I cant figure out why people hate the 400 so much. they all think that it is a 351 that has been modified.... It has a taller deck hight...!!!!DIFFERANT ENGINE!!!! ford just tooked the basics of a 351 clevleand wich most ford guys belive is an extreme proformer. the biggest problem with the 400 is the horrible compression ratio and the small carb. all the horspower and torque ratings on the 400 out do the 460 and the 351 inch for inch when you consider the com ratio and the horrible carb and the retarded cam.

GET OVER IT MINE HAS 575HP AND 600 TQ WITH 750 CARB, CAM AND PORTED AND POLISHED HEADS ANDFLAT TOP PISTONS
!!!

 

I thought you had asked WHERE do people go to talk about that engine....

BTW please drop the "modified" from the name, it's the only 400 Ford ever offered and thus
needs no additional modifiers on the end.

I have one in my 1981 F350 4x4 but I built it into what it was intended to be. By the time
they left the factory, the EPA was getting on all car manufacturers to reduce emissions and
increase fuel mileage, Ford de-tuned it and most other engines to accomplish that.

Best site I know of for this engine is an archival copy of Bubba's old site:
Bubba's M-Block Ford V8 Workshop

 

never had any complaints from any of mine.they were all good strong engines.

 

There you go, you explained it nicely. When someone has a stock 400 and they hit the go pedal, or can't seem to pass a gas station, then they do not like the engine. They are not engine people who spend hours modifying something better than it was, they just drive and use their truck, and when it doesn't perform, they bash it.

I applaud you for making the engine something it never was, but you spent a lot of time and money to do it.

 

I have no complaints about the 400. I got one so hot once that the lifters started rattling when I got stopped it died. I fixed the water leak added a few quarts of water & after an hour of cooling off it started & I headed for water. The thermo was stuck closed I was 100 miles from home no tools finally it stuck open & I got home. The next day I went out pulled the thermo, flushed it out with Tide, pressure checked it the coolant system filled it with 50-50 & drove it until I sold it. It was in a 78 Mercury. To this day I have never seen an engine get that hot & not be damaged. But that 400 held up. That Mercury use to get 17-20 mpg with that 400 2 bbl.

Craig

 

First please dislodge the panties and put down the beer before posting, it does not help with the bold, oversized font and lack of spellcheck...

Now please realize that everyone has opinions about engines. A lot of Ford engines get a bad rap. Some examples: 1.9,2.0,2.3HSC,3.8/4.2, any of the modular motors and the old 6.9 DSL to name a few. All are good motors from their time and if treated right and used for the right purpose will last a long time.

The 400 was durable, but that was about it if left stock. Its rating may have been higher in some respects, but at what RPM did they come in? The 460 gets it's torque a lot lower than the 400. In stock form it really was a turd in a truck. For what it drank in gas it should have passed everything. Much like the 360FE, it was out performed with better power and economy by other engines in the same family. My 5.0 is one of the motors, that while based on a good engine family, it is one of the most enemic designs of the 5.0 that Ford ever put out. Any engine is better once you put time love and money into it.

 

The engine the 400 replaced, the 390FE was at least available with a 4 barrel carb. The one in my 77 F-150 could pull 16mpg unloaded and go pretty darn fast both on acceleration and top end. Hauling a heavy 11 ft Wolverine slide-in it still delivered around 12-13mpg even flat towing an Omni behind.

The 400 is a durable engine, it's only real problem seemed to be sludge build up either in the EGR passage or the oil drain holes from the heads. What it needed was a 4 barrel and better exhaust system.

 

I have never spoken poorly of the 400 so please change your post to "some people".

 

I'm rebuilding a 400 right now, and I could be wrong but I thought the 400's torque was slightly lower than the 460 but it peaked at lower rpms. The motors biggest downfall was the 2 bbl carb, 8.4 to 1 CR, and no one mentioned the 8 degree retard on the cam timing. I bought the motor based on the potential for a build, if people could look past the stock numbers, they would see the potential.

 

Looks like the thread starter has a confidence problem in his engine choice. And I see he hasn't been back to this thread for further comments.

 

Dave he only had 6 posts. What do we expect? Some just try to start trouble I believe.

Craig

 

Very much agreed!

This is a picture of a 1978 F250 400 4spd 4.10 that we had at the seed company I worked for from 1975 until 1993. It was the last one bought before I started doing the purchasing for the Research deparment, from then on it was all 460's, one 454 and a Cummins for heavy towing.

I convinced the Director of Research that we needed to make some improvements. He agreed and gave me enough bucks to install an Edelbrock, a 750 Holley and we welded up a custom 2.5" dual exhaust system with staggered mufflers that ran down inside the right frame rail. After the initial test run it was dubbed "The SuperCoupe" and held that title until we traded it off many years later. Empty it ran like a striped-*** ape but when you put a load behind it, like the combine and trailer in the picture, all the work we did didn't make a nickels worth of difference. BIG horsepower gain but NO torque.

One day we had the speedometer needle wrapped around so it was over the odometer .... with 4.10's no less .... it must me a tough engine, we didn't blow it up!! Since I didn't buy the fuel I can't comment on consumption but I know from experience with a little basic work the 400 can be quite impressive in terms of street performance but not much of a hauler.

 

With some more-involved work, it can be built into QUITE the hauler, I did it.
TMI pistons, RV cam, dual-plane intake & 4V carb, headers, straight-up timing chain make
the thing rock! I have one that I use for hauling dead trees (firewood) through the Colorado
mountains down to the city.

The 400 has the longest stroke of any Ford engine ever (just barely over that of the 4.9L
6-banger).

Bubba's M-Block Ford V8 Workshop

 

A straight up timing set and cam would have been the next logical things to do but I had enough trouble getting what I got through the approval process ... and it wasn't my wife I had to convince. At the time this was an almost new truck and then there was a problem with the guy who bought it getting his nose our of joint.

The SuperCoupe really was a blast to drive though!

 

1975/82: The 400's cylinder heads were very prone to cracking. The "customer pay" charges to R&R the heads, gaskets and etc was $700.00, which was a lotta money back then.

Not all of the heads were replaced, some were welded, why I recommend anyone using them, to have them magnafluxed first.

It was very difficult facing customers, telling them that their heads were no good, how much the $$$ would be, because this usually occured after the warranty ran out, which was 2/24 back then.

Chris: Stroke = 400: 4.00" / 300 I-6 & 428: 3.98"