C4 Used in 1979 Thunderbird? |
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MXBrougham
New Member Joined: 06-December-2009 Location: Wichita Falls T Status: Offline Points: 23 |
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Posted: 08-July-2017 at 10:06AM |
I just recently found out (after getting a Marti Report on a 79 Thunderbird) that he can tell if your car was a 351M or 351W, even though the VIN code is the same for both. It got me wondering though. From my 2 Marti's I know that out of 284,141 built, 149,410 were 302/FMX combo's, and 104,052 were 351M/FMX combo's. By definition, that means 30,679 were 351W. However, I wondered if any were built with the C4 transmission. Or were they all FMX's? Has anybody ever seen a 79 Thunderbird with a C4? I have always assumed because of the size of the car, the C4 wouldn't have been considered strong enough by Ford to use. But who knows.
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Power Surge
Senior Member Joined: 06-March-2016 Location: Palm Coast, FL Status: Offline Points: 542 |
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Definitely doesn't have to do with the size of the car. C4s were used through the 70s in plenty of Torinos, Cougars, etc. My 75 Cougar was a 351W/C4 car.
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Sal Mennella
73 GTS 351 CJ 75 Cougar XR7 73 Ranchero - 5.0 Coyote swap - in progress Past Torinos - 72 Gran Torino, 75 Gran Torino, 75 Elite |
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Big Bird
Senior Member Joined: 25-August-2013 Location: New York Status: Offline Points: 4194 |
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C4 was not typically used with Thunderbird, as it was an "Upscale" car and got C6 or FMX. Depending on the level of reporting in the build data Marti is reviewing, I would think engine mounts, cooling system, Catalyst, or some other detail shows up and lets him make that determination.
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"What we do in full frontal view, is more honest than your cleaned-up mind."
Randy 1979 T-Bird 2005 F-150 STX RCSB 4.6, 3.55 LSD How the Heck does a REGULAR CAB SHORTBED weigh over 5200 pounds? |
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GranTorinoSport
Admin Group Admin of "The Org" Joined: 20-May-2003 Location: Seattle Status: Offline Points: 2287 |
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While the C4 is not as robust of a transmission, it is lighter in weight. For applications where you are going to be building some serious power I'd explore a C6 however. If it is a 351M I'd bet money it was a C6, and if 351W I'd also bet it's a C4. My 75 with a 351W had a C4. Never modified the engine, and the transmission served very well for 235,000 miles (although like the engine it did leak).
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Scott Eklund
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MrSmog
Senior Member Joined: 21-January-2016 Location: Ky Status: Offline Points: 1407 |
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c6's are the old school route, tough but suck an additional 30 hp over a c-4 and heavier. A lot of Ford guys, even 460+ big block guys are goin to built c4's (351m bell) over the c6's, c4's will hold up to big power, they make then now to hold over 1100 hp. I ran a otherwise stock c4 with a shift kit behind a Healthy 351w with a 150 shot of nitrous, did I mention the car the c-4 came out of had 150k miles on it? yea, it was still goin strong after I sold the car and It must have had over 100 passes on the bottle at the track and on the street.
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