Option A, B, or 3...

[DNFXDLI]

 

[taxreliever]

Oh...and to those calling it a 400m....it isn't!!!!!

Pft.....you guys beat me up so bad when I first posted my rig and it's 400(m) 3 years ago.

Sent from my not so smart phone using Forum Runner!

 

[stanauto]

Back in 79 (yea I'm that old) my boss bought a 2WD F250 with the 400m, He wasn't to happy with the way it ran. So we warmed it up abit. Hot RV cam and kit, roller chain kit, Alum. 4 barrel intake manifold, good street headers, reworked the dist. for the advance we wanted ( note, the vacuum advance is adjusted through thru the vacuum port with an alan wrench) You will also need to rework the weights for the curve you want. This step is very inportant! Next besure you buy the complete Kit with the cam,Then have a good rebuilder do the valves (replace all the valves if you can afford it) when he replaces the springs, retainers, and keepers he will set the heigth then you will be ready to go. also think about using a Quadrajet type manifold if gas mileage is inportant.

 

[5.0Flareside]

It's not called a 400M damn it people.. It's a 400!!!!!! No M!!!


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[stanauto]

Its not a 400M per say. But the family is the 351M/400 so just about every one called it a 400m. I've had Ford parts guys ask if it a 400M over the counter.But your right its a 400

 

[5.0Flareside]

Ignorance is no excuse for those parts counter people...


Just like all the people think the M stands for something.. It doesn't... Ford has nothing saying it stands for anything..


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[tcanin00]

Check with Tim Meyer...the man is great with these engines. I will be using CHI 3V heads on my build.

This is the build that 5.0 Flairside was talking about...it's not done yet coz I dither and waffle

http://www.fordtruckfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15197&highlight=TMI+434

Thanks, DNFXDLI. I'll read up on your build and check out Tim Meyer. In another comment you say the 400 isn't really a 400, is that because its actual displacement is 402 or is there something else?

 

[tcanin00]

Back in 79 (yea I'm that old) my boss bought a 2WD F250 with the 400m, He wasn't to happy with the way it ran. So we warmed it up abit. Hot RV cam and kit, roller chain kit, Alum. 4 barrel intake manifold, good street headers, reworked the dist. for the advance we wanted ( note, the vacuum advance is adjusted through thru the vacuum port with an alan wrench) You will also need to rework the weights for the curve you want. This step is very inportant! Next besure you buy the complete Kit with the cam,Then have a good rebuilder do the valves (replace all the valves if you can afford it) when he replaces the springs, retainers, and keepers he will set the heigth then you will be ready to go. also think about using a Quadrajet type manifold if gas mileage is inportant.

Thanks for this, stanauto. This pretty much sums up what I have read about the 400. You basically need to retune the engine and correct what Ford did to it from the factory during the gas crisis era.
I did not know that the weights in the distributor had to replaced if the vacuum curve is adjusted. Makes sense, though.

 

[tcanin00]

I did happen to think of something during the many hours of searching the internet for bad ideas, or actually expensive ideas. What jarred my memory were some pictures of intake port comparison of 351C 2V and 4V heads. The 2V heads that were also on the 351M/400 engines have relatively small and narrow ports that are no where the same size as 4V ports or 4 barrel intake manifold ports. I remembered that trucks ports seemed to be the same size as the port in the metal intake gasket and the ports on the Edelbrock intake. Here are some pictures for further examination:



And repainted, maybe easier to determine:

 

[tcanin00]

To throw another variable into the mix, how about about Option Q? MS3X. I have an assembled and unflashed ECU sitting in a box collecting dust. It was built for an ambitious project a couple of years ago. I didn't go any further with it because of my inability to make a MS2 system work for a different project around the same time frame. Here is the first attempt at setting up MS2 on my 1984 BMW 318i: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=231574
Short story long, the car had a different engine in it and the harness had been botched so I figured Mega Squirt was the solution (along with me changing several things like the ignition and the intake at the same time). This didn't end well, I cooked a new coil pack with the wrong settings and actually pulled the engine in favor for a 2.5L DOHC straight six complete with harness and computer from a 1994 BMW 325i. I will say that DIY Autotune's customer service is amazing. I had over 100 e-mails with them about making the system work to no avail.
That being said, I have starting to think about using the MS3X (since I sold the MS2) and building my own EFI. This time I would like to start with the basics, like fuel control only, then spark control, then MPFI if I make it that far or feel it would be needed. That is a totally different aspect but it is something I have been reading about with how carbureted intakes atomize fuel V/S EFI intakes.
I would like feedback on successful MS installs, details, set up, etc. if anyone has it to share.