I was hoping T Meir was around to ask about it...

(Meyer?)

I have an "M" in the shop, and a bare bones ranger chassis. I thought it would be a godzilla plow truck if nothing else, but as a show machine, with a crank like that I can think of nothing longer lasting.
It has 20K on it's clock and came to me as a swap for doing a good thing for a service member. I'm talking to 1A Tony about a set of top end gaskets, which is all it really needs to get it up again.

~Dutch


*Imagine a hotrod Ranger that blows the sheet metal car cover roofs off of a SONIC Drive in...

** "Think small, BE small"

*** HOLLEY and through them WEIAND are some of our sponsors, aren't they? Just sayin'...



"Think about the FUTURE!"
~the JOKER, from the 1st BATMAN remake with Christian Bale
(and MY MAN "Jack"...)


I fully realise that a blower setup is not a thing that a normal or even sane person ever considers, but with simple pulley diameter changes you can determine the barometric pressure at any given altitude.
And since our misguided government seems to sign off on alcohol added to fuel, I might as well get ready for E-100


(with strong enough rods, it also opens the door for nitromethane)

 

"Weak" rods, cast pistons,

You would probably get more reliable power for less money by going the "400" route with some compression and a decent cam, along with springs etc.

 

Yes Dutch I also think a 35M would need built more than just it's crank to handle a blower. Rods pistons and heads to say the least. They are smog heads and timing. That would need addressed.

 

Did I say stock? If I go that route - I know very well that just dumping some cash on a polished 6/71 would be a recipe for complete disaster.

I also know that the weak point in any ford smallblock/midblock is the rod BOLTS. I was told that so long ago I can't even remember the decade....

Aussie heads, I bet, and O-RINGED, the list is a long one, and gets longer the more I dwell on it.

For now, I want to see how it runs normally aspirated, since just about all of the parts are there.

As far as a 400 - I don't think so. 351 is smaller, tighter, and less stress on the journals - ya think?

This is my usual "WAY IN ADVANCE" studying it out thing, money is too hard to come by to spend without thinking the entire thing through....

THAT'S WHAT I LOVE ABOUT YOU GUYS!

I know somewhere in all of US, someone has already gone there, and can tell me the whole nine yards

~Dutch

 

Supercharger kits for the 400's are more expensive than for 351C and 429-460's, I would be more inclined to go with two smaller turbos-one a bank, (even though I would really like a s/charger on my 400).
Why go small chamber heads on a supercharged engine?
different animal to an N/A donk.
You are not trying to have high compression and you are also trying to fit a lot more air/fuel in there so standard domed type heads are probably the go.
You are also forcing a lot more air through there so the gold old 4v type heads would also be preferable.
If on a budget how about a 434 stroker kit from TM?
probably have just as much torque as a blown 351m with a lot less moving parts.

 

My biggest concern would be the engine block selection. Sonic check the block and make sure you don't have a thin cylinder wall! Keeping your rod ratio up near 1.7 or more would be nice. 400 ford rod ratio is around 1.6ish. so to correct this would need a longer rod for long term durability. Factory rod ratio will work but i question the factory rods in the long term and if making 500hrspwr would be upgrading the rods. upgrade the ignition for sure!! Msd makes a phaseable rotor to correct rotor to cap alignment.This is my thought on this on a short moments notice!

 

on paper with factory componets the 351m in a boosted application is a stronger setup due to the rod ratio is better. Less pressure on cylinder walls. piston running up and down the cylinder a little straighter. Easier on mains in long term application. Also like mentioned boosted engines you do it a little different. need more attention towards exhaust than intake at ports. Getting the heat out and better flow at exhaust. run atleast a 1 3/4" header pipe diameter and 3" collector at sea level for a starting point.

 

What I remember about strokers is that when you have a long angle to the crank - the rods have a lot more stress on them, and are prone to break. The farther away from center they have to move, the more that stress is.

What I am planning here is an engine that can SURVIVE a blower, and last for a long time! A "SHOW" engine, and a driver - not a monster nasty race engine that will have to be rebuilt just to check out it's condition.

Something (if you can imagine it) that looks incredible - and yet can last many thousands of miles. I bet the sound effects would be wild too...

GM 6-71 blowers are common equipment on diesel trucks. They run up over millions of miles. A prime consideration here is the OCTANE of fuels that are available too - you can't run it if you can't find anything to feed it.

This is not going to be a track truck, but a very impressive street toy.

AS far as the engine BLOCK itself - a Cleveland would be a worse choice, because of the thin walls to save weight, among other considerations.

"M" engines are solid as a rock - but a Clevester you have to magnaflux the daylights out of to find out if you were ROOKED to begin with....

I feel fairly safe with this choice.


THANK GOD IT WASN'T A 400!

If it was - then there WOULD be serious thin wall issues.


If I am going to really do this, I want an engine that is a FOOKING TANK!


Literally indestructible, unless I am totally stupid about it

THINK: Street Rod

-NOT strip



Maybe that might sound lame to some of you - but things like this are not made for high or low times, just for an impression. To show people what an old time hotrod really is.
I always wanted one of those...

Pure customization, and occasionally to get "SQUIRRELY"

Have you not always wanted something like that yourself?

 

Find a blower manifold and drive kit for 351M/400 and post a link to it.

I tried....not very hard, but I tried.

 

WE have Holley/Edelbrock/Wieand as sponsors.


Once I get up the cash - I don't think it will be hard to find



~just sayin'~


I can be as stupid as I want to be...



(If I can scare up the cash)

 

Cash or not, I don't think you can easily find one.

You can adapt 351C stuff, but that just add to expense.

Call me silly....

 

found this pretty quick-not as bad as I remembered.
Supercharger USA - 289 302 351C 351W 400M 429 460 429 Boss Ford Blower Supercharger Kits for 671 871 1071 1471 Blowers - Superchargers

Same price as any of the others-what would the quality be like?
Second hand items would be scarce.

 

351m and 400 blocks are the same, only dif is crank stroke and pistons. 351C blocks are stronger and have NONE of the earlier 400 block casting problems. A 351C block is lighter, stronger and has better dimensions. 351C has more manifolds, stroker kits and pistons. All other 351m &400 parts swap. Sorry but a 351M is bottom of the line for the 335 engine series. Go either with a 351C or a 400. Did I mention how much lighter the reciprocating weight is on the 351c, but is just as strong as the 351m. The larger mains do nothing for the 351M bottom end when comparing nodular iron to nodular iron, witch is good for up to 7500rpms. How high you want to spin this thing? remember oiling mods above 6k for safety. And last ,have you pulled out a tape measure? you cant fit a 400 in a 69 mustang with headers, unless you swap the front end, manifolds iffy with the stock front end so can 351m/400 even fit in an 89 ford ranger?