A friend of mine is rebuilding a 351W that’s in a boat. Went to local parts store to get head gaskets for it, but when he put them on he noticed that the gasket had no holes for the front cooling passages, and the
oil passages in the gasket were much smaller than that on the head.
He's been back to exchange the gaskets, as well as gone to several different parts stores to see if the initial counter guy was just giving him the wrong ones, but said that each set he's gotten is the same.
To anyone's knowledge, did the 351W marine engine have a different head design, and therefore a special gasket? Or are there truly different 351W head designs? Or do I need to supply more info?
Any help will be appreciated.