Being that it's a first time project...go 351! The parts are the cheapest and easiest to come by of the 3 and like scraptor said FE motors(360) parts are expensive and don't have the aftermarket support like the SBF. The 460 is and awesome motor but again parts are more money and although there's more support then the FE motors, still not as much as the 351(SBF).

 

Yeah I guess 351W would the best choice, plus I could put it in my truck later if I chose to replace my 302.
So suggestions on parts... like heads, cams, intake, etc... Also which transmission should I attach?

 

I'd go zf5 for the trans if you're planning on putting it in a truck

 

I personally would go 351w, partly because I'm building one. Parts are easy to find, a lot of support form the mustang community.

I'm not saying the 360 or 460 are bad, just a little expensive. I'd love to have that 460 punched out to 532, but the transmission and axle upgrades would blow my budget out of the water.

 

I agree the 351 is easiest and least expensive to obtain parts for. Besides, unless you're going to drop it in a pull rig or hot rod (two completely different builds) then you'll be happier with your gas consumption and power to price ratio. The 460 is an excellent motor but would be an expensive build no doubt. The ford 360 is another great one but hard to find much for it. Mopar 360 on the other hand, great motor and easy to build up. I loved mine that I ran hard for a long time, couldn't kill it after the rebuild.

 

What exactly are you doing to your engine? Any special tuning/parts or basic engine overhaul?

 

my brother had a little V6 in his 85 camaro. after he thought about it, he stroked a 350 to a 383, but got it up to 700hp.

he didn't want to have too much weight scraficing steering.

again, he went from a light V6, to a V8... which was a pretty ample weight change for him to get used to...

so i completely agree with you man.

 

Big block is nice cause overall more power and torque, but it is heavy. 360 is a good medium, but for me I would take the 351 just cause of what the aftermarket has out for engine, and you can purchase a 427 stroker kit and make one mean engine

 

I'd go 351 as well parts are fairly cheap and can find nearly everywhere.
I own a 360 its definately not a big performer sounds real good but the intake is bad about leaking at the front and rear since the gaskets are nearly a foot long or so the intake is huge and weighs a ton since its also nearly a quater or each head. Unless you chunk edlebrok 500 or so (I think) a four barrel intake is next to non exsistant and the factory intakes on ebay ain't cheap either.
The factory D4 head I think that's the right casting code for a truck has small 48cc combustion chambers or around that.
If you score a set of c8 heads from a mustang 390 its 54 to 62cc heads. I got lucky and found a set for 50 in a consignment shop ebay has them for 800 at the time wtf.

 

...well I take that back ebay has some extremely cheap intakes for the truck... like 75 bucks :/ prices change over a four year period.... it all drops after I decided not to build mine some.