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Old Feb 15, 2008 | 04:39 PM
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engine details

I have a friend who has a 91 f150 4x4 with a tired motor and a slipping trans. He is wanting to go with a carb set up on a 351m, 351cl, 429 or a 460 with a c6 behind it. He has acsess to all of the above engines but dosent know which to build. My question is whats the difference between the engines, which is better for torque. I have been asked to help but I am new to fords and really cant offer much advice so what do y'all think. Is there anywhere I can get info like strokes and bores and weights and tq and hp ratings on these things online? Thanks
 
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Old Feb 15, 2008 | 06:55 PM
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The 351M, 351C, and 400 motors are 335 series motors. You can find a lot of information on those here and/or do a search on Bubba's M Block for more information.

The 429 and 460 motors are 385 series motors. You should go to the 385 series forum for inforation on those.

Generally the larger cubic inch engines will give you the most torque at low RPMs.
The 351C-4V is the highest reving of those motors and will give you very high peak Horsepower if built right.
 
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Old Feb 15, 2008 | 08:42 PM
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OK whats the difference in the 351m and a 400
 
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Old Feb 15, 2008 | 08:59 PM
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they´re the same except for pistons and crank which can be bought at a very cheap price at www.tmeyerinc.com....

id go wih any of the bigger engines, or tke the 351m and buy pistons crank and camshaft.....cheap and easy....
 
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Old Feb 15, 2008 | 10:05 PM
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what's in the '91 originally? If a 302/351W, then the 351C will directly swap in, short of exhaust, carb etc..., but the 351M ( I'd just go 400) should bolt in (atleast it did for me in an '83), but the trans bell pattern will be wrong. 460 will require engine mount mods. If it had a 460 originally, I'd find another 460. If it had a 300 I6, I think you'll be looking at mount mods regardless. That said, $ for $, swapping in a 460 will cost the most. The 429 will be the same as the 460. The 351M will be cheaper, but still will cost. The cleveland will be cheaper, but is not ideal for torque. IMO it's a pick-yer-poison type thing.
 
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Old Feb 15, 2008 | 11:07 PM
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Originally Posted by havi
what's in the '91 originally? If a 302/351W, then the 351C will directly swap in, short of exhaust, carb etc...,

The cleveland will be cheaper, but is not ideal for torque. IMO it's a pick-yer-poison type thing.
Gotta agree with most of that. The 351C will be the easiest if the currnet truck has a 302/351W. However, I beleive the 351C with a set of 2V heads and a decent cam will make a fine truck motor. Ford of Australia sold thousands of F-100/F-150s with the Aussie 302C and 351C and these were great truck motors. Keep the headers small or use exhaust manifolds with a 2" to 2.225" dual exhaust. Use one of the smaller cams like a 255DEH, Edelbrock Performer, and 500-600cfm Edelbrock carb.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 07:22 AM
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He has a 351m which everyone is telling him is the same motor as the 400m. He can get any of the others from his uncle for cheep. His 91 has a 302 and E4OD trans but all that will be changed. Between us both we have the capabilitys of fabing anything we need so that woulnt be a problem. This truck will be turning at least 36's at first and probly larger later on in the year so torque is a must.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 09:41 AM
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Originally Posted by gamudslinger88
He has a 351m which everyone is telling him is the same motor as the 400m. He can get any of the others from his uncle for cheep. His 91 has a 302 and E4OD trans but all that will be changed. Between us both we have the capabilitys of fabing anything we need so that woulnt be a problem. This truck will be turning at least 36's at first and probly larger later on in the year so torque is a must.
though the 351M looks like a 400, it is not. The 351M like all other Ford v8's is a 3 1/2" (ok, 429/460 are slightly higher)stroke. The 400 is a 4" stroke....which means torque. My 78 F150 ran a 351M with 36" Ground Hawg II's, for over 30,000 before the C6 blew. I ran the gearing abit on the high side. I swapped in the NP435, which still goes strong, and my overall gearing improved. Then the 351M blew a head gasket. I have parked it ever since, which was at the beginning of the gas price climb some short years ago. Done right, the 400 can perform in the mud just as well as a 460. One factor in deciding is which one can handle higher rpms longer for spinning those meats in the mud.
 

Last edited by havi; Feb 16, 2008 at 09:46 AM.
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 01:10 PM
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Everyone has a right to thier own opinion... I would not even mess with a 351m, unless you have a large boat that needs an anchor. I see a lot of people saying a built 400 will perform as well as a 460, well a stock 460 maybe. If you perform the same mods on a 400 vs. a 460, dollar for dollar, the 460 will come out on top, barring fuel economy and weight considerations. I am currently replacing the 400 in my 78 F250 SC 4by with a 460 out of a 78 ford motorhome. Interestingly this is a non emissions engine with a factory 4bbl. I have run into snags because I want to keep my 4 speed, but if you stick with an automatic the trans from a 400 or 351m will bolt up readily. As one of the other users said, 'pick your poison'. By the way there is a company called L and L industries that makes motor mounts to put a big block in most any Ford truck. Also motor mount adapers can be readily found on ebay.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 03:23 PM
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Originally Posted by NDFordman
a built 400 will perform as well as a 460, well a stock 460 maybe. If you perform the same mods on a 400 vs. a 460, dollar for dollar, the 460 will come out on top,.
I respect a 460 for the low end torque it will make, but because 400 heads breath better than 460 heads, a 400 will put out more Horsepower at high RPM, than a 460 with the same moderate cam and compression ratio. The torque of a 460 drops off above 3000 RPM, while a mild build 400 stays flat to 4000 RPM.

That may not be important in a heavy motorhome, but to a lighter vehicle trying to keep 70 MPH it will make a difference.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 08:14 PM
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I see your point, I am no expert on horsepower curves, but doesn't the 400's ability to breath sort of drop off at higher RPM's? I guess the research I have done indicated that the 460's potential for high RPM horsepower surpasses the 400. I would also say toque is a greater factor in a full size pickup than HP. It boils down to what you want from your truck I guess. I personally need steady pulling power and am not as concerned about going 1/4 mile in a hurry, so a big block suits my needs better.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 08:52 PM
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Originally Posted by NDFordman
I see your point, I am no expert on horsepower curves, but doesn't the 400's ability to breath sort of drop off at higher RPM's? I guess the research I have done indicated that the 460's potential for high RPM horsepower surpasses the 400. I would also say toque is a greater factor in a full size pickup than HP. It boils down to what you want from your truck I guess. I personally need steady pulling power and am not as concerned about going 1/4 mile in a hurry, so a big block suits my needs better.
Yes, the 460 has a POTENTIAL for higher HP than a 400 due to it's larger displacement, but the first thing that a 460 needs is aftermarket heads, or at least larger exhaust valves and porting. You can get a near stock 400 to make more power at 4000 RPM, than a similarly equiped 460. If you don't need power at 4000 RPM, the 460 is a better choice.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 10:10 PM
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Sort of got off the subject... I didn't mean to start a discussion about 400 vs. 460 here, so back to the original question... Out of the engines listed the cleveland would seem to be the logical choice, but they are expensive to rebuild and finding one without cracks in the heads can be tough, which is a problem I've run into with 351c/351m/400 heads myself. However if you decide to build a cleveland or 351m/400, the australian ford heads (check out ebay) seem to be the hot ticket, as they have the 2v cleveland intake runners and are closed chamber to up the compression ratio. This should help with low end throttle response. Another drawback of the cleveland was the small size of the main bearing journals, which ford corrected when they built the 351m/400. I guess we could go back and forth on 400 vs. 460 for days and probably end up with all sorts of people getting involved, but that is about like the old Ford vs. all the other manufacturers who wish they could build trucks like Ford.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 10:50 PM
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yep, it's an arguement best left unsaid. Each has their benefits and drawbacks. weight, higher rpm, lower torque, gas consumption, there's never a perfect engine.
 
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Old Feb 16, 2008 | 11:21 PM
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Originally Posted by NDFordman
Sort of got off the subject... I didn't mean to start a discussion about 400 vs. 460 here, so back to the original question... Out of the engines listed the cleveland would seem to be the logical choice, but they are expensive to rebuild and finding one without cracks in the heads can be tough, which is a problem I've run into with 351c/351m/400 heads myself. However if you decide to build a cleveland or 351m/400, the australian ford heads (check out ebay) seem to be the hot ticket, as they have the 2v cleveland intake runners and are closed chamber to up the compression ratio. This should help with low end throttle response. Another drawback of the cleveland was the small size of the main bearing journals, which ford corrected when they built the 351m/400. I guess we could go back and forth on 400 vs. 460 for days and probably end up with all sorts of people getting involved, but that is about like the old Ford vs. all the other manufacturers who wish they could build trucks like Ford.
The 351C main bearing size is 2.75" which is not small. The BBC has 2.75" mains while the SBC 400 has 2.65" mains and I've never heard any boat racers complain about the mains being too small. Current racing technology has reduced both the main bearing size and the rod size. Good example is 427-454ci SBC drag motors running the 2.45" 350 mains with 1.88" Honda rod bearing diameter. Even the LA MOPARs (360) run a smaller main bearing than the 351C. Granted, a 3" to 3.5" main bearing can handle sustained low speed max torque for a much longer life cycle than a 2.65-2.75. Buick, Olds, Pontiac, Caddy, and Ford all used the 3.0-3.5 main sizes in their large displacement motors but that doesn't mean a 2.75" main can't handle large amounts of torque.
 
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