400 Questions
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Joined: Aug 2000
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From: (near) Denver USA
Back in the late '60s-to-early '70s, most of Ford's casting foundries and engine plants built more than one type of engine. Many 351Ws (and 302s) were cast at the Cleveland Foundry, and assembled at one of the two Cleveland Engine Plants.
The first "351" engine in production was the 351W, introduced in MY1969. And since it was called "351 Windsor" from the beginning, Ford was obviously planning a subsequent introduction of the 351C, and the two different "351" engines would require some additional name tag to identify them.
The 351M was introduced in MY1975 as a replacement for the 351C, and there was little or no overlap in their production. Even if Ford wanted to call the 351M a "351 Cleveland" for marketing purposes, they would need a different name for it for technical reasons, because it was a different engine.
I have Ford sales brochures for the 1975 Torino line, which list the "351 Cleveland" as an available engine option, but I've never seen evidence of any North American market 1975 car actually equipped with a 351C from the factory. Although it's possible that Ford wanted to ride the popular 351C's coattails with the 351M for a while (the marketing guys probably wouldn't mind, if it would generate more sales), I think it's more likely that the 351M was developed hastily as a replacement for the 351C (for emissions reasons, as well as engineering and manufacturing convenience), and the engineering guys just didn't communicate well with the marketing guys.
I have seen numerous claims that, in its first year or so of production, Ford referred to the 400 as the "400 Cleveland," but I have never seen it on official Ford papers. In some Ford technical documents published in '70-'71, I have seen the 400 referred to as "a member of the Cleveland engine family," which is consistent with their later reference to the "351M/400 engine family." Perhaps that was where the idea of the "400 Cleveland" originated.
The first "351" engine in production was the 351W, introduced in MY1969. And since it was called "351 Windsor" from the beginning, Ford was obviously planning a subsequent introduction of the 351C, and the two different "351" engines would require some additional name tag to identify them.
The 351M was introduced in MY1975 as a replacement for the 351C, and there was little or no overlap in their production. Even if Ford wanted to call the 351M a "351 Cleveland" for marketing purposes, they would need a different name for it for technical reasons, because it was a different engine.
I have Ford sales brochures for the 1975 Torino line, which list the "351 Cleveland" as an available engine option, but I've never seen evidence of any North American market 1975 car actually equipped with a 351C from the factory. Although it's possible that Ford wanted to ride the popular 351C's coattails with the 351M for a while (the marketing guys probably wouldn't mind, if it would generate more sales), I think it's more likely that the 351M was developed hastily as a replacement for the 351C (for emissions reasons, as well as engineering and manufacturing convenience), and the engineering guys just didn't communicate well with the marketing guys.
I have seen numerous claims that, in its first year or so of production, Ford referred to the 400 as the "400 Cleveland," but I have never seen it on official Ford papers. In some Ford technical documents published in '70-'71, I have seen the 400 referred to as "a member of the Cleveland engine family," which is consistent with their later reference to the "351M/400 engine family." Perhaps that was where the idea of the "400 Cleveland" originated.
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Ford_Six
1980 - 1986 Bullnose F100, F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
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Dec 7, 2002 09:32 PM
