, what are you waiting for? It’s one of those mods that makes you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
The Painful Lessons
Remember when I said there’d be surprises? Yeah, some genius decided to cut all the wires to the injectors before I got it. So much for selling that harness. But hey, the smog pump and bracket are worth a cool $155 together, so it’s not a total wash.
Day by Day Breakdown
- Day One: $75 in my pocket, mostly from pulling off easy stuff.
- Day Two: Made another $85 selling off whatever wasn’t trash.
- Day Three: Added $255 to the tally with some creative parting out.
- Day Four: Another $275 from items like the power steering pump and brackets.
What’s Next?
This teardown is just the beginning. Up next, I’ll be moving the chassis into the garage—without its own power, of course. Then, it’s on to fully removing and tearing down the engine. We’ll go through the internal components with a fine-tooth comb, and I’ll walk you through my plans for the rebuild process. Spoiler alert: it involves a 408 Stroker build.
If you’re interested in following along, make sure to subscribe and hit the bell. And if you want to support the channel, grab some merch. Every purchase helps fund this wild journey.
Check it out above and let me know what you think. Until next time, keep wrenching.

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