Paddle Foot
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Paddle Foot
Hey fellars I'm new and I've got a question I'm replacing a 351-m in my 79 F350 with a 79 460 that was in front of a c-6 auto. I've been told that the 460 would have to have a balanced flywheel which poses a big problem for me cause I found a balanced fly wheel but I can't find a bellhousing. I don't think it has to be cause the automatic flywheel was not weighted. If I don't have to have one I'm going to use a 351-m bellhousing with a 360 flywheel and put a quarter inch plate between the bellhousing and tranny which I know will work as long as the flywheel doesn't have to be balanced
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From: Duncan B.C.
A '79 460 is EXternally balanced while pre '79s are INternally balanced, so you DO need a flywheel with a weight on it. as for bellhousings, if you can find a newer one I used an '86) from a hydraulic clutch 460 you can either use the hydro set up OR you can modify it to accept the mechanical linkage. I just did this recently and if you look in the "engine swaps" forum (posted by tenforty_2 and titled "460 swap" ), you can see the way I did mine. It was pretty simple and can be done with common tools.
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From: Duncan B.C.
You can use a 351M/400 bell, but as Paddle Foot noted, a spacer is required because it is shorter than the 460 bellhousing and some people have clearance issues because of this. It seems to depend partly on the type of flywheel (FE or 460) and pressure plate ( diaphram or borg & beck). And some people have had problems that sound like either the input shaft is bottoming out against the pilot boshing or crankshaft, or the sleeve the throw out bearing slides on is bottoming against the clutch disc, or both. Some people have no trouble at all. I decided to play it safe and use all 460 stuff on mine, and it also seemed easier to modify the hydrualic style 460 bellhousing than to make a spacer plate for the 351M/400 bellhousing.
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From: Duncan B.C.
Maybe the torque converter is balanced? Are you certain the engine is a '79? Another way to tell if it is externally balanced is to look at the balancer on the front end of the crank shaft behind the crank pulley. If there is a weight shaped like a small hatchet head or pie slice, it is externally balanced. no weight = internally balanced
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it's got a harmonic balancer which as far as I know they all do but there is nothing between it and the block. So does that mean it is internally balanced or could the harmonic balancer be the weight
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From: Duncan B.C.
If there's no weight between the harmonic balancer and the block, it is INternally balanced and is probably not a '79. So you need a neutrally balanced flywheel. ( no counterweight ) You can take a newer, EXternally balanced 460 flywheel and remove the weight. I ground the weight off an '86 flywheel and had a driveline shop balance it. Cost me $50. Or you can use your 360 flywheel. Just make sure you test fit everything before final assembly because some people have problems with things like the ring gear seeming to be closer to the block ( Or maybe it's farther from the block, I forget ) and consequently having the starter not engage the gear properly. or having other fit problems. Some people seem to be able to just slap stuff together and have no trouble at all. T'aint fair.
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From: Duncan B.C.
Nope. Won't work. The 351M/400 flywheel has a different bolt pattern, different diameter, and different number of teeth. Which brings us to another problem some people have had when using a 351M/400 starter. Seems like the FE flywheel having 184 teeth doesn't mesh properly with the starter gear's teeth, because the 351M/400 starter's teeth are spaced for the smaller number of teeth on it's matching flywheel, (the "pitch" of the two gears are different). So they end up with the starter "locking up" after a couple of turns. ( Or something like that)
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From: The Vieux Ford, Kansas
Just to let you guys know the 400 uses a different flywheel than the 351M. The 400s is thicker and uses a 12" clutch instead of the 351Ms 11". Maybe this is why some people reuse their bellhousing no problem and other have trouble.
-Johnboy
-Johnboy
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From: Duncan B.C.
Definite possibility
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thinks guys I really do appreciate it and I did find a weight on the crank shaft between the balancer and the block so it is external the good thing is I found a flywheel that is for a 79 460 I think the part #is D9TE-6380-BB maybe yaw know away to tell for sure but now my problem is finding a 460 bellhousing
