302 to 351 in ’65 Mustang

The 302 had a aluminum timing cover that did not use the engine water pump, will this cover fit the 351? if not will the engine cover close over the water pump pully/belt aranagement?

Thanks, I knew the plumbing would be like the 302, I hope to get this project going, I lost the engine/trans to this boat during hurricane Dennis back in july 05, and just now getting around to making this happen.The 351 is a complete take out from a donor Chris Craft and is reverse rotation to boot! It has the exaust, carb, starter etc... But I want to use the non-pump type cover and plumbing.

Thanks, Chris I'll measure it all up, the engine cover has some type of insulation sprayed into it, top clearance seems OK, as the cover sits on a 2" wood frame when closed it did though rub on the exaust risers on the 302, which were center mounted, perhaps I can remove some of the insulation or change to a rear discharge manifod.
Anyrate, It's great to get back on this project! And back here on this site!
I'll keep you cats posted,
Todd

Maybe, it only was rubbing on the exhaust risers, the were Barr type with bigger center risers, I was thinking about something like this,

79nautique wrote: the covers are interchangable as well as the exhaust manifolds and that's really all that is between the 302 and 351W blocks.

Heads are interchangable too- just a different bolt size.

Boat Dr said he didnt think he could squeeze a 351 under the cover of his Mustang. I assumed it was a width issue. It will be interesting to see if you can make it work.

You could also make a new motor box,there seems to several variations on a Mustang.Look at the motor box in my picture,it's the original and is made of wood.It seems taller than the fiberglass ones,so that it clears the Holman Moody exhaust manifolds.If you want me to measure it,let me know.

I've gpt a friend that has a 66 Wildcat. He repowered it from the 210 hp Chrysler to a 351. He ended up having the motor box widened by a fiberglass guy. The guy did a great job. You'd never know it was touched. Don't know what it cost him.

Thanks Boat Rx, But I'll pass on the 302, I already have the 351, and it;s a complete set up, (read above, I lost everything to salt water during a hurricane)
The 302 only rubbed the insulation at the TOP to the "prymiard" style risers, The boat has a factory fiberglass engine cover & I am not going to go with a homemade plywood type. If is does not fit due to height, I'll raise it by remakeing the wood frame its on a little higher, if it has to be wider, I'll have it cut in 1/2 and added to, reglassed and painted to match like Riley described above. I am going to use the cooling set up w/o the engine pump just as it was with the 302, I never had a cooling issue with that set up, and I used a 160 themostat. I agree I may have to get a different exaust configureation. Thanks for all you guys input. And rest assured I am going to measure it twice and cut once! My next issue is are the thu-hull fittings for the exaust large enough?

Mine was a bit different interceptor cover, it didnt have the triangular shaped embossment and three holes (perhaps a inspection hole to check the timing chain?) It was a nice cover but I scrapped it out of ignorance when I updated to the circulation type setup. I know lots of the early 289s without circ pumps have run for 40 years now, but for me everything became a lot easier once i got a circ pump involved.

-Joe.

So your saying that my cover which is plywood,is homemade where as yours which is glass is factory?

I always thought my cover was original,the vents match the ones on the rest of the boat.If it's not,whoever made it did a great job.I don't blame you for wanting to use your cover.Thanks for the complement,other than it being a Correct Craft I didn't know what it was.I had no idea until finding this site that there were so many engine combinations.When I first got it running I had cooling problems,you could not idle the boat on startup or it would overheat,but you could if you drove off and warmed it up.Now after rebuilding the engine and the pump,the only original part of the pump is the housing,and using a 160 thermostat I have had no cooling trouble.My exhaust is 3" all the way to the stern if that helps.Good luck on your project.

Mackwrench- Always something going on here,sometimes overwhelming.Son has one semester left in school,then things should return more or less to normal.The car in the garage is a 1959 MGA Coupe which followed me home years ago.Condition much like the boat on arrival.The boat in the background was the one in the story,1964 CC American Skier with a Graymarine 4cyl.Front bench seat,floor shift and a foot gas pedal.It had the same hull as my Mustang,but with a different deck.A buddy of mine was a highschool shop teacher and the boat was given to him,it had a bad valve seat.He used it for a year and then bought a 10 yr old nautique and let me use the old one and thats how I found my Mustang.