Hi, Rookie. I ain't much of a FORD guy, but I am learning; my son has a '69 Torino GT Formal Coupe with a 351W HO in it, and I helped him replace it a few months ago, and learned a bit. When ever he has a problem, and it gets bad enough for him to be concerned, he comes around for "Ol' Dad's" assistance, and I get to learn something else.

In the process of figuring out what he was going to do with his old broken engine, we checked out several shops, and saw a few really nice builds. The 408 and 427 strokers were quite impressive - we saw two 408s, and a 427, all three were a bit different from one another, but really healthy, and all were streetable. I was very impressed with what I saw. Be aware that there are two versions of the 351W; one is what I dubbed "LoPo", or low performance, that is listed as a "2V" engine, meaning two barrel carb, I assume. The other is the HO, which seems to describe a "high output" version with different firing order, and different cam design from the "LoPo", and a four barrel carb.

Go ahead and ask lots of questions, get as many books and magazines as you can find, study, ask questions, inquire, ecetera, etcetera, etceterrrra.