I have a 400 from maybe 1974 or so and it has this cast iron spacer behind the water pump, then the thin metal backing plate. All other 400 engines I have had the water pump bolted to the block. What is the purpose of the cast iron spacer plate, roughly 1.5" of spacing.

 

If I remember right, the timing gears and chain are behind there (Timing Cover). The fuel pump also runs through that timing cover. And on that metal plate behind that is where the rubber seal for the front lip of the oil pan.

Unk Bob

 

351C/351M/400: There is no timing cover per se, just a flat engine cover plate (6B070 in pic). The fuel pump bolts to the engine block, its bolt pattern is 6 & 12 o'clock.

D2SZ-8508-A .. Waterpump Cover Plate / Obsolete

D2SZ-8507-A .. Waterpump Cover Plate Gasket-to engine block / Obsolete

1972 Thunderbird 400 / 1975/76 Ford/Merc Passenger Cars 351M/400.

 

Well, pretty close, mine actually has one more piece, it is between the water pump and the 6b070, just a cast piece that looks like an extension for the water pump, for some reason or another.

 

What about taking a picture and posting it here.

Unk Bob

 

My 351m, which should be the same, has the timing set within the block. There's a plate, then the pump.

are you sure it's a 400? (Sorry for asking)

my 460s have the timing set outside the block, in an aluminum housing

 

 

It is not a timing case, the water just passes through, it would work the same if removed, I am not sure what it was for, but it puts the fan into the shroud more, so I will leave it, It is a 400, not a Cleveland or a 460. It is about a 1975 or 1974 motor, that I have installed into a 1978 truck. The other 400s Ihave do not have this spacer. It puts the water pump out over the balancer, not convenient but functional.

 

I've never seen anything like that before. Would that engine be from something like a U-Haul truck? Ford built some weird FE engines for U-haul back in the day.

 

1973/77 F350's were made exclusively for U-Haul, have the 330 2V Medium Duty FT engine, has 5 valve cover bolt holes and looks like a 360/390 FE engine.

 

Doesn't seem to be a 400, hard to tell.

 

The ID engineering number for the EGR vacuum valve that you posted in another thread has a 1976 prefix (D6AE), so more than likely the 400 is from a 1976 LTD or Torino.

 

OK, I JUST DID A COMPLETE REBUILD!!! IT IS A 400!!! I MYSELF DID A 0.030" OVER TMEYER KIT!!! Thanks for the help. I bet numbers is exactly on point with the torino or ltd, 1976 era. I got it from a 1978 bronco, but it was not in there originally either. the oil pickup tube was all hacked in there and the main cap mounting stud was just a bolt, I can't say for sure where it came from but the water pump spacer is definitely not truck, but something else. It has all 400 parts in and on it, water pump, flex plate, intake, exhaust manifolds, pistons, cam and lifters. I assure it is a 400, and that spacer is not a timing case, it just passes water through, just for the water pump, I feel like this might have been a spacer for some accessory that required more room, like air conditioning or maybe a high amp alternator, some place that required more clearance in the front pully area. Keep guessing, we will find it eventually. I was just curious that someone would have seen this before.

 

I've owned a lot of 400's, but I've never seen a spacer like that before. I don't know that Ford really used the 400 in any industrial applications, but perhaps its some goofy industrial thing.

 

I'd never heard of such a thing, but it's not unheard of. I did a search for "Ford 400 water pump spacer" and a hit came back to an FTE thread from 2008. There wasn't a conclusion, but it's not unheard of..l