internals on 71 351 m

[old henry ford]

i just purchased a 71 Mach 1 with a 351m 4V with a C6 for $5,000 lastweek and i'm trying to find out if the crank,rods and pistons came forged or cast and what type of pistons { popups } or flat tops ? any info would be greatly appreciated thanks

[red351]

Are you sure it's a 351M. Never heard of a M being a true 4V?

[old henry ford]

Are you sure it's a 351M. Never heard of a M being a true 4V?

no just going on the vin #

[old henry ford]

i thought the 2V motors were 2bl or 2 bolt mains and 4v were 4bl motors with 4 bolt mains, what exactly is the difference between the to ?

[tony-muscle]

I think he means an M code which has the 351-4V. The 4V or 2V refers to the heads.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[secluff]

Nice find! Looks to be in  pretty solid shape and well equipped with the right options. The Mach 1 Deluxe Interior, fold down rear seat, instrumentation group, AC, C6, Ram Air and M code 351 4bl are all desirable item's to have on a Mach 1 like you have acquired.
The pistons are cast flat top with valve reliefs like used in all 351C engines (Except Boss 351)  across the Ford product line. The crank is cast iron but was a pretty durable unit since Bob Glidden had been known to turn his Pro Stock cast crank to 10,000 RPM! Rods used were the same ones used in all non Boss standard 351's across Ford's product line. The Boss rods were shot-peened and magnafluxed and very expensive.
I own two M code 71 Mach 1's and I can promise you they have been ridden hard and put up wet. Very tough engines!
A lot of knowledge and experience on this forum and all willing to share and help in any way you need.Just let us know what you need!

[old henry ford]

thank you sir and yes that's what i meant an M engine code and do know what the rotating assembly was forged or cast for that motor and what type of pistons they were, thanks

[nailpounder]

very nice find

[old henry ford]

very nice find

thank you for the info and the car was restored 25 years ago then the owner died and car was sold where the last 4 years it sat in a field next to the woods and fortunately underneath the car is very solid as well as the rest of the car, the guy went with the 71 Boss theme which used to be called clones and nowadays their called recreations but i called them for what they are { FAKE ] but i want to continue with his theme. while the car sat outside the carb, ramair filter, radiator,condenser and wheels were stolen so i have found an original 71 ramair filter and purchased an Autolite 4300D carb for it and searching for the rest. since the radiator is out of the car i want to pull the motor and paint the engine bay back to black and clean and paint the motor after i install a solid lift cam and period correct aluminum intake and possibly find a correct rev limiter to make as close to the real Boss 351 as possible. just joined this forum 2 nights ago and it has already been worth it on info and parts searches. thanks to everyone who has replied, GREATLY APPRECIATED

[Stanglover]

Hi and welcome to "our" Forum.
What a find!! lots of potential and as Steve said, it's got all the right stuff (I wish MY M code had). I may get into that later, but for now and without going too far in details, make a list of everything you'd like to do, when you want to do it and how much it will cost. Clearly you have some good basic knowledge, but do you really want to make it into a Boss clone, recreation or fake, what ever it's called now? It may be worth more as an M code through and through, but if that's what YOU want, go for it, but it won't be cheap. I think others will agree, finding some of those BOSS type parts may be hard especially if you want it looking authentic.
I'm no expert and don't pretend to be. People like Steve have far more knowledge and experience and others will chime in in due course I'm sure. We all manage to add something from our own experiences that will be most helpful to you going forward.
Anyway that's my input for now. What I can offer is some of my engine bay detailing experience. I do NOT go for a concours restoration, waste of money imo, but I do like it to "look" right to the casual observer.
Geoff.