351C Stroker Kits & Projects

[c9zx]

Deck height is about 10.26, stroke is 4.00, main journal size is 3.00.

Chuck

[gxr02190]

The 400 is what we would call a "square" block - 4 in. stroke and a 4" bore. The 400 was not a cleveland per se, but it was very similar. It made it's debut in 1971, but was only used in mid-sized fords and mercs. Some torino police cars came equipped with the 400. It was not called the 400 interceptor. Police cars back then could be ordered with whatever engine the different departments deemed sufficient, from 6cyls up to 429's. The 400 was not considered a performance engine, but was adequate for everyday around-town patrol work. I worked at a facility that maintained our P.D.'s fleet of 6 cruisers, all with 400 engines. Two were '74 torinos, two were '76 torinos, and the newest ones at that time were '77 LTD II's. They had 2.75 rear ends in them and were real dogs out of the gate. I never did a top speed run for obvious reasons, but I guess they would do about 110-115 tops. The state police used the full-sized LTD's with the 429's, and, in 1978, the 460. The 429's and 460's were designated as " interceptors". I used to outrun the local police on a regular basis in my first mach 1, a '71 351 4V C-6 car. Those 400's couldn't even come close. They would pull out, give chase for a 1/2 mile or so (hoping you would pull over and wait for them) and then just turn around and go back to their hiding place.

[gxr02190]

The '71 400 had either a 9.5 or 10.0 to one compression ratio and had more sack than '72-up.

[gxr02190]

Ooopps! In my original post on this thread, I meant to say that the last year for the 460 was 1978. The way I wrote it, it implies that the 460 was used STARTING in 1978. Starting with the '79 LTD / Crown Vic, the biggest engine option for police or any other application for that matter was the 351 windsor with a VV (variable venturi) carb, a 2 bbl.

[armyfox]

Bringing an old post back to life!

Nothing else to do than to research and come up with more and more questions. I was originally thinking about applying a turbo to the 351c, but I am noticing an extremely short amount of articles on this matter for the 351c. I don't know if the turbos for the windsor will work on the cleveland at all. After researching and researching I have come to the conclusion that I am just going to go NA and stick with a future stroker build. I keep reading that the bottom ends are great along with the engine being able to hit 7k rpms a lot. My goal is to use the car on a regular basis (like half the week). In my foxbody I cruised and raced street lights galore. I know that this big mustang has problems with the low-end torque. I never took a car to any drag strip, but eventually I would love to try once a month or so with the mach. I am looking for reliability and with the horsepower. I dont want a 600hp monster (at least not yet ). I am thinking maybe a 393 stroker kit with a 450-500hp goal in mind. I kinda am afraid of stroking the original engine because it might crack or something. I was thinking of buying another cleveland engine and starting from scratch with it while I drive the mach. This project will be way in the future probably like winter of 2013. I am going to look up all the various parts for a stroked engine and see if you guys can advice and correct my mistakes on a future build. Thanks

[furray]

By the way in 1971 ford did make a ford 400 clevland motor . I owned a 71 mercury . The motor I D said ford 400 C . The ford 400 is a 400 not a 400 M . The 351 M is a destroked Ford 400 . The 351 M has a shorter stoke . The 400 / 351 M are set up to bolt up to the big blocks trans . The Ford 400 Intercepter are one fast cop motor that did lasted . Just try putting a early Ford 400 with a C6 in a 71/73 mustang . Add a good carb and intake and 351 C headers you have one bad ass car. C.L. Try old school it works

I know how old this post is but I think it is important that the header issue be corrected before anyone looking at a set of headers puts their hard earned money down. While 351C headers will bolt to a 351M/400 they will not work because of the 351M/400 taller deck. There could also be a port mismatch depending on the heads or headers.