Possible experimental tow package?
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Possible experimental tow package?
Alright guys, I've been curious about this for years, my dads pick up, a 77 f-150, 351m w/ factory 4.11 gears and np435, has always had an awesome lopey sound and been a low rpm beast, and sounded different than every other truck like it per my dad when he was younger and any other 351 I've ever heard in an f150. He had the engine rebuilt in the mid 80s and the stock cam that came with the rebuild kit was no where near what came out of the engine and what came out was known to be stock, he bought the truck in 79 with 25000 miles on it from a guy he knew. The only cam that matched what came out of the engine was listed for a 79 f350, it was a perfect match with the old one. With that being said and the 4.11 gears could this have been an experiment that ford did? has anyone else ever ran into this?
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I would think that if the F350 version was that different, that it would have a different engine code. The calibration would surely be different.
Maybe he killed and replaced the original engine early on, and just preferred to selectively forget those particular memories?
Maybe he killed and replaced the original engine early on, and just preferred to selectively forget those particular memories?
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meangreen92 yea you would think that it would, but no he killed that engine 4 wheelin and from a bad front end crash that caused the cam timing gear to chew the timing cover up which caused metal shavings to get into the oil and eat the crank bearings up. I know that is the original engine that he had rebuilt, he wouldn't lie about that and actually enjoys telling the stories behind his "young n dumb" days that killed it. The cam that is in it has less lift and longer duration, which would account for the different sound and low rpm torque that it has, we still have the original cam that came out of it laying around somewhere due to this mystery
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Not sure to the validity of this but after some research I found the following specs for the 351m cam:
77-78 351M/400 truck
79 400 HD truck
250/272 (I/E) duration
0.428/0.433 (I/E) lift
78 351M Bronco
79 351M HD truck
258/266 (I/E) duration
0.406/0.406 (I/E) lift
Definitely true to what dad said during the rebuild, less lift and longer duration, which seems to only be true on the intake as the exhaust has less
I never knew there to be what I assume is a heavy duty truck 351M? This info could be complete garbage as well
77-78 351M/400 truck
79 400 HD truck
250/272 (I/E) duration
0.428/0.433 (I/E) lift
78 351M Bronco
79 351M HD truck
258/266 (I/E) duration
0.406/0.406 (I/E) lift
Definitely true to what dad said during the rebuild, less lift and longer duration, which seems to only be true on the intake as the exhaust has less
I never knew there to be what I assume is a heavy duty truck 351M? This info could be complete garbage as well
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fordguy2100 when he rebuilt the engine the cam that came with the rebuild kit did not match up to the original one that came out of the truck as discovered by the builder that helped him, so they went back to the parts shop and matched the original one that had came out of the engine to one for a 79 f350.
He bought the truck when it was two years old and knew the guy who he bought it from thus eliminating any chance that the PO did anything to it cause dad would've known about him doing it, and if for any reason he did I would hope that he didn't go to the trouble to swap cams and leave the 2bbl motorcraft carb and stock manifolds on it. The engine was stock when dad tore it down and he put it back stock with the cam that they matched up from his original one to the F350 one
He bought the truck when it was two years old and knew the guy who he bought it from thus eliminating any chance that the PO did anything to it cause dad would've known about him doing it, and if for any reason he did I would hope that he didn't go to the trouble to swap cams and leave the 2bbl motorcraft carb and stock manifolds on it. The engine was stock when dad tore it down and he put it back stock with the cam that they matched up from his original one to the F350 one
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fordguy2100 when he rebuilt the engine the cam that came with the rebuild kit did not match up to the original one that came out of the truck as discovered by the builder that helped him, so they went back to the parts shop and matched the original one that had came out of the engine to one for a 79 f350.
He bought the truck when it was two years old and knew the guy who he bought it from thus eliminating any chance that the PO did anything to it cause dad would've known about him doing it, and if for any reason he did I would hope that he didn't go to the trouble to swap cams and leave the 2bbl motorcraft carb and stock manifolds on it. The engine was stock when dad tore it down and he put it back stock with the cam that they matched up from his original one to the F350 one
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No we are positive its a 351m, the factory sticker on the valve cover denotes the CID as 351, I know he put it back stock with 351m internals when it was overhauled, none of it ever gave him trouble so he never fooled with power upgrades, it was reliable and got him back and forth. The truck is still set up the same way now, I'll try and get a sound video of it sometime to let you guys hear what it sounds like, its not radical or anything, just has a nice little lope to it, the power band starts fading after 3500 and its dead by 4000
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