I picked up a 71 Ford 400 engine for a good price, it is a true low mile survivor. It will be going into a future project. My question is what can anyone tell me about these engines positive or negative, I more of a Mopar guy and not as familiar with Ford engines. I am looking at Edelbrock performer intake, 750 edelbrock carb, cam and a set of headers, want a simple combo as this will go into truck that will be used to pull a vintage camper. The engine will be bolted to a heavy C-6 with a 9 inch rear end..... thanks in advance....
Check over at Fordmuscle as they did a couple builds on those motors,they will put out some power if done right.
My personal feeling? Ford's version of a boat anchor. Just me. I had one of these engines in a '78 Country Squire. It was thirsty, and underpowered for the size of the engine. I'd rather have a 302 or 351W or 351C.
Hi Fishstein Below are some links on the 351M 400M ford motor. I have a 351M in my 41 ford and it runs great. I didn't built it so I don't know what was done to it. It should do well for what you are going to do with it. Hope these links help. http://chris_coupe.tripod.com/id11.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_351_M#351_M http://www.projectbronco.com/History/history_of_the_ford_351m.htm http://phystutor.tripod.com/stang/engines/cleveland.html
A 400M. Basically a high-deck, low performance version of the 351C. It shares the bellhousing pattern with the 429-460. Definitely not a performance engine, although I think Edelbrock makes - or more likely, used to make - a 4-bbl intake to fit the 400M's higher deck height and small-port 2-bbl heads. Mart3406 ==========================
The factory setup for these "Smoggers" seriously retarded the timing. Rebuilt with a mild cam degreed "straight up" and 4 barrel on an aluminum intake-very easy to make 300 hp and 400ft/lbs at low rpm with these engines-just the ticket for your camper.
Some helpful H.A.M.B. threads: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139638 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382998
The 400M can be a great engine,they are a half-breed though,Cleavland style heads on a tall deck block.Performance parts are out there but I think you are on the right track for your application.I had one in a Ranchero GT,RV cam and dual exhaust,would knock down 18mpg at 70 mph towing my 19 foot ski boat.They were known to use some oil[no more than a BB Chevy] but I didn't have any issues. ROY.
Forget that BS about them being junk. With good heads and an intake, they make mad power. They just need to have a good top end.
Had one in a Bronco with 4.11 gears and still got 14 mpg on the highway. Plenty of power and would climb straight up a tree. Good Luck
Don't give it too much hell, they're pushrod bendin' motherfuckers. Good motor though, people who say different probably don't know anyway.
If its completely stock the comments above about it being a pig are correct . HOWEVER , they take very little to "wake up" decent cam , edelbrock performer 400 manifold with a decent sized Vac secondary carb ( for a street engine I'm assuming) and set the Timing right . Breathe a little on the heads ( not lots of work) and you won't be dissappointed . .
Had one in a 72 F100 ,pulled a six-horse trailer all over with it.Plenty of power but the only downfall is the gas mileage. Kept the truck for 6 years,sold it local and is still going strong.As far as bending pushrods thats bullshit.The engine is more of a workhorse than a hotrod engine.
I replaced many pistons in those gas guzzlers when I worked at a Ford dealership in the late 70s. Did many fuel mileage checks on them too where we put a glass bottle in the driver's window, got the car up to 55, used the valve to switch from the gas tank to the bottle and recorded the miles that it would go on the measured gallon in the bottle. Best mileage I ever saw with a 400 was 13 mpg. Some friends asked me what a 79 Bronco 4wd with a 400 and 4.11 gears would get for mileage. I told them 10 or less. The guy selling it claimed he got 17. They bought it and it got 8 mpg. He put a camshaft, intake manifold, carburetor and headers on it to try to improve the mileage and he did get it up to 10 but he'd have been better off to spend the money on gas.
Here is mine...........40 over 71 400, lunati vodoo cam 564, 551, 70 4v close chamber heads, tunnelram and a pair of holley 1850`s..
I did a lot of dyno testing on these during my career at Ford Engineering. For a towing vehicle and a good street runner forget the Cleveland heads. The stock heads are plenty big enough. I would go with a 600 cfm instead of a 750 Holley. It will be much more tractable around town, particularly if you are in a colder climate. As mentioned above do advance the cam to either straight up or 4 degrees advanced if you like a "lugger". The reason Ford never made a 4V version of this engine is that the crankshafts would not stand up to the strain of brutal dynamometer testing with one, but that would not stop me from upgrading to a 4V in my own vehicle because unlike a dyno, you can't run for hours on end at WOT. My mother had a 400 in her Torino and it would kill 460s in similar vehicles. Go for it.
I am putting one in my ford. They were dogs mainly because they were low compression and the pistons are down in the bore so there is no quench. go to http://www.tmeyerinc.com He is the man to talk to for 400s. He has pistons that will fix the compression issue, and knows how to fix the oiling issue. He even sells stroker kits that will give you 434 cubes. You can make over 400 hp 400lbs feet easy with a 400.
Im surprised that was an issue with the cranks, since the hot ticket before aftermarket cranks was to cut the 400 crank down and offset grind it to 3.85 and put it in a 351 windsor. Ive seen many circle trackers use those cranks turning 7000 rpm for multiple seasons with no problems. Ive also never heard of anyone breaking a 400 crank, almost all of the problems I have seen were due to oiling problems.
Yep, just needs a good set of non-smog heads/intake/cam like anything else. The 400 won the Engine Masters Challenge several times, smoking a lot of engines (especially the Chebbies) from highly regarded builders
They have their own motor mounts. I can pick up a low millage one cheap with a tranny too, but did some research and its not a bolt for me due to the mounts (I have a 351C in my car currently)
I put one in a 79 f150 short bed 4 wheel drive. It had earlier heads then the block and an RV cam. Edelbrock intake and a holley 3310. And fender well headers. Pulled like a sonofabitch! That was 20 years ago but I know the kid that has it now and it still runs good. I liked it for that purpose.
The main purpose of the build is a close to stock engine with just a cam, intake, and headers. I want to use the engine because I got a package deal on it. The engine came out of a 71 LTD that had been rolled over. the engine has only 46,000 miles on it, and had been dry stored in a barn. The engine is going in a Ford truck and will be used to pull a 13 ft 1962 Yellowstone camper. Looking for an engine that will pull, not a hot rod. I have a C-6 and a 9 inch also, not sure what gears, it came out of a 78 Ford truck....
Dyno durability tests include running an engine for hundreds of hours at Wide Open Throttle. Think about it: A 400 engine running at ,say, 4800 RPM, WOT could easily push an Indy Car to 160 mph, meaning it would be completing an Indy 500 mile race every three or four hours. To do this for 300 hours would mean running 100 Indy 500 races in a row on the same crankshaft - BRUTAL. That's why I said I would have no problem building one up, even though it did not meet all of Ford Motor Company's criteria for durability.
Under your plan, go with a slightly bigger cam, aftermarket timing set & a Performer intake. If you were taking the heads off, installing 351C4V valves would help where you have 400 cubes.
they are low comp smoggers but with a cam 4bbl dual exhaust etc.etc, possibly some head milling to bump the horribly low compression it should be a stump puller! I put one in a 68 fairlane. after freshening it up and a weiand 4bbl intake and AFB and dual exhaust it was a sweet running highway cruiser that would pull about 17 mpg on the highway. it also had no problems pulling up hills or passing other cars like the 200 6cyl that it replaced. that engine in that car was dangerously slow!
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