Ok guys heres whats up. There is a local guy that swears up and down that his pickup (which is a bo tie) can beat any ford out there. I keep telling him that many many fords could beat his. But he just wont belive me. My problem is he wants to drag race me after I rebuild my engine. My engine is in pretty poor shape now. I dont know what I should use to build it or hop up the HP ratings or torque. So if you feel like having another botie left in the dust please tell me what is the best way to get the most horspower and torque (without damaging mileage too badly) out of a 351. Thanks much

 

hey fella if your talkin windsor 74 and under are the best the motor it self just needs flat top slugs good r\v cam 3 angle valve job,edelbr.perfomer rpm intake,600cfm edelbr.,duru-spark-fire,motorcraft plugs and you got a winner!!!!! with 16mpg's possible. IF YOUR TALKIN 351M FOGET IT ITS A GRAIN TRUCK MOTOR WHO WON'T SPIN PAST 3600RPM JUST A OPINION TO YOU "M" FANS!!!!!

 

If this chevy lover wants a drag race, send him my way, my big block 390 will beat any chevy. for your 351 I would definetly go with the edelbrock performer intake, at a 600 cfm carb and electronic ignition, and youll beat that chevy.

 

I beg to differ with you my friend. The 351 M in my pickup now has been rapped up to 4200 before. I just thought I'd let you know.

 

digger,did your modified make power up to 4200? or is that just how hi you got it to spin? no offense man there good motors but just to say ,those stats i gave you are my hi winding 351w in a 70f2504x4 i took it to 5800 blasting through a mud bog winning at a county fair boy did i show 'dem bow-tie punks!!! somebody with more 350\400 expertese will help ya! later, oleblue70

 

oleblue70, a 400M with a decent camshaft, 4bbl intake/carb, and mild head work will create approximately 385hp at 5,200rpms. The torque peaks around 500lbs at 4,800rpms. Its naively assumed by many, people that the m-series engines are weak. They may not be extremely high reving engines but they are definatly not weak.

Just my opinion...

 

I think the best thing to do is get a trailer. On a Friday evening ,load your truck on the trailer and let the Rock tow it 1000 miles On the return trip back load the rock on the trailer. At the completion of your trip. Stare and compare notes Examples; gas use, time, broken parts and of course comfort. The rock will be impress and turn over new leave.

 

Digger, don't swet that blow hard, he is just trying to get under your skin. There aint no botie or Ford that can win every day, just look at the professionals. Jeff Gordon has a good tie most days, has won more races than any other driver this year, but he has been beaten more than he has won.
Build you a good truck and don't give him any of it. He'll never know for sure, and thats the best way to handle him. Just let him talk.

GO 88

John

 

hey steve, can't argue with them numbers.i was just hoping digger had a windsor cause i 've owned m's &w's and i love windsors that's all i run i had a 72 f250 4x4 with a 390 with all the goodys including a blue-thunder intake edelbrock alui.-heads but that was a lot of money.my windsors are light & rev great .my favorite thing about trying to sell a truck with a 351m in it was the low,low oil pressure and trying to convince the hopeful buyer it was normal!

 

My 400 pulls to 5.5k rpm no problem, then I usually back off because I don't want to blow it and I can shift at that point and have plenty o' power at the next gear. It has a 600 cfm edlebrock carb, edelbrock alum intake, headers, dual side exhaust, and some kinda cam (already built when I bought it) So far no Chevy truck (no Ford truck or Dodge truck either now that I think about it) has kept up with me, but I haven't raced a 454 (or Lightning) yet. BTW I have 3.5 gears and 35" tires. Can easily spin the tires in Low, 1, 2. It is equal in speed to a 99 Maxima or a Turbo FWD Mitsi 3000GT (cause I stayed side by side with both until my clutch started slipping at 80 mph). I'm sure if I play with the clutch linkage and put in a new pres plate and disc I will go much faster (but then I suspect I'll need stronger axles).

As far as towing goes, mine towed a 6k lb trailer over the mountains of NC no problem, and still was keeping ahead of other traffic. When I showed up at U-haul to pick up the trailer, the counter person asked if the mechanic would inspect my truck to see if it could tow a car trailer. He just looked at it from 100 feet away and said, "Yep" She made him see if it was too tall, and made me buy a 10" drop hitch, which looked ok with the car trailer unloaded, but when loaded, it was apperant to me I should have stayed with the 6" drop hitch I originally bought.

Also you can just throw in rods, pistons and a crank from a 400 into your 351M and make it a 400 nothin doin. Then you should be able to take down that pesky Chevy.

 

Thanks to everyone who posted here it made a world of difference in the way I would have built my engine. I thought of somthing else too. Has anyone ever used a PREDATOR carb on a 351M? I saw one in my racing magazines and wondered how they would work. And has anyone ever used propane on a performance engine? I know it is cheaper but I didnt know how well it worked in performace applications. Thanks again

 

Digger:

By the sounds of it you are running a 351M.

If so, then the easiest thing to do is go to a U-Pull-It style of wrecking yard and buy a 400M long block. Since it's externally the same as your 351M, you can rebuild it while you are still driving your truck. After it is complete then you can swap engines in a weekend. If you are renting an engine hoist then this will save you one rental.

Have the block tanked and then sonic checked before they bore and hone it. The wrecking yard should guarantee the block so if it's bad then they should allow you to replace it for free.

Buy a balanced master rebuild kit from Performance Auto Warehouse, Summit Racing, etc. Make sure it's balanced. This will give you a smooth running engine when you're through. Specify an RV type cam and for general street use you can use cast pistons (forged are necessary if you're going to race your truck). Keep the compression ratio at 9.0 for iron heads or use 9.5 for aluminum heads.

You can either rebuild the heads from the long-block or buy new aluminum heads from the parts house you're getting the rebuild kit from. By the time you have the heads tanked, magna fluxed, milled flat and have new valves and springs installed, you will be paying at least $500. New aluminum heads are about $1,200 complete with springs and valves. The aluminum heads extract heat better thus allowing you to run a slightly higher compression ratio. Also, the intake and exhaust ports and valves for the aluminum heads are about the sizes of the old 4-bbl cleveland heads. They flow much better than the stock 2-bbl "M" heads. I believe Edelbrock makes a neat set of heads. Call PAW or Summit to verify this and get the specs.

Use a 4-bbl aluminum intake and a 600 CFM edelbrock carb. On the 400M I built, I was lucky and found an Edelbrock 400M StreetMaster intake in the classifieds and only paid $40 for it. I also installed a MSD Blaster2 coil and MSD 6A multiple spark unit. I also installed their 8.5mm plug wires. The engine fires right up every time, idles smoothly and has gobs of torque.

An engine like this will give you years of faithful service and let you beat most trucks at not only drag racing, but at hauling loads and towing trailers too.

Good Luck.

Bruce

 

I like Bruce's idea. As for the Predator, are you going to drive it often, or is it just a toy? The Predator is just too much for a mild 351-400. The biggest you would want to go with a carb is 750cfm. I would recommend an Edelbrock, since they have given me the best experiences. I play primarily with 460's, but have seen 400's that run very well when built right. Don't go too big with a cam, about 280 duration and 480 lift should be big enough. Don't forget to get matching valvesprings. If you want more, swap to bigger ratio rocker arms for more lift. This will keep your duration down for more torque. Again, don't forget to match valvesprings! I tried to save money by ignoring them, it only resulted in more downtime for my truck (79F150 4x4 on 33's)

 

hey, i'm livin' in a hole in the world where i come from it's either a 351w or a 390 or 460 but my eyes are now more opento them.i have a 400 with 70,000miles out of grannie's ltd hmmmmm maybe i'll??????

 

I forgot to tell you that I installed the 400M into a '71 F-350 Camper Special that used to have a 390. It has power steering, power disc brakes and the Ranger interior package. Both my wife & I love it.

Bruce