Hot Rods 351W in a '51 Ford

I have the 351W in my '51 Ford and the exhaust is too close to the steering column.
Is there a cast iron exhaust the dumps out forward of the steering box? Or some hugger type headers that will point away? Thank you for any information.

 

Supposedly the Mustang 5.0 OEM tubler manifolds work on the 302 conversions. The 351 is a little wider, but might work. I don't know for a fact that this will work. I read it somewhere. I have a set to try if I ever get around to putting the 302 in my '50.

 

I used 65 Mustang 289 manifolds on my 351 in a 52 Ford

 

Try a Right side manifold on the left. There are several different variations of outlet ports.

 

There's variations in every swap, so trying to predict what would fit is a crapshoot at best, especially without pics. FWIW, Sanderson makes quite a selection of SBF headers, most have some dimension info to guide fit. Not particularly cheap however. You could also buy something close and modify it, or do some judicious tube bashing for clearance. Hot Rod did a dyno test years ago that proved that as long as you don't hammer a tube flat there is little or no power loss.

If you'd prefer a cast manifold, as a SWAG I'd look at repo 289 HiPo units, early-mid '70s full-size Fords and '80-90s Ford trucks. The full size and truck manifolds are similar, except the truck manifold are heavier-duty with some rather large reinforcing ribs cast into them that would probably require some grinding. One thing you can sometimes do on the cast manifolds is machine angle-cut the head-side face to 'tip' them in. You'll have to ream the mounting holes larger.

 

I used stainless fox-body Mustang shorties on my 302 in my '50. They work well.

 

I am building a 50 wilth a rebuilt 1986 351W and have run into the same problem. Clearance between the stock exhaust manlifold and the original stearilng box is only about 1/16". I am going to grind off about 3/16 of the exhaust manifold right behind the bolt for the pipe and see if that will work. I would like to avoid buying a set of headers so we will see what happens.

On a related matter, what tranny are you going to use. I have an AOD and am figuring out how to add a detent to the stock steering column.

 

Do away with the stock manual mast jacket and use a Stock 51 factory Automatic one. Lot's of advantages to doing that and much easier.

 

Pist-n-Broke: I've read some posts on that here on HAMB but finding one has been very difficult.

 

They are out there it just takes some effort to find one. I think I have one in my shed in the back but I’m saving it for my convertible.

 

Post up a photo of the motor showing the relation to the steering gear. I have a pile of Cast Iron that's been growing for 50 years. Maybe I can help you out.

 

Fat47, You may have been talking about the 51 mast jacket. I don't have an extra one of those. Heck, they were hard to find 40 years ago. Pretty sure you can go all the way up to 1959 on that with a little hand crafting thrown in.

 

Go to this add in our Classified and send him a PM. You might get lucky.
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Pist-n-Broke: Here are a couple of pictures of the clearance problem between the steering box and the exhaust manifold. While it doesn't look it, there is about a 1/16 of an inch between the two. I can grind down the manifold between the steering box and the bolt that holds the exhaust pipe about 3/8 of an inch which would give me a quarter inch total gap. The engine shouldn't rock from front to back but will side to side. I think the gap should be enough. Opinions welcome.

 

I wouldn't be afraid to remove some material in that spot. If I remember right that manifold is extra thick at the head flange. You could also remove .100 there and draw the manifold closer to the block without any issues to the manifold. Something else I'd do if heat on the box is an issue. Remove the actual gear lube in the steering box and pack it with John Deere Cornhead grease instead. It withstands heat better than gear lube. If you try different manifolds to move the outlet forward the stock spin on filter will be an issue as is. Are you aware of this stock Ford item? It lets you move the filter from strait out to horizontal.

 

Yep, grind on that puppy. Take another 1/8" angle cut off that corner and you should be fine. That's the truck manifold I mentioned to look for, it's been a long time but the early '70s full-size car manifold might offer a bit more room but would probably be pretty hard to find these days. I used the car manifolds for a 351W into a '56 sedan, had all kinds of room.