My friend just got a badass '75 F-100 Custom with a big block 400 4bbl carb., 2wd, single cab, long bed. This truck is sweet. It hauls *** like nobody's business. Anyway, Dennis, I decoded my '78 F-150 Ranger XLT through both of your decoders and found what I was looking for. However, I'm trying to decode his VIN and have no success. Your auto.-decoder obviously is wrong but the manual one is for '77-'79 only. Please help. BTW, I'm really mainly looking for the steering, braking, and rear axle codes and packages.

Thanks.

 

The VIN code does not contain those things. Try the VIN decoder in my gallery for more years. The 400 is designated a "small block" by Ford nowadays, it was never designated a "big block". The axle codes are found on the ratings plate.

 

Yeah, The 351C, 351M & 400 are kinda like having a smallblock, with big block heads and bellhousing bolt patterns. You could almost fit a small child in the old 351C 4V head ports, Man, those thongs were so big that they couldn't make any power until at least 3500rpm.
Jimmy

 

Thongs? Big? I just got a visual of Rosie! Ach!

 

A 351M/400 is a 351C 2V with a 1.09" taller HD block and 3'' mains and a bigblock bell houseing bolt pattern.
(some rare '73 400s have small block bolt patterns)
it uses 2V 351C heads.
it is a small block.

 

Well, when I decoded my '78 F-150 the VIN had all kinds of info. And about the whole big block/small block thing, I've always heard of the 400 as a big block. I'm not saying it is, just that that's what I've always heard.