I have a 1979 F150 4x4. I have a 351M in it. I have a 351C and a 460 available. All three need to be rebuilt. Which do you think is better suited in this truck ?

 

I would say go with the 460. Get the most displacement you can. It will bolt up to your tranny. Pretty good aftermarket. The 351c would have the windsor bolt pattern. You would have to swap tranny's or bellhousings to make it work.

 

Keep the 351M, and rebuild it as a 400... You'll make decent power and get better fuel economy than the 460, with no goofy engine mounts and $500 custom headers.

 

cleavland is a car engine , my2c's,bob

 

go 460 the 351m/400 was never a good motor and i find it hard to believe it would get better mpg then a 460. but you dont own a 4wd for mpg gains any how.

 

My 351M gets 15MPG, and my 400 gets 14MPG... Show me a 460 that gets that good of mileage...

 

bigger is better, go with the 460. not to mention you can go crazy with the aftermarket parts later on down the road.

 

what rig are you driven matt? give a run down of everything on your rig. also explain how much money you dumped into that motor as well

 

The 351M is in a stock 79 F150 2wd, the 400 is in a stock 79 F150 4wd... The 400 is 9.5:1 CR, with a 265DEH cam, hookers, street avenger 670 carb... I have a lot of work into the truck to make it "new" but not modified... The 351M is stock.

The bottom line is that a 460 guzzles more gas... if thats important to you (it is to me) then stick with the M...

 

i could see that in your 2wd, but i think your numbers for you 4wd are a bit exagerated. especially with that build.
the 460 will produce torque low in the rpm range which will allow you to not use as much throttle to get moving. and example like this would be my fullsize bronco originally had a 302. it got 12/14 city/hwy. i swapped in a 5.8 and now get 13/16 city/hwy that was running a 3.55 gears and 31" tires. the 5.8 produces better low rpm torque then the 302 did allowing me to not need so much skinny peddle to get my heavy rig moving.
now im running 35's on the stock gears and am getting 10mpg on the hwy and 10 in town but it still picks up better then my 302 did on 31's thats for sure.

 

depends on how much money you want to spend. the 351M will be the least expensive. you already have everything you need right there and there are a few aftermarket intakes which could improve performance.

as mentioned the 351C will not bolt to your tranny and would be my last choice for that reason.

what year is the 460 you have? some 1979 2wd trucks came w/460's so you can find mounts that will bolt into your truck. not sure if the exhaust manifolds would fit. matts72 is correct about aftermarket headers for the 460 if you go that route.

Kemicalburns:
the 351m/400 was never a good motor...i agree they were not the best engines produced by ford, but have you ever owned a vehicle with one of these motors...i have, a 77 f-250 3/4 ton 4x4. it got about 11 mpg but pulled me out of every mess i got into...except for the time i flipped it on it's top because i had no one spotting for me...which was my fault. these engines have potential if for no other reason than large canted valves...stock! cheers, garsten

 

My suggestion is the 400. It has a longer stroke than the 460. If you rebuild the 400, you should use a 70-71 351C timing set, the stock 400 set is retarded for emissions. Use Cleveland pistons for more compression, and a cleveland cam for more power. Add a 4V carb, and headers and you have one hell of an engine.

 

Kemicalburns-

You call me out in a forum, then call me a liar... I'm tired of it... I'm not here to argue, if you don't believe me, you are more than welcome to come here and see it for yourself... The same truck got 11mpg with that 400 as tired as it was. Thats still better than our 74 2wd with a 460 that got a steady 9mpg, whether it was tooling down the road or hauling a 16,000lb grain grinder.

 

not to change the subject or anything but i have a ?. i have a 1979 ford F-250 with a 4 spd man tranny and it has a 351M. so i am looking at this 460 to drop into my truck. so will the trans i have now bolt up to the tranny stock?
thanks
Mitch