well thanks for the help man. ill take any help i can get. i was woundering if i could get your take on a small problem. ive heard from my dad that a cleveland is a small block. i have looked in his 88, bronco and he told me his truck had a 351 windsor and when i looked at his engine and then i looked at mine and i noticed and noticable size difference. it looked like i could sit his engine inside of mine. i was just woundering is a cleveland a small block based engine or is it a big block? ill take any help i can get. thanks.

 

351C and 351W: "Small" block

351M: Tall like a big block, but with the bore spacing the same as the small block 302/351w/351C, and it is the same block as the 400.
While the 351M and 400s are based on the 351C design, there are enough differences to not call them "C" engines.

Small/big block really falls apart with Ford in the era these engines were produced. You need to know which engine series your engine falls into, which is the "335" series for the 351M. In fact, forget that too. Just say "351M", "M", NOT "W", NOT "C", "M", when you go for parts.

Check the deck heights here:

http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod/engine2.html

351C is an even shorter deck than the 351w.

351M/400 is a TALLER deck than the FE motors.

Add the different bell patterns and you realize why many throw up their hands and build a Chevy.

So don't worry about big vs. small.

 

I'm former marine. siemper Fi. If you don't know what your gonna do in life military isn't a bad deal. Atleast join and learn something and possibly learn a trade while your finding out what you want to do. hanging around town and just getting by sucks. catch you later and good luck. On the 351 we used stock heads and a little porting. compression is the secret to rpms and then get a decent cam with proper valvesprings. Ran smaller cams with a little extra compression and you have a monster on your hands. Ran some chevy's with 16:1 comp and higher. they have a different sound when idling. Go to you tube and check out thunderstruck pullin truck. Rpm big block ford 9000+ rpms. Just a nasty old ford with a good mechanic behind his truck. 477"BBF 9000+ rpm.

 

i have just posted some pictures of my truck and i was woundering if i could get some adivice on it. i will warn you. its pretty rough. this truck has sat up for ten years. its going to be a fun project. i was woundering if i should think about trying different carbs. and what do you think would be a good lift for a cam would be. and i was thinking about ram air and or cold air intake. i was just thinking about my options and the pros and cons. ill be glad to hear any feedback. thanks.

 

You can fiddle all you want with that stock 351m, and you will just spend money with no measurable results. Ram air? Better go through the brakes, tires and suspension before you get it going fast enough to make any ram air set up work.

Cold air? Doesn't it have a snorkel out to the core support to get air from in front of the radiator? That's all you need, and you don't really need that.

Cam? Don't even think about just putting a cam in this engine. The other limitations of the engine make that an unwise "upgrade". If you are going to rebuild it into a 400 with some compression, now you're talking. But putting a cam in a tired 351m is a waste of time and money.

 

well it does not run the way i would like. but that is to be excpeted with its age. the plan is to go thru the engine, transmission, and rear end and try to fix any problems i run into. my planes for the engine is to clean it up and with a high rise intake amd go from a two barell carb to a four barell. then take my heads to get miled down a bit im going to port and polish them and put on a set of roller rockers. with the transmission i plan to get a rebuild kit for the transfer case and maybe put lower gears. with the frount and rear end i want to go with a 3.73 gear ratio. im also wanting to do a 6 inch lift with 35x15 super swampers. but all of these thinks will take time and money. but im open to any ideas out there. thanks

 

Lotta work, lotta money.

Bubba's M-Block Ford V8 Workshop

M-Block 351M/400 Parts Reference

Light reading above, heavy spending here:

TMeyer, Inc. Precision Automotive Machining