Am I the only one with this issue?? Got a 400 big block in that 79 Bronco huh I'm selling one on CL now, how the hell do you deal with people who are sure these are BBs because of the trans pattern?
One of the guys in my 4x4 club back in Texas whos family owned a wrecking yard "400 big block huh" WTF??
I just told this guy on the phone. call it what you want but a 351 Cleveland valve cover will bolt on

 

you are correct. Ford does it differently to chevvies that have big and small blocks. In reality this has transferred over to fords and is actually relevant. The 400 is in the 335 series family and includes the 302 aussie, 351C, 351m and 400 even though the 351m-400 has a taller deck. Just remember that there is a small percentage of the 400's that have a "small block" pattern. The "big blocks" are the 385 series i.e. 429-460

 

I am not famaliar with any 351M/400 with the smaller trans pattern, are these 70's cars? If so which? LTD? Thanks

 

I am not quite sure. I think they were in cars not trucks, but these are the same availibility as unicorn excrement, so I'm not 100% sure. Pretty desireable for the car brigade as they take the 4-speed o/d Auto trans without PITN adapters etc. Usually fitted with FMX's but I will stand corrected on that if some-one knows better as it is really only what I have read on this site and others.

 

I see, waiting to hear more

 

I had one of those small bolt pattern 351M's. Tryed to sell it, then tryed to give it away. It ended up in the scrap some years ago. Now I kind of wish I would have kept it, but it more than likely would be still sitting there.

 

FYI, NHRA classifies the 351M/400 as a small block, so next time one of these a$$clowns starts running their mouth, drop that little bit of info on them.

Also, if the 400 is a big block then why do the main bearing interchange with a 351W? Why can you use a 351W distributor (granted you have to change the drive gear)? Why can you bolt 351C/M/400 heads onto a 289/302/351W?

As stated before, Ford never played the small block/big block name game.

The 400 was the engine that was offered with the small bellhousing pattern. It was offered for 1973 in full-size cars with a FMX transmission. That is why you will hear it called a 400FMX block. Here is a picture of my 400FMX:

 

"NHRA classifies the 351M/400 as a small block, so next time one of these a$$clowns starts running their mouth, drop that little bit of info on them.

That's what I needed

 

If I were you I'd drop this part of the arguement. The FE's had smaller main bearings (same as the 351C) and they're big blocks.

 

No, it's a logical question to ask because not only do the mains interchange but you can also run a 351W stroker crank in a 400. I run a 351W 4" crank in my motor and the 434ci stroker kits Tim Meyer sells are built around a 4.25" stroker crank for a 351W. How many "big blocks" share basic crank dimensions with a "small block"? There are plenty of holes you can poke in the chebbie clown arguments.

As for the FE/351C mains, some guys use the FE thrust bearing in their 351C builds when they need a slightly thicker thrust bearing.

 

Well to also be a pain the 429-460 distributors fit the clevelands also. As before ford classified their engines in series classification not size. Maybe because they had so many over the years. Chevs were made bigger endlessly over the years so big and small block (with only a few exceptions like the 400 as it could be either) covered it pretty adequately. I've also seen arguments start over the FE's being called big blocks on this forum even though they are a serious lump of iron.

 

not all chebys were either a big block or a small block.
what about the "W" head block?

348-409. it was an in between block

 

My point was you cannot classify it based solely on main bearing dimensions. And as crsmiffy pointed out, the same distributors were used for both small and big blocks in the 335/385 series engines.

 

The 400 Chevy was a small block, the 402 was the big block, basically a 30 or 60 over 396 if I'm not mistaken.

 

Yep, I got your point but I don't know a single chebbie guy that knows jack squat about a FE so using the 351W to 400 bearing comparo will stump them. In my earlier post I made mention that a 351W dizzy will work in a 400 if you change the drive gear so that too is a point that you can stump the car show know-it-alls with--and trust me, I've never met any that knew the 335 and 385 hared a dizzy! I've had to use all these points and I've had plenty of guys stand around my car for hours and tell me that I was wrong and that a 400 is a big block. At one cruise night I had to get a cop to tell a guy to leave because he was making such an *** of himself.