Thread: The Mighty Ford 400?

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i ran into one of the retired ford engineers i used to work with. he just sold his original 427 Cobra and 351 pantera he bought with his employee discount. he said he gave the guy who bought the pantera some australian cylinder heads and webbers that he never installed. panteria's ran the truck 2 barrel 35l motor from the factory.which was of the same family as the 400. i have never seen anything in print abpout the austrailan 351=400 but the mexico 302's put out a lot more hp than good old smog approved usa stuff.

Dave, how much do you think I can find a nice 351 for and how much would a stroker kit be for it? Think the 347 would smoke a lot of the 350's or what?
I know this is my everyday driver but like I said before, I am young of course so I want to get even my daily driver as fast as I can even if I have another car (the 48) to build. haha.

The decent 351W kits start around $850, about $1700 will turn a 351 into a ground pounder 408. Add some twisted flow heads to that and it will honk. Only thing is Shawn, that much power in an old Ford truck, you either have to redo all the rear suspension to 4 bar and coil over, or learn to live with blowing the tires off the back everytime you nail it. The $347 might be your best bet for a street motor in a pickup, much more horsepressure than that and hooking it up becomes a real challenge.!!!!

True Dave. I am already having trouble hooking up with this little 302 in it. 700 bucks is cheap for a stroker anyways. I saw Summit has the kit but it's all their parts, is that one any good or what is your oppinion on that?
Now that I have this Ford I am beginning to like and appreciate them more besides the fact that parts are harder to find and more expensive but oh well. Everyone keeps telling me to put a Chevy in the truck but I tell them no because nothing is wrong with the 302 and for a little engine like this, it pulls hard. Better on gas too. Stupid to put a Chevy in this Ford IMO.

I couldn't find it on Northern's web site, but it was in their flyer last month, ordered one for a guy. Their phone # is 1-800-831-0884.

I think Mad Dog on Ebay has them for about the same price. Might want to check them out too.

Ok I will look around Dave, thanks!

$300 or so dollars at the junkyard for a H.O. 302 roller cam motor and put a stroker kit in that and u got a cheap roller cam motor u can basically fire and drive.Remove or leave the fuel injection.Cam break in seems to be a sketchy thing , the metal floatin around and all the rpms on a new motor right away.Kinda a make it or break it sorta thing I guess?

Dave, no luck finding Mad Dog on Ebay. I looked all over. Not sure if I am searching wrong or what but all the kits I find on there are around 1300-1700 bucks.

Shawn, on ebay check out 1AAA1 The Mustang Depot. Also, call Northern and get their catalog, the stroker kit is in there. 1-800-831-0884.

Originally posted by timothale
i ran into one of the retired ford engineers i used to work with. he just sold his original 427 Cobra and 351 pantera he bought with his employee discount. he said he gave the guy who bought the pantera some australian cylinder heads and webbers that he never installed. panteria's ran the truck 2 barrel 35l motor from the factory.which was of the same family as the 400. i have never seen anything in print abpout the austrailan 351=400 but the mexico 302's put out a lot more hp than good old smog approved usa stuff.

I don't know what your smoking, but the Pantera's ran a true 351 Cleveland, not a 351M and they were all 4V's. You'd better learn your Ford history. The truck motor was a 351 M which is the same size, outside demintionely as a 400 and used the same bellhousing bolt pattern as the 429/460. The true 351 Cleveland was a small block type design and used 302 and 351 windsor parts such as bellhousings, flywheels, etc. I know cause I put one in my original 78 Merc Monarch 302/4spd car. It was an 72 Boss. The true 351` Clevelands were only made from 71-73. And yes, the 74 and the final 75 Panteras ran leftover original 351 Clevelands bought from Ford.

I know the 351M-400's were a weak design...

For some reason the blocks on the 400's just were not all that...

The major problem was they had a water passage real close to a oil gallery ( I believe around the fuel pump).... And putting power to the block would worsen the chance of a crack thru....coarse most os them rusted thru....seen half dozen maybe....

Originally posted by Oldf100fordman
I don't know what your smoking, but the Pantera's ran a true 351 Cleveland, not a 351M and they were all 4V's. You'd better learn your Ford history. The truck motor was a 351 M which is the same size, outside demintionely as a 400 and used the same bellhousing bolt pattern as the 429/460. The true 351 Cleveland was a small block type design and used 302 and 351 windsor parts such as bellhousings, flywheels, etc. I know cause I put one in my original 78 Merc Monarch 302/4spd car. It was an 72 Boss. The true 351` Clevelands were only made from 71-73. And yes, the 74 and the final 75 Panteras ran leftover original 351 Clevelands bought from Ford.

Not to start a flame war but i love these forums because the lack of ford knowledge is always amusing. There wasn't a 72 Boss only a 71. They did make a 72H.O. but it had open chamber low compression just like the the plain 4v's. I just got done building a 1970 351c 4v for my 37. Complete with roller cam, roller rockers, headers and all the goodies. I hope to put down 350+rwhp on a small cam. I wanted to stroke it but thats real expensive and a 400 can't use 4v heads because no one makes an intake for that combo. After i finished up my motor, i did find a company that makes adapter plates to put 3514v intakes and heads on a 351m or 400 block. I don't see any reason why if you run 4v heads and intake on a 400 you won't make good power. With the extra cubes it should work a lot better with the massive 4v heads. It'll also allow you to run a bigger cam and be more streetable than a 351 with the same cam.

The 400 is a good torque engine. 1971 was the best year as they came from the factory with 9.0:1 compression and made 260 HP and 400 ftlbs of torque.......in 1971 from the factory. The very next year they were "detuned." Then they only had 8.4:1 compression through 1973 which then got dropped even further to 8.0:1 in 1974. In they end they only made around 160-170 HP and around 300 ftlbs of torque. If you want a 400 you need a 1971. Given the 400 dimensions, they are actually a 402. I have mine bored to 410ci. I'm running better than 400ftlbs of torque and over 350 HP with stock heads, just a 3-angle valve job (and different springs for the cam). I have a Ford SVO cam and compression has been bumped to about 9.5:1. A weiand intake and Sanderson Headers. These engines are good lugging engines. IMO it is a solid engine. I have a stock one in my '79 F350 with over 180,000 miles and it pulls loads really well.

If you are really serious about the 335 series engines, you have to visit this link and visit this forum. There is more knowledge in this particular Ford forum than I could hope to ever know. The Ford 400 is way over misunderstood.

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=54

Here's a picture of my 400 (now a 410).

That engine compartment looks very nice man! I like the truck. What paint brand did you use for the flat black? Or Semi Black shall I say....

It is Valspar DP-90 epoxy primer. I want to keep it flat black. Yes, I like my engine bay as well. I ordered a sheet of treadbrite aluminum and used it for some other stuff on the truck and thought it would look really good on the firewall. So, 2 hrs later and only $15 in material, that has to be the cheapest thing on the whole rig.