The Papa Sheep: Replacing the 351W in the '68 Mustang Part 1

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Replacing the 351W in the '68 Mustang Part 1

As I explained in my last post, the future power for the '68 Mustang will be provided by a remanufactured Ford 351W engine, more specifically a long block that I purchased from Powertrain Products of MD. A "long block" is an engine that comes with the camshaft, lifters, cylinder heads and rocker arms pre-installed. There is no oil pan, timing chain cover, intake manifold, valve covers etc., which is fine because I already have all of those parts. (Note: a "short block" would be an engine that has pistons and the crank installed, but does not have a camshaft or cylinder heads; this terminology should not be confused with the small block/big block expressions).

The first thing out of the crate is a full gasket set which is a bonus I was not expecting....so great!

I need to get the "new" engine onto my stand, and I need to get the "old" one off the stand and into the packing crate for return shipment to the engine builder - I can save over $500 on the cost of the new engine by returning a "rebuildable core." Obviously a cracked block would not be rebuildable.

Time to play engine Tetrus:

Lift old engine off the stand with hoist...

...dump on dolly and remove balancer

Attach balancer to new engine...

...lift...

...and transfer to engine stand.

Lift old engine off dolly and into crate.

All packed and ready for collection!

All of that took a few minutes. I turned the new engine upside down...looks good:

The casting number on the block is D2AE-6015-BA3 which decodes as follows:

1st character = decade of production; D =1970s.

2nd character = year of production; 2 = 1972.

3rd character = model; A = generic Ford.

4th character = design office; E = engine.

6015 = engine block

BA3 = small block Windsor, 351 ci displacement, 2-bolt main caps.

I installed the new oil pump that came with the engine and my original oil pump shaft and pickup while the block was upside down. I also added the engine mounts. I then rotated the block on the stand and started cleaning up the parts I will install before I transfer the motor to the engine bay. First up was the timing chain cover which looks like the photo below after the gasket residue has been removed and the crank seal changed:

That was all I had time to accomplish before Monday morning rolled back around, but a couple of days later a big truck showed up to collect the "old" 1969 351 Windsor which I've owned since 2011 and is now just a "rebuildable core". To be perfectly honest, the engine was never "right," but I did have some fun with it:

Day of purchase/collection, 7.31.2011. You can just see my friend Wayne's legs and the tailgate of his Toyota pickup in the background. I still have the valve covers, the timing chain cover and the oil pan.

Martinez, CA, 2011

Dropping off the engine block at Stirtz Machine, 12.28.2012. It was gone for over a year. My car can be seen in the background this time, and there is an Easter Egg in there somewhere.

Oakland, CA, 2012

My good friend and BAMA member Chuck helped me put the engine back together while Samuel Sheep and myself were living in Emeryville. I had a single-width garage at the time so space was at a premium. The heads were rebuilt by another mate from BAMA.