Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

OK, I have made up my mind, and I will going with a fuel injected 351W based stroker in the cougar. I currently have a speed density non ho 5.0, I have mass air conversion kit for the 302, can I use the 302 computer for the 351 or do I have to order a computer for the 351? Someone from another site said they are the same, but I am skeptical. Forgive my stupidity but I am fairly new to fuel injected fords.

When you do the mass air conversion, what computer are you going to use?  I would  assume A9L or auto mass HO 5.0 computer.  If that is your plans than that is a well supported EEC-IV computer.  You can get Quarterhorse(the chip) and software and adjust the engine size, fuel injector size and boat load of other things.  Then you would have the ability to tune the fuel curve, if you use a mass air EEC-IV setup.  You could also get the Pimp engine management system that plugs into the EEC harness, which is a megasqirt 2 setup.  You have several options.  Its a good time to modify EEC4 fuel injected fords....

There are no SFI 351 computers that Im aware off....except the 250 1995 Mustang Cobra R.... good luck finding one of those!

Good luck with your swap.

What tranny?

Travis

I have a built AOD (5000rpm shift point) with 2500 stall the poor non ho 5.0 can barely make 5000rpm!!. The mass air kit came with a maf calibrated for 42# injectors and the computer is an EEC-IV with a C3W code.

I am gonna go with AFR heads and trickflow 351W intake, when is this is gonna happen, who knows? I really should just put the turbo kit and wait for it to blow up before rip the motor out as everything is here and paid for. It is good to know it is the same computer. Does the distributor need to be changed??

Most likely. Just get one from a 351w from a truck. They're everywhere. IIRC, the difference is in the shaft that drives the oil pump. You may be able to pick and match patrs to use the 5.0 dizzy, and maybe not. Something I've never came across any definite info during my data gathering on swaps and conversions.

I was thinking for clearance issues, never thought about the shaft length, but it makes sense taller block longer distributor shaft. Now just gotta wait to save some cash and need to order another set of upper control arms, I guess mustang ones are too short.

Yeah, as you've no doubt (and hopefully not painfully in the wallet) discovered, Stang RCA's won't work..I recommend CHE control arms, but there's a HUGE wait time. I was lucky, picked mine up from a member here.

I've probably got a couple 351w oil shafts laying around here....

Watch those truck EFI distributors all the ones I've seen come with iron cam gears.  Check with your cam manufacture and engine builder make sure the cam gear and cam material match

Good point!

What Bob said...

You want one with steel not brass.  When I was getting a 351 dizzy for my swap.  All I found was steel one....FYI.

Travis

If you are not much of a tuner get a SCT chip for the EEC-IV.  I have one on my Coupe and it is great.  It was $500 but that included the dyno tune and three different tunes (its a switch chip) which are pass emissions test, fuel economy (never use it), and the one that makes all the power.

Anyone of the van or truck 351W distributors will work as long as the motor is a roller motor.  The roller block in my Bird came out of a 1995 van with a 351W but that car is carbureted so the distributor was used by another guy in his 351W injected Mustang.

The rear UCA's are the same as the GM A-Body cars.  Global West sells them with the T-Bird specific spacers but you will have to call them and ask for them.  They cost more than CHE but they are readily available.

Darren

Well I found a complete 351 for free out of a work truck. Gonna take the computer, harness, distributor, etc. I have the top end pretty much unhooked, now just got the trans, motor mounts, and cut the exhaust off and I am set to yank it out. Nothin like free stuff, the truck only 76,000 km on it, so that's like 45,000 miles or so. A lot of plugs are breaking though, seems like the plastic has gone quite brittle. I can't wait to see what computer is in it.

Another quick question, are 351 heads a little better than normal 5.0 heads or same ? I have a non-HO set of heads, an F-150 set, an 86 HO set and I can't tell the difference between the 3, but I haven't really check close yet.

 
The only computer you can use would be out of a 89-93 5.0 stang (no 1993 cobra). The harness will not work either.  You need to use a 5.0 EFI harness from a speed density tbird/cougar and than convert that harness to support the mass air EEC. The dizzy should work but make sure it doesn't have a iron gear on it, if it does you can change the gear.

I wouldn't waste your time with any of the ford production heads on a 351w. The E6/E7 heads are not going to feed your 351w they barely run well on a 302.  This is one of those areas I suggest you sit down and figure out what your goals are with this build because the heads are going to determine the limits of the build. 

I would think a nice new set of edelbrock victor jrs or AFR 205's would be a good choice.  I already had a pair of trickflow alum heads and after talking to several people that ran them on 408's I was convinced I could still make the power I wanted with them so I went with them.  Looking back I should have just sold them and bought new vic jrs or afr205's.  Those trick flow heads cost me $480 at the machine shop getting them redone.

Jeez, I thought for sure I could have used the 351's computer (I thought they were the same as 5.0s) and didn't even have to mess with the distributor. I got all the necessary stuff anyways. Shouldn't have wasted all that time removing the harness so carefully...

I am gonna be using AFR heads for sure, I was just wondering about the 351W heads for one of my 302s I am doing. I am building a couple of budget 302 based engines for other cars. I was hoping the windsor heads would be better, but I guess they are the same .

oh okay was confused.. Look for a set of GT40P's from an explorer 5.0, lots of guys run them.  You would just need different headers

The ECC from the truck and vans have completely different mapping and values as those vehicles are all about moving larges masses as low rpms.  The aftermarket industry is basically based off of the EEC's in the 89-93 Mustangs as Bob indicated with the A9L being the favorite but any of them will work.  You will have to chip the EEC and I would strongly suggest you find someone who can dyno tune the car.  For a 351W based NA motor I would suggest you find a Lightning MAF as they are 90mm and will support that with no issues.  I would think that the throttle body would be a 75 or 80mm depending on fwhp and the injector size will be 42lb/hr or larger depending on how much fwhp you intend the motor to make.

I run a 2002 Mustang GT MAF (80mm) on my 93 5.0 Coupe with 42lb/hr injectors and it runs excellent with an SCT chip and a dyno tune.  The MAF plug from the harness has six wires but there are wiring diagrams all over the place that show how to rewire it for the Fox harness as it only has four wires.  If you cannot find it let me know and I can sent that to you as well as the place I bought the pigtail that plugs into the harness brand new.

Find a reputable engine builder and talk to them about what you are trying to do.  The cam is the brains of the whole operation and that should be paramount over anything IMO.  From there its heads, intake, and then exhaust.

Darren

Good call. I am running a 75mm C&L meter calibrated to 24 lb injectors. I still have to get dyno tuned yet but my car is very fast for what i got into it. I just need to fix my AOD.