[My79Ford400ciF1504x4]

Hey does anyone know or can suggest a site where i can order the 1971 Ford 400 Flat top pistons that aren't custom, but just the regular bore pistons that weigh the same as the stock dished ones. Thanks

[ericnova72]

If Speed-Pro doesn't have them you will be out of luck, no choice but custom. Reason is this is not a popular engine to build up, most people just replace them with a 429 or 460, lots of parts available for those.

You might get lucky with Keith Black www.kb-silvolite.com

[bullheimer]

those piles have won like the last 4 Engine masters challenge competitions but with chevy parts inside them and 4bbl Cleveland heads. i would think you can get anything from summit. it might not be in the cat. but look online. if you can't get stock bore go with 30 over, more readily available.

i had a 79 bronco, greatest 4x ever. i never liked that stinkin motor tho: 400M which is not the same as a 429/460. it's an abortion of a windsor block with cleveland (2bbl) heads with a one-off intake. i couldnt make it run really well for nothing and pitched a ***** with popular hot rodding for making the rules of their contest so that this pig of an engine actually dominated.

i hadda Schneider cam, edel intake and holley carb, mallory dual point and the thing still couldnt get out of it's own way. so bad that there was no noticeable difference btwn that 400 and the 351M it replaced. i would guess THAT is the main reason someone would just go with a regular big block. but you can kiss any kind of mileage goodbye with that one. if you can find a 351 cleveland and get the 4bbl heads (good luck finding any) you will have a winner.

[ericnova72]

The engines that won the Engine Masters challenge may have had stock 400M blocks and maybe cranks, but that is as far it as far as stock parts. Everything else was custom, aftermarket, or adapted from other makes, and they used Aluminum 3V heads made by CHI, which are basically a slight redesign of the 4V closed chamber Cleveland head.

The 400M can be a hell of an engine with 4 barrel heads on it,the 400 cubes is enough size to take real advantage of those big ports, but you aren't going to find cheap flat top pistons anywhere due to the general unpopularity of this engine.

[My79Ford400ciF1504x4]

Well, that site didn't have them. So, does anyone have any idea where i can order some non custom pistons? Or do i have to find a 71 block with them in it?

[ericnova72]

Did you try Mahle pistons, they might have one. You are really looking for the needle in the haystack on this one, I wouldn't expect old used '71 stock pistons to be reusable anyway.

You may want to look for a domed piston that has a solid dome and not a hollow dome, you can then machine it down into a flat top. I know someone that did this to get a specific compression ratio on a '71 4v 351 Cleveland .

[matt167]

see if you can find a pistion with the same bore and close offset

[onebadmerc]

You can use 351 cleveland pistons in a 400, but you will have to bush the small end of the 400 rods to fit the 351 Cleveland pins, it was a old trick for the 400.

[Huneycutt]

I know of an engine builder that's using LS rods and forged Cleveland pistons, but it requires some machine work on the crank and rods. I built one using 6.300 chevy rods and KB pistons for a 340 Dodge (because the compression distance was about right) but it required knocking the pin bushing out of the rods and honing them a good bit. It was actually for a story that ran in Hot Rod way back when. I have a build sheet and a video of the dyno run here if you are interested.

http://streetmuscleaction.com/engines/400-ford-dyno/

[Brando_21]

http://www.tmeyerinc.com/400ford.html

everything under the sun for the 400, they are very under appreciated motor with some serious potential, especially for some high torque numbers, they just never put enough squeeze in em from the factory, thank goodness for the aftermarket

[timothale]

I think Ford of Australia build the M engines after the US went out of production. there is supposed to be better heads and parts from down under.

[Mr.Fixxit]

Originally Posted by ericnova72

The engines that won the Engine Masters challenge may have had stock 400M blocks and maybe cranks, but that is as far it as far as stock parts. Everything else was custom, aftermarket, or adapted from other makes, and they used Aluminum 3V heads made by CHI, which are basically a slight redesign of the 4V closed chamber Cleveland head.

The 400M can be a hell of an engine with 4 barrel heads on it,the 400 cubes is enough size to take real advantage of those big ports, but you aren't going to find cheap flat top pistons anywhere due to the general unpopularity of this engine.

Hey, I always thought the 400M was just a modded up Cleveland ( not a Windsor ). I was always told the 400 is just a 351 Cleveland with a higher decklid.

[timothale]

engine families are based on the bore center to center spacing used in the automated machining in the factory. Ford small blocks have the same spacing as the 50's ford y block. do some maching on a 292 truck forged crank and put it in a small block. 332-428 machined on the old 50's lincoln Y block machines etc.. also when stuff becomes obsolete in the us the machinery is sometimes shipped to other countries. I think the 429-460 were machined on the 383-430 MEL merc edsel lincoln stuff.

[farmallmta]

Originally Posted by bullheimer

those piles have won like the last 4 Engine masters challenge competitions but with chevy parts inside them and 4bbl Cleveland heads. i would think you can get anything from summit. it might not be in the cat. but look online. if you can't get stock bore go with 30 over, more readily available.

i had a 79 bronco, greatest 4x ever. i never liked that stinkin motor tho: 400M which is not the same as a 429/460. it's an abortion of a windsor block with cleveland (2bbl) heads with a one-off intake. i couldnt make it run really well for nothing and pitched a ***** with popular hot rodding for making the rules of their contest so that this pig of an engine actually dominated.

i hadda Schneider cam, edel intake and holley carb, mallory dual point and the thing still couldnt get out of it's own way. so bad that there was no noticeable difference btwn that 400 and the 351M it replaced. i would guess THAT is the main reason someone would just go with a regular big block. but you can kiss any kind of mileage goodbye with that one. if you can find a 351 cleveland and get the 4bbl heads (good luck finding any) you will have a winner.

Consider everything in the post quoted above to be wrong. DEAD wrong, even "the", "and", and "to". Typical bowtie freak lack of knowledge. They just can't seem to understand that the 400M is the same motor as the famous ***-kicking 351 Cleveland but with 1/2" more stroke, meaning more displacement potential. There are even cranks available to stroke them out more than that. You can turn a 351M into a 425cid easily and cheaply. What's not to love about that? Here's the skinny:

Pistons: Keith Black pistons sourced through Tim Meyer, Inc. (TMI)
Untitled Document. You can get anything from 9.3 all the way up to nearly 13.4 BEFORE reducing the block height. Just pick your head/piston combo and the sky's the limit.

Stock heads can work, but for compression much above 9:1, get quencher heads. Those would be 351C 4V, Aussie 351/302C 2V, Edelbrocks, ProComps. Some people are leary of ProComp, others are fine with them. The quenchers eliminate the pre-detonation often experienced with open chamber heads.

Manifolds: Edelbrock Performer, Weiand, factory 351C-4V with available spacers, or (believe it or not) the Edelbrock SP2P 4V for lower RPM torque monsters. Yes, they work GREAT for below 3000 RPM torquers. Don't listen to the SP2P dissers who can't fathom low-RPM band torque and power and everyday driving fuel mileage. The SP2P even solves the 4V heads big port problem of fuel dropout at lower RPM's, turning a disadvantage into an advantage: mismatch of small manifold runners to large ports in the heads helps turbulence and mixing as the mixture enters the ports/chamber/bore. DON'T PORT MATCH anything but RPM screamers. This is important!

Cranks: Factory 400 cranks are tough as nails. Tim Meyer has a nicely priced ready to use kit for a 400 crank with pistons and rods all balanced, and even a 4.25" stroker with chevy dimension rods and KB pistons. Thus Einstein's comment above about the Engine Masters 400s being full of "Chevy parts". Sheesh.

Cam: it's where it's at! For torquers, use a fast ramp roller cam if you can afford it. If not, go with something in a flat lifter cam like an RV-type 204-214 @ 0.50 lift. For RPM screamers, there's lots of choices. Consult Cam Reserch in Colorado with your vehicle specs and intentions. They can custom grind a cam for you VERY reasonably. Great outfit!

Use ARP bolts and a properly sized carb and this engine, if built for street use will get great mileage unlike the 460's and be as powerful as you can want. If you build an RPM screamer, you'll walk away from anything GM or Dodge can offer in a similar era pushrod engine to compete with it.

The 400M, properly built, can be THE BEST mid-displacement pushrod V8 you'll ever run. It is THE engine to beat in mid-cube class Truck Pulling. Just don't bother asking anybody with a Deadbeat of America avatar. They don't know nothing from nothing.