Could some one out there Help ! I bought a 1978 400 well suposed to be from junk yard. It was in a truck. I noticed the casting #s on block were D1AE-8015-A2C. Did they make the 400 in 1971? (D1) and is AE car not truck( I think) Could this be a 429? anyone have casting number ref.? Thanks Pod4 1975 F100 shortbox 400 2wd, 77&79 F150 4X4 400/351! love them there old fords!

 

1971 was the first year for the 400, and the best year. The 1971 version had 9.0:1 compression and a straight up cam.

 

Block casting numbers mean little. It's possible that someone put a rebuilt in. All 400 blocks are the same, so it wouldn't matter what year the block was.

A 429 is massive. 400s are wide across but a good deal shorter than a 429/460.

 

If it has been rebuilt it may have been rebuilt with the low compression pistons and the cam timing may be retarded.

 

There were a limited number of 400 blocks with a small block bellhousing pattern - and some blocks made at the Michigan Casting Center (one of three factories pumping out Cleveland blocks) made before 3/2/77 were prone to cracks. See the sites below:

http://realbig.com/detomaso/1997-10/356.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~bubbaf250/parts/parts02.html

 

Yes according to the casting code that is a 1971 400 casting. The 'A' does mean it was originally intended to be a car motor but that really doesn't mean much in the scheme of things.

About the only things you can really deduce from the casting code in your case is that it's not the original engine that was in a 1978 truck and it's definitely not a 429.

If it hasn't been rebuilt then it is almost certainly a 400 since the 351M wasn't produced until 1975. It might be a higher compression 1971 400 if it's original but it could just as easily be a 'leftover' block built in 1972 with the lower C.R. There's a very slim chance it has the smaller bellhousing bolt pattern of the Cleveland but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Whether or not it's prone to cracking in the lifter valley will depend on where it was cast. If it has a foundry code of CF or DIF then it's fine. If it has a code of MCC then it's suspect.

In 1977 Ford made the only real significant change to the 351M/400 blocks by adding some extra material to the main bearing webs. 1976 and earlier blocks take different main bearing inserts than the 1977-82 engines. Casting codes of D7TE and D8xx will take the newer style inserts.

 

Thank You All for the input, you have ben great help! I did get a chance to look at it again(at brothers garage). I missed a bit on casting # D1AE-6015-A2C and casted at MCC. It is not small block bolt pattern. Another thing is if it a 1971 is that not a reg. gas burner and how will heads hold up to non-lead gas? I guess its ok fo know being that it was supose to be a good runner. The pan was changed to truck can tell that for sure! The intake was changed to a edelbrock performer 400. (brother said intake is worth what I payed for whole engine 200.00) Any more help would be great Thanks pod4

 

Well, the sad thing is that you will probably need to scrap that block. It falls right into the group that was prone to cracking in the lifter galley - made at Michigan Casting Center before 3/2/77.

I don't know what the real life occurence rate of the cracking is. Do all of them eventually crack? Or, if you have one that has made it this far without cracking, is it OK?

 

I'm sure they don't all crack and a couple of years ago I would have answered the 2nd question with a "probably" but in the past 2 years I've seen 2 blocks with questionable date codes crack after being rebuilt and neither was more than what I would consider mildly 'warmed over'. For all the money & time I spend cleaning, machining & prepping then more cleaning on a block when I rebuild it, it's just not worth it to risk having to do it all over again.

 

That's pretty much what I thought, Bill - that even a block that hasn't cracked likely will once it's machined.

pod4, best scrap that block and get a good one. DIF and CF are what you are looking for. If it's MCC, be sure and check the date code. These blocks are plentiful and cheap, and it doesn't matter if it's a 400 or a 351M.