The 1958 Buick Limited had more chrome than the 1958 Roadmaster, but...

The all time Champion of chrome excess was the 1958 Oldsmobile 98, it had two more pounds of chrome than the Limited did.

How do I know this bit of trivia? My dad was an Olds Dealer.

 

Stop that Bill! You're making all of us look bad with all of these actual facts and stuff.
I looked up a pic of the 58 Olds. Thats the car I had in mind, I thought it was a Buick RM. http://www.harbor-auto.com/Assets/large/1958olds2.jpg
Clearly the winner of the excess chrome award.

 

No KIDDING!

I know for a fact that the front bumper weighs nearly four hundred POUNDS (almost 200 KILO's)

The HOOD of that thing can kill you if you slam it on your own head.....

Wanna know how I know that? I shot lithium spray in the hinge points of my Poppas car, but didn't have a chance to tell him.
He BRAINED himself with it, and almost knocked himself into NEXT YEAR! (It had never been lubed, so he was used to YANKING it down)

*BANG!*

(and all my fault, of course)


*The reason I lubed the hinges was because the back edge of the hood wouldn't come down and meet the body line right. It was bending the hood at the back where the hinges were mounted.


I think that was the first time he accused me of being an assassin....

 

There were others? You must have had an interesting childhood.....


An armed populace are called citizens. An unarmed populace are called subjects.

 

im 85% shure i had a "400m" it was in my old mud truck. ill go fo my buddys house who i sold it too and look at the valve cover sticker pretty shure it said m after 400, and no 351 anywhere on the sticker.

 

Just my .02 I think the 351M was called the M so it could be differentiated from the 351C and 351W. I would guess they called it a "Modified" because that's what they did to the 400 to make it a 351. Imagine being a parts guy if customer said he had a 351 engine. Which one ?
I remember when the 400 came out in '71, until the 351M came out in '75 it was never called the 400M. Seems around '75 that's when the confusion started.

 

As I understand it, the 351M was basically just a 400 that was modified by putting a 351W crank and different pistons (pin location changed) inside. This is where the M = Modified came from.
I dunno if Ford actually intended for the M to mean Modified, or some other code. I do know the 400 wasn't refered to as a Modified, but if the M was originally refering to some other code, then it's *possible* that the use of 400M is correct. I don't use the M, since a 400 is a 400.
The 351M/400 has a taller deck hieght than a 351C, otherwise looks very similar. Kinda like the 351W has a taller deck than the 289/302, yet looks the same to an untrained eye. Technically, the 289/302 *should* carry the W designation, if the 400 is going to carry the M....... No one does this, since anything other than a 351 CID engine was only made in 1 basic configuration during it's entire lifespan. Till now.....

I forsee a future arguement concerning the 5.0L, since that displacement is coming back to life, in a totally different design..........

 

351m crank not the same as 351w. Front snout is different.

Can't we drive a stake through this thread?

 

So from what I have pieced together here and a few places elsewhere, there was no 400M. Personally I have seen the sticker on the valve cover of a 400 and there wasn't an M after the 400, just after the 351. The 351M is a destroked 400, same engine, but shorter pistons and different crank. In keeping with the trend of naming the engine where it is cast, eg. Windsor Casting plant, or Cleveland Foundry...the M could come fromthe M in Michigan Casting plant, as there were 351M/400 blocks cast there. So I would say there isn't any such thing as a a 400M, but rather just a 400.

 

Was there ever a 1969 F 100 with a 400? Some one in Parker Arizona has a pickup for sale (w/tool box) for $300. My son found it in the local paper and was thinking about getting it.

 

400 intro'd in 1971, so if it's a 400, it is a transplant.

$300? Why so much?

 

Ok. In answer to your question...because no one wants a old big block gas guzzler any more. But I have seen older trucks go for a lot higher because you just can't find them around here anymore...despite this being a rural/farm area. Old trucks were left to rot if they couldn't be sold or were hauled off to the metal scrappers. Most farms/ranches around here use newer ones.

But the advantage of these old trucks are, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to work on them.

 

I don't get too excited about people referring to the 400 as a 400M. What annoys me a lot is people who say that they have a 351M/400. I see add on craigslist, ebay, etc. where they list the engine as "351M/400". I was interested in one truck on craigslist like this, and I emailed the guy and asked if it was a 351M or a 400. He replied, "Neither, it's a 351M/400". OK, that cleared that up :-)