What is the visual diffrence between a 351m and a true 400? I bought a truck with a remanufactored "351m". The problem I am haveing Is that when I go buy parts I tell them 351m I get winsor parts. I tell them 400 and I get the proper parts. Just. Wondering if I have a 400 instead of a 351m?

 

You can't tell the difference by looking at the engine. The only things different are the pistons and cranks. The 400 has a shorter piston compression hight and 4" crank stroke compared to a 3.5" for the 351M.
I found out years ago when asking for parts for my 351M just to say 400.

 

just say it's in the cleveland family.

 

Is there a diffrence in distributors? The fellow I bought it from said he had a time finding and getting the distributors to fit the block? Just wondering? It's wire like no ford engine I've ever seen

 

Nope, If I'm not mistaken the distributor will work in 351c, 351m, 400, and 460's.

 

Could he of possily got a winsor distributor in it by parts store giving him wrong part like they have done me?

 

If I remember correctly, you can tell a 351m and a 400m apart by the harmonic balancer.One engine is internally balanced and one is externally balanced. I used to be able to tell them apart at a glance. As far as distributors go, I dont think they will interchange because the cleveland engines are larger,so i think the distibutor is longer.

 

And forget my last post, i think my brain shorted..I do remember something different about the harmonic dampners, but as far as the internal and external that might have been a 410,428 thought rattling around in my head.

 

X2 on that smokeyb. I got tired of taking stuff back so I got a few smarts and started asking for 400 parts and no problems since. BUT,as you know there is always a smart a** behind every parts counter who thinks he knows everything and says to you" are you sure it's a 400 and not a 351M? Thats when I ask him if he knows the difference and if he doesn't,I just ask for someone else. John

 

Every thing else except for the reciprocating mass should be the same between 351m and the 400. Pushrods are longer in the 351m-400 vs the 351 cleveland due to the taller deck, but heads, dizzy (as long as it's got the correct diameter shaft-they changed them in the 351c), water pump, timing gear, lifters, cam and balancer should all swap over. Just to screw you over they run the same mains as a 351 windsor. They are bigger than a 351 cleveland, so if you order a rebuild kit don't get cranky if the main bearings are marked for a windsor. Apparently also if you swap over the gear on the dizzy from a windsor to a cleveland item a windsor distributor will fit (pending shaft diameter of course) but I havn't had sufficient intel to prove that to me yet one way or another. Back to the original poost, the only way to check for sure, considering some-one already has fiddled with it is to either pull a head or rip the sump off and check the stroke. you cant effectively check the stroke down the plug hole due to the angle. the 351m-400 is only taller from the dizzy mount up. Also you wouldn't try to trick someone into buying a 351m over a 400 by calling it a 351m. I'm sure it's been done the other way around as we've discussed it is near impossible to prove without a minor teardown so there would be quite a few who've ended up with the smaller capacity engine and been misled. In just ancilliaries it will make no difference to you for bolting stuff on and off, but power and parts for a rebuild are a different story. Just hope he got it wrong and you have a 400, much better. In saying that if it was a 351m and you went to rebuild it in the future, Tim Meyer does a 434 stroker kit and insted of trying to build a 400, that would be a sweet thing. much easier justifying a new crank etc and going bigger if you have to already. I have got my head around ford v8's in the last couple of years of messing with mine and they all have a place, but that 351m seems just a WOFTAM. It is nowhere the same in a comparison between 289-302-351 windsors and the 302-351 cleveland where they either grew or were done for a performance application. They rebuild 302's (cleveland) a lot down here in OZ and they rev like a demon and go like the clappers. The 302 (4.9) windsors are in a lot of the local V8 falcons depending what year they were( they ran clevelands for a while, stopped putting V8s in them in the mid 80's and when they did so again they used windsors) in and they get a bit of workdone too.

 

sorry again, the intake manifold on the 351m-400 is wider and therefore incompatible with a 351 cleveland. you can use the 351c intake on a 351m-400 with a spacer kit.

 

TMeyer, Inc. Precision Automotive Machining

Check it out. It has some pictures to visually identify the crankshaft and block.

 

Tim, there is an oil baffle arrangement arrangement indicated in the valley of the 400 as per the photo on your site. Is this correct or does it serve another purpose? I tried blowing up the photo to no avail

 

You are talking about the 400.
That is the Hyd. roller set-up.
If I remember correctly, that particular set-up
has the "plastic type" material that holds the lifters
instead of the "dog bones" that you would normally
see in the 5.0.

Good observation!!

 

Droooool!! something else I can't afford just yet along with one of your stoker kits, a supercharger and some form of fuel injection.