To a Ford person this should be a easy answer, but I have drove Jeeps for so long I am lost.
I have a 1980 E250 Ford Van that started out life as a Church bus. Never a enging swap and it was built in Canada with out the CC"s on the exhaust and still will accept the large nozzle "Leaded" pumps as there are no block offs for the duel tanks.
The hood and engine both say 351 engine but yet the parts books say that engine was not used in that vehilcle. What set this off is I was going to put the water pump on and the 351 pump they sold me had two heater core hoses, to wear my pump only has one, and one from the intake. They say you have the modified 400 engine then. So I just stayed with the pump I had and also left wondering as well. I was replacing the Radiator and decided to do the pump since it was right there and would save time down the road, so I am now here asking if any help can be found on this site as to the type of motor. If it helps, there are 8 bolts holding the valve covers on. I drove Jeeps for a long time and the room in this van is incredible compared to the old CJ5 I drove for so long. Any help wil be great. Thank you in advance.

 

It sounds like you have a 351M.
The 351W has 6 bolts on the valve cover.
Another way to tell is to look at the thermostat housing. If it attaches vertically to the front of the intake manifold it's a W, if it sits on the top of the block in front of the manifold it's an M.
The 351M and 400 look the same.

 

Thank you for your quick reply. So I have the Modified engine. I have changed the thermostat and it does indeed bolt to the block and not the intake. What type of bogged down HP should I consider that this engine came with from the factory?

 

You may not believe this but only 138 HP @3400rpm, TQ being

 

Oh, I believe it alright. I am not used to a automatic trans, and find myself always wanting to downshift in this Van. It problally is the best vehicle I have ever owned due to the dependabililty of it, but I know why it has two tanks for fuel. haha. Thanks for the help. By the way I was surprise there was only one size radiator for it. I bought a new one and could not go wider, just to a special 4 row for a little more than I wanted to spend on it. I only need a shroud now as the old one was dry rotted out.

 

Only 138 HP @3400 RPM, TQ being 275 @2000 RPM. I was interested cause I had a 78 T-Bird w/ the same motor, gutless, but indestructible. You may want to bookmark this site: http://home.earthlink.net/~bubbaf250/index.html

 

Jeez, almost twice the torqe numbers. I have been reading past post and the motor has a large following. It is in a van though and most of the power adders would probally not work. Thanks for the power numbers. Ray

 

The best thing you can do is advance the timing a bit. Take it up until pings, or starts hard hot, then back it off little by little until it stops pingin., or startin hard.

 

Edelbrock has a cam kit and 4V intake for it.

Patrick

 

I should have included my signature that I drive a E 250 Van and it is looking pretty tight under there. I am going to use some better plugs, and coming from the Jeep world I swore by the Champion Truck Plug, but I know the Ford might benifit from another type of plug. I will put wires and a nice coil on it as time and money permit.

I guess a certain number of post may be reqiured to use a signature, I unchecked the box after the post and also filled in my signature line, but nothing is showing.

 

Only use Motorcraft plugs in your ford, they don't seem to run well on any other brand... I have tired several, champion, and bosch to name a couple, I keep comin back to the motorcrafts. They seem to be the only plugs that make it run right.

 

Go with autolites or motorcraft plugs.
I've tried bosch, champion, accel. I end up going back to Autolites (in my 390).

Patrick

 

I will go with the Motorcraft plugs then. I am hitting several projects with this van, one with be to remove that large air conditioner stand on the front of the engine, I see I will need a few spacers and that is no problem but I hate looking at that plate in such a already confined area in the engine bay.

 

That is what I wondered for a while too.
BUT: just bring your mouse over the word 'signature' and hey presto, there it is!

Cor

 

I, too, have the dreaded "Modified" although it's a 400. What a surprise after the power of my 351's and 460's.

It's nice to know I'll be able to beef up the engine after the rest of the work is done.

Thanks for the info, guys.

Take a peek at the interior to see why I bought it:

http://photos.heremy.com/baldwiny/in...album_id=13726