302 v 351

[Curt C.]

I have had both and have loved both. Being of the same family, most bolt ons: heads, cams, pullies, upper efi manifolds (not lower) etc. are all interchangable. The 351W is stronger due to more webbing in the block. Also, the 351W (for obvious reasons) has more room to grow. If you were building a 5.0 Mustang I would say 302 because you can reuse a lot of the stock parts (pan, headers, hood). If I were starting from scratch I would go the 351W route.

[aharris]

Delin

I thought about this long and hard too. I came to the comclusion that too much of a good thing (hp) can be bad for you. I have stuck with the 302 with a few mods (heads, intake, cam) and I'm sure I will have lots of fun and could easily get myself into trouble.

No offense to the big hp folks here, but I don't think I could drive your cars. 500+ hp is terrifying in a 2200 lb car.

Andrew

[Cobra Dude]

Andrew, absolutely agree. I don't use even half the hp my car can put out because it gets hairy in such a light vehicle (granted I have suspension issues to work out). And also because the more I put into this car, the more careful I drive it. And perhaps also a bit because street racing was just raised to a class B misdemeanor in Texas.

500+ hp is great if you have a specific purpose in mind, such as drag racing. It is however, nice to *know* that I have 500+ hp.

Cheers,
-Neil.

[Jack21]

FFR's are somewhat different animals than most other Cobras. For one, fitting anything bigger than a 302 block requires some shoehorning. Most of the FFR types I know stick with 302 blocks, add stroker kits to up the displacement and superchargers to up the power. This is a question better put to FFR owners.

Any other Cobra, wouldn't consider anything less than a 351W.

For street use, the T-5Z is a great trans. Better gearing. If building a 393W and were planning on leaning on it hard, would go with G-Force built T-5Z. Again, better gearing than Tremec.

[delin]

Quick update: we were on the verge of ordering a 351w when my father-in-law offered us a 1965 Mustang 289 engine. He had rebuilt it about 25 years ago when he renovated a '40 Ford. All our talk about building the Cobra inspired him to pull the cover off his Ford and put a bigger engine in. So we get the 289, which we're going to have rebuilt from the ground up as a 302. (I believe it's the exact same block as the 302...?)
It's a particularly sweet deal in that in NJ, the emissions standard that you're held to is determined by the year of the engine block, which in this case is 1965. I think it would have taken us awhile to come up with an older engine like that.

[decooney]

Originally posted by Jack21

FFR's are somewhat different animals than most other Cobras.

Jack21,
I tend to agree with you on the FFR/302 combo for another reason. I don't know the specifics, but an FFR sure seems to be a featherweight in comparison to some other replicas. My friend's Unique with a stroked 302 really rips (lighter than my car) and I know an FFR is a bit lighter than his Unique. Isn't an FFR with a 302 somewhere around 2000 to 2150lbs? I'm guessing here...

I can't imagine what a stroked 351W would be like in an FFR. Must be a little on the wild side. I'd probably do a 302 stroker if I had an FFR too.

[Excaliber]

There are some subtle and important differences in the 302 vs the 289 block. I give the "nod" to the 302 being a "better block". One notable difference is the depth\length of the bore. On the 302 it extends deeper down in the block. This addressed a kind of "piston slap" problem the 289's had at high rpm. There are other "mods" as well.

Ernie

[Chuck R]

I have an FFR with a 302. It has all of the usual mods plus 9lbs. of boost. Were making right at 400 RWHP. The car weighs 2160 lbs. and balances at 45/55. As far as which engine works best in a FFR, flip a coin. If you want to stay asperated go for the cubic inches, if you want to add a little boost stay with the 302.