351 cleveland fit in a '65 mustang?

70SWGR · Jun 16, 2005

Hello,
I'm trying to find some information for a friend.
Martin has a '65 mustang 289/4sp that he has owned since the mid 70's and the car has been stored for the last 10 or 15 years.The 289 is 60 over and needs to be freshened up.Martin just bought a running '71 cougar 351 cleveland/C6 and would like to build the 351 instead of the 289 if it will fit in the '65 without major modifications.Can anybody tell us what would need to be done?I doubt that he would want to cut on the shock towers.

reenmachine · Jun 16, 2005

I don't know, but I'll tell you that we put a BOSS 302 engine in a '66 a while back. It's a Cleveland engine as well, but I don't know how it compares dimensionaly to the 351C. It was a tight fit, but it didn't require any cutting.

65myway · Jun 16, 2005

dodgestang has a 351 C in his 65 Fastback with no shock tower modification, but it is an extremely tight fit. Check out his webpage http://www.dodgestang.com/mustang.htm or send him a private message. I'm sure he will be able to help you out.

steel1212 · Jun 16, 2005

It'll fit with some header massaging. Open tracker has a pic of his wife's car with one in there. Its tight but it'll work.

latamud · Jun 16, 2005

John or Nick will chime in soon. But basically you will need the conversion headers, and the older 65 Mustang motor mounts because it installs the engine a little lower for better clearance.

Opentracker · Jun 16, 2005

latamud said:
John or Nick will chime in soon. But basically you will need the conversion headers, and the older 65 Mustang motor mounts because it installs the engine a little lower for better clearance.

That's it, and a bigger radiator. This is what it looks like:

John

70SWGR · Jun 16, 2005

What would need to be done to the cleveland to get his '65 in to the mid 12's and still be streetable?
I think he has a 3.89 gear in the car now but he also has other thirdmembers.

dodgestang · Jun 16, 2005

Bolt in...only caveats:

1. 64 falcon motor mounts (same as early 65) these are 3 peice motor mounts.
2. Fordpowertrain.com headers or tubular auto (Ford power train are much much better)....some minor header massaging on the install.
3. John is right about the larger radiator...I run a very expensive Griffin because I didn't want to cut my radiator support (for a true bolt in application). With ceramic coated headers cooling would function better with the smaller readiator.

To get it into the 12s....traction is your biggest enemy because the 65-6 wheel wells are quite small. I run a 408 stroker in mine and without slicks on it, I excpect it to never see 12s. Proper chassis prep will help...torque boxes, sub frames, export, MC bar, and a traction device...cal-tracs. I use under riders because I wanted a dual purpose car for open track and fun in the 1/4 mile and I felt the cal tracs were too drag specialized for my needs.

351 cleveland fit in a '65 mustang?

70SWGR

New Member

reenmachine

65myway

New Member

steel1212

Active Member

latamud

Opentracker

70SWGR

New Member

dodgestang

Active Member

Similar threads

351 cleveland fit in a '65 mustang?

New Member

New Member

Active Member

New Member

Active Member

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency