Mercruiser vintage 351W engine identification

[wayne seelig]

I have a 1971 Hydrodyne Mercruiser stern drive boat with a Ford 351 Windsor that I tore down the engine and since I never found a Mercruiser ID tag on the engine, I'm having trouble getting dealers to give positive ID on the Ford engine that came in this boat. I recently thought I had the correct oil pump but evidently it came out or another 351W I'm working on and when I tried to fit it, the oil pan would not set all the way down. I'm reluctant to use the other oil pan not knowing for sure if there are any clearance problems based on the sumps in the pan when installing the engine into the boat. It appears the oil pumps from automotive engines are longer, making the oil pan hit against the oil pump before the oil pan even mates with the block. Bottom line, has anybody got Ford 351W numbers from a similar Mercruiser engine that would be usable to get parts for this engine that came in this early 70's Hydrodyne. Or, advice on my hunch that the car oil pumps seem to be too "tall" for the Mercruiser oil pan.

New to the site - - came in desperation.
Thanks much,
Wayne Seelig
Dudley, MA

 

[Gettinther]

Re: Mercruiser vintage 351W engine identification

I have a 1971 Hydrodyne Mercruiser stern drive boat with a Ford 351 Windsor that I tore down the engine and since I never found a Mercruiser ID tag on the engine, I'm having trouble getting dealers to give positive ID on the Ford engine that came in this boat. I recently thought I had the correct oil pump but evidently it came out or another 351W I'm working on and when I tried to fit it, the oil pan would not set all the way down. I'm reluctant to use the other oil pan not knowing for sure if there are any clearance problems based on the sumps in the pan when installing the engine into the boat. It appears the oil pumps from automotive engines are longer, making the oil pan hit against the oil pump before the oil pan even mates with the block. Bottom line, has anybody got Ford 351W numbers from a similar Mercruiser engine that would be usable to get parts for this engine that came in this early 70's Hydrodyne. Or, advice on my hunch that the car oil pumps seem to be too "tall" for the Mercruiser oil pan.

New to the site - - came in desperation.
Thanks much,
Wayne Seelig
Dudley, MA

On the oil pan you need, where is the sump supposed to be??
Only versions of oil pans I can think of were either front sump or centre sump.
Front sump is almost any full size Car 351 windsor (centre pic)69 - 81
Centre sump would be from a truck (pickup) and would also have the provision for a dipstick tube on the left (port) side(first pic)

Picture here of what I can think of, notice last picture has a double hump provision for oil pumpbut that is
1982-1987 Ford F-150 F-250 F-350 Pickup Truck 351W Oil Pan
Is your dipstick at the front of engine or on the side

Any automotive parts store should be able to get these pans