My dad has a customer that is building a '74 comet just like mine, but it's for the strip, not the street. He is going to be running a budget setup. 400 and c-6. Yes a 400. It's basically the same as a cleveland swap, but does anyone have any good info on for this project, and what will it take to get the c-6 in the car? :confused:
Torch, ziz wheel, can opener, and a shoehorn. j/k, it is possible, but a large and tall engine, that will take a lot of work to get in. If he goes with Mll steering and eliminates the shock towers, then anything is possible.
I doubt he'll get that 400 in there without losing the shock towers. Then, with the shock towers gone, he could go 460. There is alot more power to be had with a 460, and aftermarket parts are much more common than the few things you can get for a 400. It is not as simple as a Cleveland swap IMO. The 400 is to the Cleveland what the 351w is to the 302... Taller, wider, heavier, and only some parts swap. The 400 has unique engine mounts also... Uses the 460 bellhousing, which is huge compared to the SBF housing on the 302/351w-c. So, let's talk about the mods that he will need over and above a simple Cleveland swap: Custom frame/engine mounts. Custom floor pan to accomodate the BBF C6. Custom driveshaft. Custom tranny mount/crossmember. Probably a hood scoop for clearance of almost any carb/intake/air cleaner I can think of. Mustang 2 IFS to lose the shock towers. Custom header$. There is nothing close in the way of swap headers and the manifolds have a good chance of not fitting even with the towers gone due to the sub-frame and steering obstacles. There is a slight chance that the towers could be shaved enough to squeeze it in there... the Cleveland will go without shaving if you like pulling the engine to do plug changes. The 400 might be similar with the towers shaved. If he wants that much work to get a big engine in there, IMO it is not worth it for a 400... 460, that's another story. Good luck Dave
get a 302 and stroke it to 331 or 347. you'll spend a lot less on parts and not have to modify the front suspension. jmo
Not worth it IMO. Could drop a 302 in there and make as much or more power then the smoggy 400... Pics?
Is it possible you have a Cleveland there? 302 engine mounts will not bolt to a 400, but will bolt to a Cleveland. Also, the space you describe for the exhaust vs shock tower is just like a Cleveland. Dave
I guess it's still a budget build up? Now comes the fun part. Still makes no sense to me when a 351 can be stroked to 408 with almost no mods.
Looks like a tight fit. The 400 is a good engine, but doesn't look like the easiest swap into one of these. I would like to get something off my chest thou regarding the 400 ... Everybody seems to rate engines like the 400 on what they were, not what there potential is, and thats a big mistake. The 302 was 138 HP in the mid seventies, does that mean the 302 is a piece of junk? Don't let anybody tell you the 400 is a smog-dog or crappy engine meant for the scrap heap. It's biggest problem is it never got a chance to shine like the other engines in the 60's. It was introduced in 1971 (model year), a little late for the performance wars, and it never had anything but a 2 barrel on it. It still managed to put out 260-280HP (internet says 260, my Chilton's says 280), then it got hit hard with stupid emissions junk. The nice thing about the 400, is that it's really just a tall deck (10.2 inch deck) 402 CID Cleveland. Bolt some Aussie heads on that sucker with a cam and intake and you'll put the fear in 'em. Being that it is a descendant of the 351C, most of the same parts fit them, including those nice new CHI Aluminum heads. The parts are really easy to find in this age of internet-goodness. The guts of the 400 were so good, that Windsor guys take the 400 crank, machine the crank snout down to fit in the 351W block and make a 408 stroker out of them. The cranks are said to be good up to around 800 hp. Check out http://www.tmeyerinc.com/ for more info and HiPo 351M400 parts. Also, http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2007/02/Ford400/index.php to see an article on a hopping up the 400 and a 434 Stroker being dropped into a Pantera . Thanks for the pictures, I always wanted to know if one would fit in a Maverick/Comet.
The problem with the 400m is not the stock or even the potential strength, it is the sheer size and weight. Everything you can do with a 400m, you can do better with a much smaller and lighter 351w, or even 351c. The packaging problems nearly all go away, and with 100# of weight equalling 10 rwhp, you will always make more effective power with the lighter engines. Not to mention expense. Like I mentioned before, that engine might drop in there, but from the pics, it is clear that even Houdini himself couldn't create a set of headers to fit without total shock tower removal. So, cost, weight, parts availability, packaging, and overall bang for the buck or labor, the 400 is just left out in the cold. Alot of work for equal, if not lesser gain. The reason the 400 crank was used to make 408s in the day, was because you could use the smaller and lighter 351w/c package. Otherwise why would folks have not just bored the 400 .030" over and get 408 cubes that way... if it was such a great setup? Trivia: The 400m was available briefly with a 4v option! Just intake and carb... not heads. The 400m was also availble for a brief time with a small block tranny bolt pattern! IIRC, it was in 73. Both are exceedingly rare. Like any other 351, the 28 oz flywheels/balancers and pulleys all interchange among the small blocks.
