While at the bone yard this week I came across a Ford engine with automatic tranny attached that had been pulled, and the car wasn't there. The engine was confusing --- even with the Fat Hack tutorial on Clevelands in the back of my mind and the other recent threads about Clevelands and Modifieds: The Ford engine has the 2V Cleveland heads (embossed 2 in upper corner of head and 8 valve cover bolts per head), and an intake with an embossed large "C" (with and "F" inside of it). The bolt spacing for the upper two belhousing bolts is about 7 inches apart, however, and the valve cover sticker indicates 400 cubic inch displacement. So is this engine just a 400 modified with Cleveland heads and intake manifold bolted on? What say you Ford experts? Confusing to say the least.
Modified valve covers bolt onto Cleveland engines...could be that someone stuck a 400 cover on a Cleveland mill somewhere along the line. (Although, I've heard UNCONFIRMED rumors that a few trucks in the very early 70s came with 400 engines that had small block bellhousing patterns, but I've never seen such an animal...and being in Dearborn (Ford Country!), you'd think we'd have seen 'em HERE if they ever really existed.) Likely, someone swapped covers somewhere!
I had a 351M in my new '77 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4 that had valve guide problems with less that 20K miles (under warr.). My buddies '78 F250 w/ a 400M also started valve train ticking with low miles. The worst part is that the Chebbys & GMCs would run away from me from a stop or on the freeway. A pretty poor piece of Ford engineering if you ask me. I bought my '79 F150 w/ a 300 six (second energy crises) and just avoided these crappy modified engines all together. The FEs were much better motors!
[ QUOTE ] the upper two belhousing bolts is about 7 inches apart [/ QUOTE ] It's a Modified w/Cleveland heads. The 335 series had valve guide problems & rod problems - at least in my experience - so a 2-bbl 351C head swap isn't out of the question. The Cleveland would have the small-block bellhousing pattern & the top two bolts would be closer to 5" apart.
Yea, that's kindof what i was thinking, Flat, Ernie, a modified with the Cleveland heads. For it to be a Cleveland, the top two bolts in the bellhousing would have to be about 5 inches apart. I think that I'll go get the tranny off it anyway for $25 bucks, 'cause I've still got that nice running 351M in the 78 Merc that will need a tranny to replace the slipping FXM or whatever it is. I would guess the wrecking yard transmission will fit it, if the engine is a modified. Anybody know a quick and easy way to distinguish the C-6 transmission from that other FXM (or whatever it's called)? I know the C-4 has a separate bellhousing so it's easy to distinguish, but I'm not sure about the other Ford automatics of that era --- how to tell them apart, that is.
FMX will have a cast iron case...weighs a TON! Any doubt, check it with a magnet! C6 and C4 trannys also came behind Modifieds (but the C4 with the Lima bellhousing is a pretty rare bird indeed!)
Most early C-6 also have strengthening ribs running down the "neck" where the bellhousing blends in with the top of the transmission. C4 should have a removeable bellhousing. FH hit the FMX - big & heavy cast-iron.
This tranny is aluminum-cased and has several long strengthening ribs running longitudinally down the neck, so I'm concluding that it's the C6. Thanks for the info, guys!
Thanks for the pic, Zeke. Pictures really are worth a thousand words. The trans I'm going to pick up at the wrecking yard is not the FMX that you have pictured. The code on my '78 Merc indicates that the one you pictured (FMX) is in it. I bought the '78 Merc cheap for the running 351M engine etc ( I was told it was a 351 Cleveland at the time I bought it, but I'm smarter now). I'll replace the FMX with the C6, and put the 351M and tranny under a ...a...a..., well, I'm not really sure which project this combination will go in. But some rod in the future.
If the sticker in the door jamb on your Marquis has an "X" under "TRANS", it's got an FMX. Hope this helps. I have a '77 Marquis, but it has a 460 and C-6.
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