A good friend is preparing his 77 Bronco for sale. It has a 302 with the T-18 I believe and the small danas. He wants to swap in a 351 because the 302 is tired. I recommended he put in a 300 and sell the 302 with the truck. He has the 300w/trans from an 85 so it would not require much cash for the swap. He believes when he sells it will sell quicker with a 351. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for the flaming.

You can put a 300 in a early Bronco but it's far from not requiring much, it's a big ass motor.

You can put a 300 in a early Bronco but it's far from not requiring much, it's a big ass motor.

Any one have a link to reference the physical size differences? When you say a lot bigger are we talking length, width or both? I never had the two side by side. If the sizes are that far off I understand it would not be worth it. I just really like the idea of that engine in that Bronco.

They make these things called tape measures (or measurin tapes depending on where you're from) and take ya some measurements... :flipoff2:




In all honesty, the 300 is about the same weight, but its hellaciously long, and shoe horning it into that bronco engine bay is probably going to be a lot more work than you think.

I'd either stuff the 351W in there in place of the 302, or sell it as it sits, and let the new owner worry about the motor...

Shoe horining a 300 in there isn't going to help the bronco's marketability. It's LOOONG and tall, and won't fit all that well, and 112hp that calls 3600rpm the end of the world is not something your average buyer is looking for. A good 302 or W, the masses will buy that.

Not at all worth it if he's just going to be selling the rig. He would have to move the motor mounts back and do some firewall massaging at the very least. EB's have a fairly short engine bay and the 300/6 is not a short motor.

good running 302s are a dime a dozen, and require no mods to drop in.

Thanks for the input, i do have a tape measure but why use that when I have the knowledge of the PBB. The 300 Idea is scrapped and I have a 302 I already offered to give him.


Any one looking for an EB in North Eastern PA?

I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but if he is going to be selling this he should just get it running and sell it.

If he wants to change the motor and then sell it to make more money out of it, my advice is he'll probably make a better hourly wage is he sells this and then opens a lemonade stand on his sidewalk.

When you start altering stuff to make it more valuable, it is often an inverse proposal, just sayin'.

I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but if he is going to be selling this he should just get it running and sell it.

If he wants to change the motor and then sell it to make more money out of it, my advice is he'll probably make a better hourly wage is he sells this and then opens a lemonade stand on his sidewalk.

When you start altering stuff to make it more valuable, it is often an inverse proposal, just sayin'.


Thanks for the input but your logic is flawed. I have sold a couple cars in my life and I believe I have learned a few things. If there is any thing visibly / audibly wrong with a vehicle people feel that can negotiate with you or start looking for more issues to leverage.

Scenario 1
Joe Blow walks up to your car you start it and there is oil leaking from the valve covers. Joe Blow- "wow look at that oil leak, it looks serious." Granted everyone knows the cost of the replacement gaskets he will want $$ of the price. It would have been better to replace the gaskets.

Scenario 2
Joe Blow- "whats that noise in the engine" as he gets in his car and drives away.

As I stated above (as well as others) 302s are not hard to obtain nor hard to swap. We could change one costing the price of the engine and a case of beer to pay for any additional labor.

I will agree just dumping cash after cash into a vehicle will never return the investment. But I always felt better selling something sound and letting the buyer know the issues.

Thanks for the input but your logic is flawed. I have sold a couple cars in my life and I believe I have learned a few things. If there is any thing visibly / audibly wrong with a vehicle people feel that can negotiate with you or start looking for more issues to leverage.

Scenario 1
Joe Blow walks up to your car you start it and there is oil leaking from the valve covers. Joe Blow- "wow look at that oil leak, it looks serious." Granted everyone knows the cost of the replacement gaskets he will want $$ of the price. It would have been better to replace the gaskets.

Scenario 2
Joe Blow- "whats that noise in the engine" as he gets in his car and drives away.

As I stated above (as well as others) 302s are not hard to obtain nor hard to swap. We could change one costing the price of the engine and a case of beer to pay for any additional labor.

I will agree just dumping cash after cash into a vehicle will never return the investment. But I always felt better selling something sound and letting the buyer know the issues.

No flaw in the logic at all. Not counting the price of an engine, you are basically planning on 2 or more people working for free doing the labor, and any additional help for the cost of beer.

My magic 8-Ball says that if you and your buddy spent that same time mowing lawns, that plus the cost of an extra engine will be more than any increase in price your friend will be getting for his Bronco. Plus, the more expensive something is the longer it takes to sell so it may be sitting in the driveway longer than what the neighbors want.

However, I'd rather be under a hood drinking a beer with a good friend than walking around behind a weedeater, so there is a lot to be said for that.



Just don't mislead yourself that you are doing this to make more money on the sale.