Introduction
Names James here and recently bought myself a 79 f150 4 speed

According to the vin it was originally a 351 but the fella I bought it from said it had a 400 crate engine in er. Just got it in the driveway last night and really have no clue how to check haha. Was able to fiddle around with it and get it started so thats my first victory. hooray. I do not have much mechanical experience just enough to, i guess, get me into trouble so I may have some stupid questions for some of you folks some time haha. I have been looking forward to getting one of these trucks and kind of jumped on this one because of the lack of rust and rot. If I can figure out how to get pictures on here Ill put some up. My second hurdle will be the electrical. It appears to be a lot of missing wiring, No lights, dashboard, radio, heat etc haha. Anyone know good place to get a wiring harness on a budget and maybe plans i can read haha the wiring diagrams ive looked at are kinda written in another language to me.
Thanks all for your patience and looking forward to meeting yall.
James
Been poking around and a lot of info to go through. Ill almost definitely be leaning on the Ford community here for help haha. My first hurdle will be the wiring.
James 1979 F150 Custom
400m 4wd 4 speed
Also, get them "rewards" card from your favorite local auto parts stores cuz you will be a parts& supplies commando and might ya as well get something back for what ya spend.
And shop around... not all parts stores are created equal in terms of parts availability and general know-how.
For parts and depending on what is needed, consider National Parts Depot, Dennis Carpenter Reproductions, Jeff's Bronco Graveyard, and LMC Truck. Beware of LMC because their shipping costs tend to be high but definitely avoid their soft rubber and plastic products... they just don't last and sometimes they don't even fit!!!
Read the tips at the top of the page for lots of great info.
When you can, post up some pictures. We love pictures, and they describe problems better than words!
by the way, it's not a 400m -it's just a 400. Assuming it's not just a 351m. The 351m and the 400 use the same block. The only way to tell the difference (from the outside) is to measure the stroke
Also, get them "rewards" card from your favorite local auto parts stores cuz you will be a parts& supplies commando and might ya as well get something back for what ya spend.
And shop around... not all parts stores are created equal in terms of parts availability and general know-how.
For parts and depending on what is needed, consider National Parts Depot, Dennis Carpenter Reproductions, Jeff's Bronco Graveyard, and LMC Truck. Beware of LMC because their shipping costs tend to be high but definitely avoid their soft rubber and plastic products... they just don't last and sometimes they don't even fit!!!
thank you sir
Read the tips at the top of the page for lots of great info.
When you can, post up some pictures. We love pictures, and they describe problems better than words!
by the way, it's not a 400m -it's just a 400. Assuming it's not just a 351m. The 351m and the 400 use the same block. The only way to tell the difference (from the outside) is to measure the stroke
Dont know how to measure the stroke but im going to look it up now. thank you for the heads up sir








