351 Cleveland swap into 1992 Ranger.

[np205]

Best thing to do to the 400 is swap on the 351C heads, use stock pistons and get way better compression. My Grandpa's old 77' crew cab had a 400 with 351C 4 Barrel heads and a cam. It would run circle's around just about anything.

 

[baddad457]

Best thing to do to the 400 is swap on the 351C heads, use stock pistons and get way better compression. My Grandpa's old 77' crew cab had a 400 with 351C 4 Barrel heads and a cam. It would run circle's around just about anything.

The only Cleveland heads that'll get you better compression are the early 4 bbl quench heads or the Aussie 2 bbl heads. But that still leaves the piston .100" down the hole at TDC. That negates the quench head's detonation resistance as the pistons are too far away from the heads to get any kind of squish.

 

[Mutant Pony]

Best thing to do to the 400 is swap on the 351C heads, use stock pistons and get way better compression. My Grandpa's old 77' crew cab had a 400 with 351C 4 Barrel heads and a cam. It would run circle's around just about anything.

That is the CJ/boss heads only. They are not easy to find. If you do find them, they are over abused/junk/overpriced parts. All other 4bbl heads were open chamber/massive port, crap heads.
The 302c aussie heads are small chamber/small port and valve. The small intake valves are still bigger than the biggest stock SBC valve. Really good upgrade to stock.

 

[MikeInIdaho]

My dad built a late-seventies (forgot the exact year) 2wd f-100 with a worked 400, four speed and 9 inch that he used as his DD and tow rig for a 30+ ft boat back in the early nineties. That thing used to scare the piss out of me as a kid and would utterly destroy moms' 64 1/2 289 hi-po mustang, along with just about anything else off the line. He sold it to a farmer back in 97' and I still see it driving around Paul, Idaho to this day. One day I ran into the current owner in a parking lot, the truck has over 300,000 miles on it now and still runs like a top

 

[mikepotts]

The only Cleveland heads that'll get you better compression are the early 4 bbl quench heads or the Aussie 2 bbl heads. But that still leaves the piston .100" down the hole at TDC. That negates the quench head's detonation resistance as the pistons are too far away from the heads to get any kind of squish.

we are in the process of building a 400 motor for our '79 rockwell'd f-150, we are using a roller cam and aussie heads, as for the piston "in the hole" issue, it can be easily overcome by decking the block.

 

[baddad457]

we are in the process of building a 400 motor for our '79 rockwell'd f-150, we are using a roller cam and aussie heads, as for the piston "in the hole" issue, it can be easily overcome by decking the block.

Good luck milling .100" off the deck. Let us know how that turns out.