kalli

Hi all,

friend of mine bought a late 70s (maybe early80s) Cougar with a 351M.
he drove it for 200 miles, ran out of oil and made mush out of the engine. it still runs, bot makes noise (clunk, clunk ...)
So buddy said he'll help but couldn't get the engine out with the hoist.
Week later I found the engine in his garage on the ground and asked how they got it out. They used a JCB. LOL

A compressiontest showed the rings in trouble. (wet much higher than dry). anyway i stripped the engine with my favourite airgun.

all main bearings are done, the crankshaft has seen much better days and all conrod bearings (the two shells) look the same crap.

It looks like a cleveland (block and heads), but according to the casting code and the date code (1977) it must be a M (I read they stopped making clevelands 1974).
there's two options 351 and 400 windsor crank.
I identified it as 351 with info from a website (not 400 crank). The pistons are stock size (they measure 4"). A friend will bring a bore gauge top make sure the block is good.

So the question is:
- which crank to order. I found three different ones for a 351W ( i think this should be windsor crank)
- what piston rings and caps and conrod bearings? will all the stuff from a stock 351W do? anyone any idea?

were thinking about stroking to 400, but too much money involved in this one for the owner

Gary H

Neither, you need a 351m or 400m crank.

kalli

thanks a mill. IU searched summit for that but couldn't find it.
I'll keep looking!

Gary H

FWIW, the 351m and 400m rods are the same, if you find a 400m crank and pistons they'll bolt right in. You can find the kits cheap, but I dont know about shipping over there.

Gary H

http://www.rpmmachine.com/crankshaftkitsford.html

dcohen

i would ditch the 351m and get a windsor

the M's are more truck motors than car motors

JMD

The M has gotten a lot of bad press. It is very similar to a Cleveland motor with a big block bell pattern.

I think it is basicly a good engine that came out in a bad time for American cars. The engine was/is looked at as a poor performer due to it being relegated to "smogger status".

IMO, the engine has a good architecture, (open chamber Cleveland heads). The engine would benifit from the removal of various emmission control devices and a bump in compression ratio.

351 M had done pretty well in the last PHR pump gas engine challenge... There is a shortage of performance parts for this engine, but this can be overcome with a little creative thinking.

kalli

"would ditch the 351m and get a windsor" --> not a chance as they unfortunately don't grow on trees in Ireland

Gary: "FWIW, the 351m and 400m rods are the same, if you find a 400m crank and pistons they'll bolt right in."
Thanks for the link. I'm having a very hard time sourcing a 351M crank. they seem to seell one :-)
I heard the same about only changing to 400 crank and pistons and job done. But it's the additional cost of piston and machine shop I'm not sure I wants to do. I'll talk to him again. But I need to check on compression ratio if we go that route (we have no tools for getting the piston of rod and back on)

JMD: he had a nitrous kit on it he's now selling (i don't have the ***** for it. probably wreck my new one) :-) When I heard he fried the engine I was convinced it was the red button. But he never used it ... ran out of oil :-9

Gary H

No machine shops nearby? Not a big deal to turn the crank down some and put new bearings in it...

kalli

there's actually a good machine shop (reputable, but no V8 experience).
great idea. never thought you could actually do that ... I'll investigate ...