I know this is an old issue, sorry. Does any one have an e-mailable or faxable copy of the HotRod 400 build up? I have tried and tried to download a printable copy without success. Also, has anyone used this in a heavy truck. I have a 78 CrewCab with one ton running gear. Will this motor give me enough low end torque. The truck is not my daily driver and is only going to be used for off road use and hunting. I have a 460, but I'd rather rebuild my 351m and not go through the effort of installing a 460. Thanks for the help!

Rob

rsimpson35(No Email Addresses In Posts!)

*Note The header was edited because there isn't an M after the 400 ,there is only a 351M.

 

Not to rain on your parade, but the buildup you mention cost Hot Rod nearly $2500.00 and yours will be more because you'll have to come up with a 400 crank to duplicate their motor. They got 382 hp and 456 lb/ft of torque. The same money invested in a 460 swap could put you over 500 lb/ft of torque very easily.

 

Just my .02 but I think $2,500 is pretty cheap for a total performance rebuild. Not just a ring and bearing job. I got carried away and spent way more than that.

 

>Not to rain on your parade, but the buildup you mention cost
>Hot Rod nearly $2500.00 and yours will be more because
>you'll have to come up with a 400 crank to duplicate their
>motor. They got 382 hp and 456 lb/ft of torque. The same
>money invested in a 460 swap could put you over 500 lb/ft of
>torque very easily.

I believe the Hot Rod build was closer to $2000, under actually, so add a $100 for a new 400 crank and you're still under the cost of a 460 rebuild and swap.

 

I have an interesting story about that Hot Rod article.After the article was published, I looked around and couldn't find anyone who sold that cam.I was at the Car Craft summer nationals in St. Paul Minnesota and I saw the Competition Cams booth so I asked about it.The guy at the booth laughed and said the cam in the article was a pre-production prototype and when the article came out they didn't even have any for sale.I guess they started making them in a hurry as the demand was pretty big.

 

I don't have a problem with $2500.00 for a good motor. What I want is a quick in and out without having to buy a kit from L&L or scrounging parts. What I'm starting to believe is that a 400m will develop torque at lower rpm's that a 460. Am I on the right track?

Rob

 

The total cost of the buildup was $2484.00. The cost was brought under 2 grand ($1721.00) only if the builder was willing to delete certain items: the Holley 500cfm 2bbl carb, the MSD6-AL ignition and Super Blaster coil, the stainless valves and the ARP rod bolts and fastener sets. They admit that they asked suppliers for discounts as well. Add in that they did the porting of the heads and exhaust manifolds themselves (they list the abrasive rolls but not the tools, another expense if you don't have them) and you could easily spend another grand to duplicate that motor.

 

>The total cost of the buildup was $2484.00. The cost was
>brought under 2 grand ($1721.00) only if the builder was
>willing to delete certain items: the Holley 500cfm 2bbl
>carb, the MSD6-AL ignition and Super Blaster coil, the
>stainless valves and the ARP rod bolts and fastener sets.
>They admit that they asked suppliers for discounts as well.
>Add in that they did the porting of the heads and exhaust
>manifolds themselves (they list the abrasive rolls but not
>the tools, another expense if you don't have them) and you
>could easily spend another grand to duplicate that motor.

And you could easily spend another $1000 to $1500 for the parts to do the 460 swap as well...

 

I found a set of Aussie 2V heads for the 351/400M for a reasonable price. At least I think it's reasonable, after all, I haven't found a short bed dual tank box in good condition for less than $1500.00!!. I bought my 78 CrewCab 4x4 with NP435, Dana 60's and a rust free cab for only $800.00. I don't have issues spending $$$ on performance. But, I still wonder if the 400M will develop torque at lower r's than the 460. And I don't think the 400M will cost much, if any, more to build up than a 460. Can anyone figure the torque curve on a 400M with Aussie 2V heads, 600cfm carb, 268 Comp Cam, NP435, 4:10 gears, 35" tires????

Thanks for the help!

Rob

 

>I found a set of Aussie 2V heads for the 351/400M for a
>reasonable price. At least I think it's reasonable, after
>all, I haven't found a short bed dual tank box in good
>condition for less than $1500.00!!. I bought my 78 CrewCab
>4x4 with NP435, Dana 60's and a rust free cab for only
>$800.00. I don't have issues spending $$$ on performance.
>But, I still wonder if the 400M will develop torque at lower
>r's than the 460. And I don't think the 400M will cost much,
>if any, more to build up than a 460. Can anyone figure the
>torque curve on a 400M with Aussie 2V heads, 600cfm carb,
>268 Comp Cam, NP435, 4:10 gears, 35" tires????

A 460 and a 400 will both cost roughly the same to build assuming similar parts selection. If you need to buy a 400 crank then it may cost a few bux more. I don't have the flow specs for the Aussie heads so I can't run it thru DD2K. In general you'll probably be better off with a dual pattern cam like the 255 or 265 than a single pattern like the 268. The 400 has a very long stroke, longer than the 460 and with the right cam does develop serious torque at the bottom end. I've run a few cam comparisons thru DD2K and for the most part it's very easy to get 450+ lb/ft of torque at 2000 RPM and keep it over 400 all the way to 5000 RPM.

 

I remember reading a post on the Boss 351 Forum site where this guy races a 400m.Go to that site and scroll back thru the post.He was making good hp and torque #s with a solid engine combo.

 

Ford Muscle.com has also had several talks on building up the 400m,look back into the old post of this year on the techboard form.Acclerated Motion in Canada has proven parts combo packages for 351c,351m,400m motors.Go to their web site.Parts are cheap from Canada as the exchange rate is in our favor.

 

To the original poster:

If you want to email the article, just email the link. I scanned it and put it up on my webspace a couple of years ago:
http://home.earthlink.net/~tcrocker/400.html
Email the link and anyone will get it. You can right-click and save any of the scans to your hardrive.

For the group:
Despite what the ragazines say, there IS no 400M. There is a 400, and a 351M.

As for the 385 HP rating of the build-up, that was acheived with cast exhaust manifolds and a 500CFM 2V carb. Anyone building a 460 would be using a 4V carb and headers. Add a 4V carb (maybe a 3310) and headers and you would be in the 425+ HP area. Buy the parts on Ebay, and you would still be in the $2K area. Damn cheap, IMO.

Finally, here is a cool bunch of engine weight date. No, not the same vague garbage from the magazines, but stuff straight from Ford. Look at the 6007 engine assembly comparisons to see just how light the 400 is in stock form:

http://home.earthlink.net/~tcrocker/FordEngineWeightsV1.html

 

 

Here is a 400 Performance build up article.

http://www.off-road.com/ford/flashback/400_power.html


Dennis

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