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I bought this truck about a week ago today and the guy had put a different engine in it than stock. now i dont know exactly what year and model it came from. all i know is it is a 400, possibly from a LTD crown victoria?
Does it say the model on the engine somewhere?
It is in a 79' F150 Ranger lariat now if that matters
Is there a small metal tag under the bolt that holds the distributor?
There was supposed to be one on the engine in my '77 F250 (VIN decoder says originally 351M). Unfortunately, whoever swapped from the original two barrel intake manifold to the present Edelbrock Performer 400, seems to have lost the tag when moving the coil to the new manifold. In my case, I'm pretty certain it's a 351M or a 400. If I get really curious, I'll pull a plug and measure the stroke (3½ for 351 and 4 for 400).
Go find REAL FORD GUY and let him look under your hood and display his expertise.
Oh crap, my brain fell out again! I hate it when that happens. Is the DONOR vehicle still available? Can the guy you got this truck from point it out to you? Can you run THAT VIN# through the decoder?
Of course, just identifying the donor vehicle will allow you to check on what engines were available for that car in that year. I recall driving a friend's big mid 70's Ford wagon, and it had a 400 in it. But Ford made a LOT of engines, with a lot of differences (I'm thinking of three 351 engines, for example). Knowing the exact car that supplied the engine would be a big help.
Last edited by Lane Dexter; Oct 10, 2004 at 03:27 PM.
The VIN plate is on the edge of the driver's door on my 1977. Just open the driver's door. On most newer automobiles, it's on a plate on top of the dash on the driver's side, visible from outside the car.
that one is all messed up. but still it wouldn't tell me what kind of engine it is because my engine is from a unknowen donor. isn't there a vin number on the engine somewhere
nope, no vin numbers are put on an engine. VIN stands for Vehicle Identification NUmber. The engine is not a vehicle, therefore to put a vin tag on it would be useless.