The US 2 barrel clevelands have a very poor combustion chamber design. No quench at even low compression ratios detonation is a problem. After market or Australian heads will fix the problem.
I have had many FEs of various cubic inches . Still one of my favorite engines . As far as the Ms go change the cam , intake and a real carb , recurve the ignition and it will surprise you . Don’t think because they were designed to meet emission standards they are duds . They are far from being a dud . I have built a couple Ms that were pretty hot and lasted tons of miles without being touched .
I had a '78 f250 with a 400. It had some oomph down low, but the mandatory 2 barrel choked it off pretty quickly. I always dreamed of a 4 barrel carb and intake, but never did get them.
I did a 400 for a guy into a late Bronco. 'RV' type cam, Edelbrock intake, Holley 600, and headers. Couldn't pass a gas station, but the guy could light all four tires...
I don’t think any 400 Cu In engine in a 6500 lb vehicle is going to be an economy minded means of transportation . The one I had myself was very impressive with non pollution performance goodies added . Mine probably at best was 10mpg , but as I said not many will get better pushing a brick at 70 mph with a 4.10 . You have to remember every thing you drive today is a world of difference in efficiency and gearing than what we compare fuel mileage to 40 years ago .
I actually don't worry about fuel milage in a working truck. Like my 71 c20 it has a 454 and turbo 400 and 456 gears. When I use it it needs to be doing sumthin that makes money. I installed a 305 2 bbl to replace the 350 4 bbl in my wrecker. its also a turbo 400 3/4 tom but has 390 gears. my 66 GMC is a 1/2 ton 250 six factory SM420 trans and dana 44 with 336 gears. I drive it a lot it don't guzzle gas. if I really wanted to go fast and not burn much fuel I would get a motorcycle.
Guess I'm a Ford guy. Worked at Ford dealers for 40yrs. Muscled plenty of those FE intakes on & off. Latest project was making a 406 out of a 391 FT. Pistons were waaay down "in the hole" so they cut the deck down to the factory spec of .023 in the hole. I wanted to go more but couldn't talk them into it. Used a car crank and a aftermarket camshaft just a bit larger than the C3AZ-AA cam in the 427. Topped it off with 3x2's & cast iron shorty exhaust manifolds. Moves my 61 Starliner down the road pretty good. To make the 351M perform better, pick up one of those adjustable timing chain sets and advance the cam 3 degrees. Helps the fuel mileage a bit and it will run better than you ever thought it would.
Great boat anchor, I had one that got 16 miles the gallon, 8 in the city and 8 on the highway. Biggest piece of shit engine ford ever made. Just saying.
When I worked at M&M Speed Engineering in Sacramento in the mid-seventies guys would come in wanting to wake up their 360 Fords as trying to pull the grades on the way up to Tahoe & Reno with their campers didn't make them very happy. Low compression and retarded timing didn't help much but add an Ak Miller Turbocharger kit and WOW ! https://books.google.com/books?id=M...page&q=AK Miller turbocharged Ford FE&f=false I also sold a few for SBC's & SBF's and a 2000 Pinto they were easy to install and worked great.
Around 1970, my Father bought a new Ford, 3/4 ton, P.U. Truck, and it had a 360 in it. All I really remember is two things he complained about with that truck. The first was the gas mileage, always the gas mileage. The other was an "accident" he and my younger brother had while elk hunting. They're on an old logging road up in the mountains, and a cow elk comes lumbering down the side of a hill, right into the passenger side of the P.U. box; completely caved it in, and killed the elk. And, they did't have a cow tag, and did't report it to the game warden. Instead, they ran into a guy who did have a cow tag, and "gave" him the elk. Well, the game warden found out about it, and my Father got a very hefty fine out of it. Truck was almost new when this happened, and somehow, the new Chinook camper was spared any damage. A friend of mine had an early 70's Ford truck, that someone had dropped a 428 in (I think that's what it was-a 428 Police Interceptor?), Edelbrock intake, Holley carb, headers, cam, and a transamatic automission. FAST truck! I wanted to buy it from him, he would't sell, then one day it's gone; he sold it without telling me. Dang-it Mark!!! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
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