Tag engine teardown

was about damn time I got started on this thing right. Today I’m finally getting hands on with the classic piece of Ford V8 history, the 351 Windsor. If you’ve been following this channel for a while, you might recall that, uh, years ago I did a deep dive in 351, uh, Windsor engine. Lots of diagrams, historical tidbits, bunch of stats, uh, all that good stuff. But this time I’ve got the real deal sitting right here in front of me, ready for a tear down. Even better, I’m going to take this mild-mannered Windsor and turn it into a 408 stroker that’ll make some serious power. Howdy folks, Ed here. Welcome back to Bullnose Garage. This is going to be the start of a full series where I take a basic 351 stock Windsor, strip it down to the bare bones, check every single component, and then rebuild it from the ground up. By the end, I’ll have a stroker motor that’s ready to rock in just about any Ford project you can dream up. Mine is going to go in my, uh, ’85 F-150. From turning this block down and inspecting the crank journals to picking the right parts for the rotating assembly and finally firing it up, I’m going to cover all the steps, share all the notes, and almost certainly screw up a few things ’cause I’m no pro and that’s bound to happen. Hello! Now before I start ripping into steel and iron, I want to talk about what makes the 351 Windsor so special. Ford introduced this engine in 1969 and it quickly found a home in everything from Mustangs to trucks. The chassis DNA with a 289 and 302 small blocks, but there are a few key differences. The 351 Windsor is built on a taller deck, which translates into more stroke potential. Basically, the block is a bit beefier all around. It’s got bigger main journals, a stronger bottom end, and enough structural integrity to handle the, uh, the kind of power that I’m aiming for in a stroker build. That’s one of the big reasons enthusiasts love turning the Windsor into a 408 or even beyond. It can handle the extra displacement without acting like, uh, it’s about to explode every time you lay into the gas pedal. So let me get specific on some numbers. The original 351 Windsor typically sports a 4-inch bore and a 3.5-inch stroke. Deck height is in the 9.48 to 9.53-inch range depending on the year, which is noticeably taller than the 8.2 inches you’d see in a 289 or 302. Compression ratios vary, uh, they were all over the map depending on the year and emissions. Early on, you might have seen ratios around 10.7 to 1, while later engines dipped into the 8.0 to 9.0 to 1 range, like this one here. It’s a ’95. As for weight, fully dressed with iron heads and intake, you’re looking at about 500 to 520 lbs, so it’s not exactly a featherweight, uh, but you know, if you’re looking for that, get yourself a 289 if weight savings is your ballpark. Now, if you ever find yourself staring at a Ford small block and wondering whether you got a 351 Windsor, a 302, or a 289, here’s how to tell without playing the guessing game. So first off, casting numbers can give you a clue. They’re over here, uh, underneath on the driver’s side, uh, but they don’t spill it out for you. Take the F4TE 615A block that I have here for example. That C number doesn’t straight up scream 351 Windsor, but it does give us some breadcrumbs. The 6015 part, that’s just Ford’s generic block identifier. It doesn’t tell us the displacement, uh, but the F4TE means that it’s a 1994 truck block. Now that means it’s either a 302 or 351 W. So how do we know for sure? Well, here’s where the physical differences between those two different blocks come in. One of the easiest ways to spot a 351 over a 302 is the deck height. Uh, the 351 is noticeably taller, measuring 9.53 inches compared to the 302’s 8.26. It’s a solid 1.3-inch difference, which spreads the heads further apart and it makes the engine physically larger. Now you can’t, uh, fiddle with it to get it right where 9 and a half is, but yeah, you can see it’s pretty close right there. Uh, now if you turn to the bottom end, uh, Ford gave the 351 Windsor a much beefier foundation compared to the 302. I don’t have this apart so I can’t show you, uh, but one of the quickest tells is the main cap bolts. They’re 1/2-inch bolts on 351 versus the smaller 7/16-inch bolts on a 302. Uh, the extra strength is one of the reasons that the 351 Windsor can handle stroker builds and, uh, big power without turning into a, yeah, pile of metal shavings. I mean, not that the 302 can do that, but 351 is more robust. Uh, speaking of beefy internals, the crankshaft main journal is another great big difference. The 351 Windsor uses a hefty 3-inch main journal compared to the 302’s 2.5 inches. You know, so there you go versus there you go, right? Uh, if you got the crank out, a quick measurement will tell you exactly what you’re working with. One more subtle clue is the oil filter boss, uh, location on 351 Windsor. The oil filter mount sits slightly higher on the block than it does on the 302. Now this is not super easy to spot, especially when the engine is inside of a bay, uh, unless you got them both side by side sitting out. But if you want to look for that, it’s just another piece of the puzzle. Uh, so you know, the next time you’re thinking through a swap met or picking through a junkyard, uh, keep those checks in mind. Uh, now if you’re looking at a small block Ford, uh, installed in an engine bay from the front and trying to decide if it’s a 351 Windsor or just another 302, my go-to way, what I think is the easiest, uh, and it’s a quick way to tell at a glance is to check the area around the distributor mount. Um, I’ll get you a closeup here in a second, but, uh, on a 289 or 302, the pad the distributor mounts, uh, is almost flush with the block. On a 351, there’s almost an extra inch of, uh, material here. Uh, it’s much visibly taller. It’s due to the deck height and the taller deck is what gives the 351 Windsor its extra stroke and displacement. So it’s the quick visual indicator, this deck height here around the distributor, uh, to tell if you’re looking at, uh, a 351 or a 302 if the engine is sitting inside of a, of an engine bay, especially if it’s fully dressed. So, uh, while I got the engine still together, although it won’t be for long, there’s a few other things that, uh, I want to point out here before I start tearing this thing down completely. First off, we’ll take a look at the oil pan. Now I’ll be sure to show you the pickup tube and discuss how it affects oil delivery once I’ve got all this stuff here off. Still so much grime. So another thing I want to show you real quick while the engine’s still together is that I still have the, uh, stock exhaust manifolds on. Now they’re fine for a stock build for the most part, but, uh, you know, they’re definitely not going to be okay for a 408 stroker. Now I’ve left these on here because I didn’t want critters and stuff getting in the open holes while I was sitting outside, but now that it’s in my garage, I can, uh, take those off. I’m not doing that right now, but I am going to show you what I’m replacing them with to give you an idea of the difference. So to do that, let me turn this thing back around. Now this thing is definitely top-heavy, so, uh, and it is a beast, so I got to have a little bit of a cheater bar here to, uh, see if I can get this thing turned around. Here we go. H! All right, so here you can see the, uh, stock exhaust header. Let me, uh, try you down a little bit so you can get a better, a little bit clearer shot. And here is the new one that’s going to go on. These are long tube headers. I got them, uh, actually I got them for free from, uh, DynoX, so they provided those for me. I’ve got a video on these, um, where I’ll show you what these are all about. But yeah, man, that’s going to, that’s going to look pretty sweet and sound pretty sweet. Yeah, we can look forward to getting those on. And lastly, while we’re here and this thing is still together, you can take a look at the stock intake manifold up here. Uh, you know what? Actually, let me get, uh, this plate off the top here and I’ll show you what I’m talking about. All right, now that I’ve got the, uh, plate off the top, we could talk about this, uh, stock intake manifold. Now there’s a couple things going on here, um, that need to be addressed as far as my build is concerned. First, you know, these documents are okay for low-end grunt, um, and stock applications, but for a 408 stroker build, uh, they just don’t flow enough air. So I’ll be definitely looking at some aftermarket intakes for this. And, uh, also because this one is a fuel injected intake, not a carbureted intake, um, I will be swapping this to a carbureted engine. Uh, and you guys may go, oh my God, carbureted engine, why would you ever do that? Fuel injection is so much better and more reliable and all this other kind of stuff that people end up doing. Uh, so a couple things. One, uh, I’ve never messed with carburetors before, and so I don’t have that, that little bit of jadedness that some of the carburetor guys have. Uh, and I need to get that. I really need to, to figure out, I need to internalize why carburetors are so horrible, right? So I want to build my engine with a carburetor. I also really like the old school feel of that, and I like the old school look. So if I do get tired of the carburetor, uh, even though I’ve got a carbureted intake, I’ll just get myself like a sniper EFI or something like that that looks like a carburetor, uh, still gives you that old school look, but you, it will work with the intake that I’ve got, but still gives me the, uh, the modern sort of drivability and reliability of an EFI setup. So that’s my plan there. So once I got everything taken apart, disassembled, I’m going to dedicate an entire episode to walking through each of these parts so I can show you exactly what it does and why it’s important. I’ll lay out the crank, rods, pistons, heads, and anything else that I’ve yanked off this block right here, uh, and I’ll put them on a bench and I’ll give you a crash course on small block Ford anatomy. Honestly, it’s going to help me brush up on my own knowledge too because, you know, there’s nothing like pointing at each component and telling you exactly what it does and figuring out how it all comes together to, uh, keep your mind on track. That’ll be good for me before I, uh, build the new engine too, so we’re going to do that. Uh, I mean, Lord knows I need as much help as I can get. If you’re wondering why I picked a 351 Windsor for a project like this, one, you’re obviously not a subscriber to the channel, and two, let me sum it up. Uh, there’s a ton of them out there, it’s durable, and the aftermarket part support is insane. You know, there’s a lot of options for intakes, exhausts, uh, man, all kinds of different stroker kits and just pretty much whatever you’re looking for. So as I’m going along, I’m also going to chat about the history of the Windsor, uh, ’cause it’s really interesting and that’s part of the fun for me. I really like digging into that stuff. So now here’s the part that I’m going to get yelled at for in the next episode. I’m going to start tearing this thing down. Oh my God, Ed, all you ever do is flap your gums! I know, right? I’ve been waiting on this for four years, but I want to do it right and take it slow, so I’m taking it one episode at a time. Next time, I promise I talk to you about this engine, I will be taking it apart. I’m going to show you exactly how I pull the heads, yank the cam, and see if there’s any hidden damage lurking down into this block, right? I’m going to measure the bores to see how much I need to overbore for my stroker pistons. Now hopefully I’ll get lucky and this thing is basically still stock. I think it is, and if it is, then I should probably only have to go 30 over, but you never know. Maybe I won’t, and that’s part of the adventure. So once I know the status, I’ll pick out a nice stroker kit that matches my goal, something that’ll give me a nice bump in torque and horsepower, get me up to 408, and, uh, you know, something that won’t turn this engine into a ticking time bomb. Excuse me, uh, so that’s the plan and I can’t wait to get my hands dirty. If you love classic small block Fords or just enjoy watching some dude in his garage try not to drop a cylinder.

Head on his foot then, uh, this series is definitely going to be for you. I, I, I, I’m designing this series so that some guy like me, who’s never done this before, can start from episode one and work all the way through. By the end, should know everything they got to know to build the same kind of engine that I’m building here. And that’s, guys, that’s why I’m taking it slow. I know that, uh, you four guys that have built before probably look at this going, oh my gosh, this guy is so slow, it’s like watching molasses go uphill. But you’re probably not who this series is for. But you might find it interesting, so I hope that you do.

So guys, do myself and yourself a favor and make sure that you’re subscribed and have those notifications turned on because next time, I swear to you that you see this engine, I will be tearing it apart to see what’s salvageable and set the stage for the 408 stroker build. Um, it’s going to be a lot of work. It’s going to be a lot of head scratching for me ’cause I’ve never done it before. Um, it’s a big, uh, big task and, uh, I’m sure there’ll be a little bit more than just a little bit of cussing under my breath. Um, but I’m looking forward to it.

You know, let me know if you guys have done a stroker engine yourself and how it went. What was a dream come true or a frustrating odyssey of stripped bolts and missing gaskets? Because it is intimidating for a first timer, uh, but I want to hear about it. If you have any other questions, comments, concerns, gripes, internet ramblings, as always, stick them below. Thanks again for watching and we will see you next time.

She’s rough around the edges but she’s doing fine, tinkering away, getting things to shine. No garage, she’s considered divine. Thanks again for watching, we will see you next time. Thanks again for watching, we will see you next time.

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.