79 Bronco 351M???
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Junior User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 73
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From: philly
79 Bronco 351M???
Greetings...
Need help with a 351M. Going to need a replacement. She's a tired motor... Just bought a house, knees are on the way out and don't really have the extra $$$$ to splurge on a "crate" motor. Getting old stinks. So, thinking about a shortblock and re-using the heads, intake, etc... But I've been checking other sites and all the discussion over a 400 or just a 351M or 460... Man I'm confused more now than I ever was. I don't do any "hardcore" off roading, just surf fishing the NJ and NC beaches.
So, I want to have my cake and eat it too, meaning an everydayer, good driveablity and with the waygas prices are decent mileage and of course having low end torque for driving the beaches with my tire pressure cranked down to 15lbs. I have a 351M with an automatic C6 tranny, manual hubs, 33 x 12.5's and a 4" suspension lift, dual exhuast (ssshhh don't tell anyone the cats just mysteriously "fell" off)... I'll post pics if I can ever figure out how to do that...
Any replies will be extremely helpful.
Thanks
Need help with a 351M. Going to need a replacement. She's a tired motor... Just bought a house, knees are on the way out and don't really have the extra $$$$ to splurge on a "crate" motor. Getting old stinks. So, thinking about a shortblock and re-using the heads, intake, etc... But I've been checking other sites and all the discussion over a 400 or just a 351M or 460... Man I'm confused more now than I ever was. I don't do any "hardcore" off roading, just surf fishing the NJ and NC beaches.
So, I want to have my cake and eat it too, meaning an everydayer, good driveablity and with the waygas prices are decent mileage and of course having low end torque for driving the beaches with my tire pressure cranked down to 15lbs. I have a 351M with an automatic C6 tranny, manual hubs, 33 x 12.5's and a 4" suspension lift, dual exhuast (ssshhh don't tell anyone the cats just mysteriously "fell" off)... I'll post pics if I can ever figure out how to do that...
Any replies will be extremely helpful.
Thanks
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 328
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From: Eastern Ohio
Stock 460 from a junkyard, changed the carb to a holley 650. Replaced a rusted out freeze plug. That is what I did to my 79 back in 1990, no regrets at all, pulled better, ran better, and with a set of 36" tires and 3.50 gears, got better fuel mileage than the 351M I pulled out ever got.
Posting Guru
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 1,253
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From: spartanburg, SC
a 400 will drop right in place of the 351M. you need to buy extra parts to make the 460 go in.
check junk yards. rusted out 70s cars with good low mileage motors can be had dirt cheap. you can rebuild your original motor pretty cheaply too.
Breeze, that 351M must have been worn out. My buddy's 77 F250 gets 16/19 with its stock 351M with 55K original miles. my stock 302 in my 79 gets 9 mpg, its worn out and needs a rebuild.
check junk yards. rusted out 70s cars with good low mileage motors can be had dirt cheap. you can rebuild your original motor pretty cheaply too.
Breeze, that 351M must have been worn out. My buddy's 77 F250 gets 16/19 with its stock 351M with 55K original miles. my stock 302 in my 79 gets 9 mpg, its worn out and needs a rebuild.
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 328
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From: Eastern Ohio
Actually the 351 was a good running motor, sold it for more than I paid for the 460, just it didnt have the oomph to pull the 36" tires with 3.50 gears. The 460 was a fluke, nothing wrong but a bad freeze plug and the guy just junked it, thought it had a bad block. When I did the changeover, I pulled right at 20 on the highway, mostly because of the drop in RPMs with the bigger tires.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 283
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From: Bogota, Colombia
Some suggestions...
Well, since there isn't much difference between the 351M and the 400 you could opt for either one. However there is a bit of a mileage difference, especially due to that extra 0.5 stroke for a 400. As I've heard in this forum, a 460 is more powerful at better MPGs than a 400, but it is still a gas guzzler! So my advice would be to stick with the 351M, if you can get one so as to save what you'd spend rebuilding your existing engine. I have driven the 351M both 4WD and 2Wd versions and it has a lot of power, even at 8.000ft, where I live... As for the 400, I've heard not so good comments but the mileage keeps coming up as this engine's worst feature. Good luck.
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Junior User
Joined: May 2004
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From: philly
Thanks again for all the replies... My head isn't really spinning so bad... Anyway, I'm leaning towards the 351M due to the price of GA$$$ Now, I've got a find one that's cheap...:-)
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Elder User
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 936
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From: Bay area
My 400 is getting 9mph @ 3200-3400 rpms driving down the highways. Carb is not tuned yet and it is running rich. Hope to tune it this weekend. I had the 351m then built a 400. I love the thing. 460's are nice but living in a smog sniffing world 460's are not easy to get by the sniffer dudes.
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