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Snagged a 400 today...
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bamajips View Drop Down
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    Posted: 25-June-2024 at 3:25PM
I really want to stab a 460 in my 76 Elite, but I'll build this 400 w my Weiand US made aluminum intake, Edelbrock 650cfm AVS2 carb (may stumble on a Holley 750 before too long) and if I'm swapping engines I'm certainly going to build this one with T Meyer flat top pistons and rods...
I.wantwd another 400 as I didnt want any downtime in my driver Elite... I want to build this engine to be a monster performer and not have my car.down for a month or three waiting for machine shop and rebuild...
IfnI ever get a 460 built then this can always come back out and go into the next thing.... 

The D9TE truck block should be better to run a high horsepower Manuél as well, yeah? Doesnt the 78+ Truck casting have reinforced thrust bearing mains?
Anyhow guy posted this for $600 local with video of it running... I watched online for weeks and hit him the other day that I'm good for $400 on it... 

$1 per cube is a steal in my book. I'm a fan of the boat anchor 400, especially when they crank out 500+hp and insane torquebat 1800 rpm
JiPS - East Tennessee
1976 Ford Elite 400
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Should've probably put this in the 335 section....

So digging further... I was scared the valve cover sticker could be a fraud. Have a D7TE block cast at Michigan foundry 😬 scary....
D7TE intake... has a flywheel on it (manual) rather than a flexplaten(auto)nso hopeful...
He gave me an air breatherbwith 351m 2v sticker on it and then mentioned valve covers... suspicions grew instantly, but had no reason to doubt.
 According to this cawting number on the top back, is this a 78 block in the 10th month (J?) 
According to Tmeyer website 1st number is the year
2nd letter is the month
3rd & 4th number is the day of the month.
So assuming Jnisn10th month October 9th of 1978? Then why notna D8TE block??
I'm nscared I got 351m.... even if I did get duped, I'll buy the piston, rod and crank kit off TMeyer website and solve all that.

Any input? Did I miss a casting number somewhere to tell me this is a 351m as opposed to a 400. Sigh. 
JiPS - East Tennessee
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MCC = Michigan Casting Center 😳
JiPS - East Tennessee
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Ok ok ok... on the morrow I will pull a sparky boy out and use a small rod and measure the depth how far down the piston travels whilst turning said enginem 
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Valve covers are swapped easily. I wouldn't put much faith in those being correct on something that is 40+ years old. Definitely verify, and the only way I know is either crank casting # or measuring stroke length. I was wanting a 400 when I bought mine, but the valve cover says 351. I haven't measured it to confirm.

But even if it is a 351m, 400 bucks is hard to beat on a running engine. If you're already swapping in flat top pistons, an entire rebuild isn't too much more work. Tmeyer has the 444 stroker kit available, and it's at a price that makes it really appealing if your stock crank or rods aren't usable (or if they're 351 sizedWink).

Yours having a 8j9 means it's after the blocks that had casting crack issues in the valley. The reason it's a d7te and not a d8te is because it's from the mold designed in 77. They used the same mold design all the way until 82. It doesn't really matter as long as it's a usable block that's not prone to cracking.
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If it's a 351M, this is what you need: Wink

https://www.tmeyerinc.com/product/rotating-assembly-351m-400-stroker/

Let us know what you have when you measure the stroke.
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I still have my 400 block I had machined with Milodon 4-bolt main caps, and screw in freeze plugs. I should get to cleaning house when I finally find a new house and move.
Don
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Originally posted by 72FordGTS 72FordGTS wrote:

If it's a 351M, this is what you need: Wink

https://www.tmeyerinc.com/product/rotating-assembly-351m-400-stroker/

Let us know what you have when you measure the stroke.


or if it turns out to be a 351M and you don't want to go the Full Monty, Tim Meyer has 351M pistons that corrects the excessive deck clearance problem inherent in both 351M's and 400's

https://www.tmeyerinc.com/product/piston-ford-351m-includes-rings-free-shipping/
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Ive been busy and havent gotten to measure the stroke yet - I will soon and update. I think $400 is good deal for a 400 and its overpriced for a 351m in my opinion (or what I'd actually pay)

My skeptical nature has me questioning if its legit or not.

I was thinking T Meyer crank kit for I think $2300 corrects that anyways doesnt it? It has the flat top 400 pistons, rods and crank fro that and then it wouldnt matter?

Id really like to do just flat top pistons, heads and I already have the 4bbl intake and carb and call it a day ~400ish horsepower and I'm good to go... already have a 3.25:1 9" center section I scored for $100 which would be a marked improvement over the 2.75:1 in there now and more than doubling the horsepower would be plenty of go for me.... 

I'll report back when I know the stroke. Hoping its 4" ...fearing its 3.5" 😒
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Confirm you are not within the cracking block dates. It would suck to find out the hard way.
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The tmeyer crank kit is all brand new parts - crank, rods, pistons, rings, bearings, etc.
And it's all spec'd out so that pistons are zero deck(or close to it).

All for 2700 online, I too think I saw a 2300 for one at one time.

His custom pistons are used with your stock rods and crank to get zero deck(or close to it)
All for 550 bucks.

If your stock crank needs any grind work, and you add his zero deck pistons, your close to 2000 dollars. If it was a 400, the argument could be made. But if it's a 351m, there's no doubt I'd go with the stroker kit, and have new parts with more cubes in the process.
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This isnt accurate to the thousandth.... but I used my camera and watched the piston dwell at tdc and bdc and used this ziptie and could physically see when it touched.... marked it w a sharpie and turned it up and marked it again same spot and its DEFINITELY 4 inches which makes me happy. 
I'd be very irritated paying $400 for a 351m... with the M reputation I wouldnt want to give more than ~$200-250 for a pulled 351m (I'm  a believer in the engine with some help, just saying for what others think) 
So I'm pretty stoked now. Time to start pulling this apart, measuring and seeing if it needs machine work or if I can just go low budget ball hone and slap it back together... 
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Holy Never Had an Oil Change Batman! 😳

This is gonna need machine work in betting. 
Oil is so cheap... 😒

Also popping a valve cover takes 2 minutes before purchase 😮‍💨
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Oil was not that good back then when these were driven a lot. The best oil might not build up sludge, but most would.

That head has stock valve spring retainers, which I'd be hopeful about; it means that it's likely original, not rebuilt. So hopefully the cylinders aren't worn too much, because .030" is the limit on the Ford 335 blocks.
Don
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Originally posted by handsofstone handsofstone wrote:

Confirm you are not within the cracking block dates. It would suck to find out the hard way.

Yeah the D7TE casting scared me initially, but according to TMeyer website I'm good... covered in the 2nd or 3rd post I found the date code. 
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I had sludge like that under the valve covers in my 351C. Might be evidence of why Pennzoil had the reputation it did. 
1972 Gran Torino station wagon, light blue, 351C 2V, prior owner upgraded to 4V (2V heads), originally had a C4 but prior owner changed to C6 for some reason.
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Happy to hear it's a 400 and hopefully it can be rebuilt on the cheap.  Tmeyer pistons and a decent came should really wake it up.
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Originally posted by Inkara1 Inkara1 wrote:

I had sludge like that under the valve covers in my 351C. Might be evidence of why Pennzoil had the reputation it did. 


Pennzoil aka 'the Yellow Death' used to turn into a yellow gelatinous glob, taking up all available space inside the engine. 
i forget which brand was famous for creating the crispy charcoal layer?
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Quaker State was the biggest old, bad oil to create sludge.
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I thought it was quaker state too
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I have heard the same about Quaker State.  However, FWIW, my dad used Quaker State through the 70s and some of the 80s.  He later switch to Castrol GTX.  The engine on my Torino was super clean when I tore it apart, after 140k miles.   There was no sludge anywhere.  He did religiously change the oil every 2000 miles and most of the miles were highway use.
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Originally posted by 72FordGTS 72FordGTS wrote:

I have heard the same about Quaker State.  However, FWIW, my dad used Quaker State through the 70s and some of the 80s.  He later switch to Castrol GTX.  The engine on my Torino was super clean when I tore it apart, after 140k miles.   There was no sludge anywhere.  He did religiously change the oil every 2000 miles and most of the miles were highway use.


My dad also had used Quaker State at some times, he wasn't a car guy or picky. I learned my car stuff from an older neighbor, now my oldest friend. He was a Castrol guy and very passionate about cars in the 70's, and helped me to build my first engine.

Changing oil regularly is the best method, 3000 is doing it very often, 2000 is IMO too often. Oils were improving a lot in the late 70's and onward, the SAE standard was about SD I believe back then. We have moved far into the alphabet since then.
Don
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Oooh…..look at that Quaker State sludge!!
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Originally posted by 72 RS 351 72 RS 351 wrote:


My dad also had used Quaker State at some times, he wasn't a car guy or picky. I learned my car stuff from an older neighbor, now my oldest friend. He was a Castrol guy and very passionate about cars in the 70's, and helped me to build my first engine.

Changing oil regularly is the best method, 3000 is doing it very often, 2000 is IMO too often. Oils were improving a lot in the late 70's and onward, the SAE standard was about SD I believe back then. We have moved far into the alphabet since then.


You are right Don, every 2000 miles is probably too frequent, but it worked for my car.  Maybe had dad stretched it out it would have been a sludge mess, but instead it was very clean.  This was my Dad's first brand new car, and it was his baby, so he went a little overkill. Then again, oil changes are cheap.
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