80's 6.6L ford motor good for anything?

I have access to a mid 80's? 6.6L gas Ford motor out of a 1 ton dually truck. Is it good for anything? Will it bolt to a C4 or C6? Any speed parts avalible for it? Does the motor have any potential at all? Just curious.

 

6.6 would be a 400M, probably. Bolts to a C6. Not good for much....

 

The 6.6 is a 400 inch Ford based on the "Modified Cleveland" architecture. It has the bigblock bolt pattern on the bellhousing flange. There are some good posts on this engine series in the recent 351M thread (same engine family). What it boils down to is Ford beefed the bottom end with 3" main journals and raised the decks to allow for the longer 400 rods and 4" stroke. The heads are of the free breathing Cleveland design with 2.06" int and 1.65" exhaust valves. The only bummer is the open combustion chambers are not low octane tolerant. There is in fact tons of potential locked up in one of these engines. Just de-smog it and let it breathe.

The engine will bolt to a bigblock C6 or if you're lucky enough to find one, there were some 351M's with C-4 trannys attached in `76-`77. I like the C-4 for a hot rod because its small light and can stand a ton of guff.

On a side note: there are Australian Cleveland heads out there with the closed chamber design and they are attainable with a little digging. Also Edelbrock is in the process of releasing a "Performer" aluminum head for these engines and they have a few different intake designs.

 

The main problem with the 400 is pistion selection. The stock ones give around 8.0:1 (or less). There were some 9.0:1 pistons made by Ohio Piston/Badger, sometimes found on ebay. Or you can bush the 400 rod and use 351C pistons.
Intake selection is limited. There are adapters to run any 361C intake on the 400.
The 400 can use 351C cam, heads, valve covers, rockers, and distributor.

 

Will make a good boat anchor.

 

The way it comes out of the dually it is what it is, a fair truck motor.

Nothin wrong with the block and anything can be built if you have cash.

Let me rephrase that that particular block could be trash, but the block in general could be a good block to build if you have the cash to invest, or want to invest the cash and the skill to build it or know someone who does.

You can get pistons from JE. There are intakes for them or you can run an intake from a 351C with adapter plates to make up for the taller deck height, or you can even build an intake.

I guess if its any good depends on what you're going to do with it, if you're paying much for it and what you're willing to invest in it.

 

My experience with that setup in a full sized car is dont do it. I bought a 78 Cougar XR7 brand new with that combo and fried the tranny 3 times in 60K miles. After almost taking a chain saw to the dealer I come to find out that this setup was a "quick fix" for those customers who ordered the 351M with the console option in Cougars and Tbirds. Seems that Ford didnt have a C6 shifter so they cut corners and used the C4. Problem probably could have been mitigated with a decent cooler but by that time Id had it with Ford for a decade or so.

 

I ran a 400M in my pickup, a real gas miser, torquey and smooth, a great engine for a sled or big car.... Not much in high RPMs though. It burned lots of oil while basically not having any oil pressure (worn motor) and didn't complain. I dumped any kind of oil I could find lying around in it, including gear oil.... A very utilitarian mill, though. I liked it.

 

These engines are perhaps some of the most overlooked in history, and they need not be. They can make serious power, the downside is that it will cost about the same as building a big-block Ford. It does have roots with the "Cleveland" series 351's, which made some serious power. It's a lighter, smaller engine than the 429-460, so if space is an issue, you should consider them. Check this out:

This is THE site for 351M/400 Engines:

http://home.earthlink.net/~bubbaf250/

These provide some good info as well:
http://www.projectbronco.com/History/history_of_the_ford_351m.htm

http://www.fordcobraengines.com/Modified History.htm

http://www.fordcobraengines.com/Modified History.htm

I speak from experience...in stock form, it's a dog, but I do know of a few oddballs that have fallen in love with them and actually have built drag cars that perform respectable for giant cars...so I guess anything is possible.

 

That's interresting...I enjoyed hearing about someone who bought a 78 new, besides my parents. I've had 6 '77-79 Cougars (and a couple of their clones...T-Birds) over the years (1990 to present) with everything from 302's to the 351m (currently). I've never been lucky enough to find one with a console, but I know my 351m car has an FMX. Never had trans problems with any of them, but the small blocks all had FMX's except for one '77 that was a 302/C-4. They have all been good, reliable cars. (Knock on wood).

I wouldn't recommend anything behind a 351m/400 besides a C-6 or at the least, the often feared FMX... a C-4 is too small & wimpy in stock form.

 

pretty ol thread...
I may B way off but I saw the motor as "the largest displacement 'square motor' made". To me that means a good racer but I need a great deal more automotive engineering understanding to go much beyond that.
351 W, C, M - boy, pretty confusing for me.

 

Ill bite - on the old thread bump.

351 w = windsor, small block based and will share sime parts with 302
351 c = cleveland big block based
400 m = modified big block based 351 C and 400 M share parts.

351C and 400M generally had smog era heads with low compression chambers. There are high performance heads available factory and aftermarket, theyre expensive. By the time you get good parts to build these 2, you could have 60-90 extra cubes with a 460 for the same money.
There's potential, but its often not worth the cash for a performance build.

Square engine or not, heads - induction, let it breathe and make power. Bad heads on a great short block is still a dog.
Find an engine family with great heads at a good cost - gen 1 chevy small block with vortec (4.8, 5.3) heads, with valve spring mod is one of the cheapest combos going

 

Straight up cam timing helps a bunch too.

 

You small block chevy guys crack me up. The 351 Cleveland was and always will be a small block.
Small block bolt pattern and a shorter 9.2 deck height than the Windsors 9.5.

 

400 cubic inches and Cleveland heads fit. How can this thing be bad? Any idea what we would have thought of one of these in '59?

 

Doesn't take that much to get one into good shape...

 

The 400 suffers from two limitations; the lack of trans choices, and the poor Cleveland oiling system. If you can get past those two things, they can make a ton of power. I did one for a guy that went into a '78 Bronco (at the time the 351M was the largest motor available) and he was pleased as punch...

 

Earlier it was mentioned that adaptors were available to put a 351C intake on a 400, but there are lots of aluminum aftermarket intakes floating around out there that were specifically made for the 351M/400 engine.
Heck, they might even still be in production.

 

The 4 inch stroke does put this engine into a ford class of its own. If badger pistons are found and the build use the proper parts these are great engines where torque is needed. By the way if you look at the where the oil sending unit is located at the back of the block you will understand why the oil pressure is low. It reads what is left at the back of all the feeds. I had one of these on a 78 mercury and always thought my engine was on its last legs , for around a 100k miles. Still running well when it was sold and it never burnt oil or had any issues. By the way it really is not a big block , ford set it up to fit the larger bellhousings of the 429 and 460 because it was going into bigger cars and trucks. Had one with hp pistons and cam and eldelbrock 4 barrel intake but wimped out and went the 351w route. Sold it to a guy making a 1981 f150 restoration.
Pop the 289 out my galaxie and 351 drops in with as much power you can afford. lol
George

 

Now we're talkin. Ideas are flowing, 400M are often free cores.

RmK57, I am a chevy guy, mostly cause Im a cheap ass. If i can figure out how to build a 400M on low money Id do it. The Ford transmission only fitting certain stuff always turned me off.

 

I had a 400M with an Edelbrok SP2P on it...so assume Edlebrok made other intakes as well?

 

Both Weiand and Edelbrock still make intakes for these....

 

Both Weiand and Edelbrock still make intakes for these....

 

If you work at it they can make HP http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-0702-ford-400m-engine-build/ But they only turned it 5900 rpm I've turned cast pistons that hard and they lived.

 

It will bolt to a C6 or a top loader. Should be enough.

 

What am I missing here? The 460 was 10 years old in 1978

 

Price Motorsports makes intake adaptors that allows you to use 351C intakes, so that opens up more possibilities, and this guy sells stroker kits.... http://www.tmeyerinc.com/

 

Are you asking why he just didn't put in a 429? For the simple reason that a built 400 was a direct exchange, a 429 would have needed more parts. This was a budget deal, as it was I spent all his money.... LOL

 

My '46 Mercury ute has a 400m and C6. I nearly didn't buy the car after I checked the internet. Nobody knows anything about them in Australia. Mine's a stock rebuild with an Edelbrock intake and 600 vac Holley. It has plenty of torque and the Merc is heavy so it works well. Fuel economy with a 2.78 rear is OK. Everything I read on the net said it is normal to have almost no oil pressure at idle but I run HPR70 Penrite with STP or whatever is available and I have 30 lb pressure at idle hot. It was a fully reconditioned engine so I gave it a chance and it works well. The only down side is they are very heavy. If I was to replace it I'd use a 460 with alloy heads.

 

.....but at least you didn’t get admonished about Broncos not being traditional.