[eddielugnutz]

It depends, if your coming into this 351W from a 80's van, is it free or do you have to buy it, because if you have to pay any great deal of money, I'd look elsewhere, and it depends on if it's a 2bbl or 4bbl motor, or if it is fuel injected. I'm assuming this motor is free, and you better make sure it's a Windsor and not an M code motor that may have been used in a van, and I'm not sure how to identify it, I think if it's carburated it will have a different bolt pattern on the fuel pump than on a Windsor, I'm no pro.

I just got done doing a 351W swap in my 88lx, the motor came from I believe a 90 or 91 Bronco. It was an easy swap, but guess what, I may be swapping BACK! Compared to the stock 255, any 351 will feel like a world of difference, problably even a 2bbl will feel better, It all depends on the motor, no replacement for displacement has always been a rule of thumb, but in this case, the opposite may be better. Why? because my 351W has stock 8.5:1 compression cast iron pistons , in stock form it only makes about 240hp, and I doubt even that. I think it's actually slower than it was with the stock 5.0 motor with bolt on mods! I am yanking it out, and rebuilding it from scratch and stroking it. That's the way to go.

As for the actual swap, just do a search on this site for 351 swap, in the articles section there is an article written by Marty Kot with all the part numbers and everything you need to swap a 351 in a fox body, I used that for my swap, but mine was fuel injected so yours will be even easier carbed.

Oh shoot dude, I forgot to mention all the other crap man, soemone please jump in and tell me if I'm wrong, but all mustangs 79 through 85 came with the 7.5 rear which is about as strong as a 6 year old girl, trust me, and if it is stick it has the first of the T-5's which holds even less torque than mine (300ftlbs) which means that even a stock 351W like mine will quickly destroy that tranny, hope you have auto!

So no matter how you look at it, you will eventually have to start investing some money into this project, and if your only a beginner, that's going to be much more difficult for you when the rest of the car starts falling apart. Money can not be an option sometimes, I save and wait, save and wait, and buy a part at a time. someone on this site has a qoute, "speed=money, how fast do you want to go?"

just my 2 cents.