My brother just got a really nice 1979 F250 2x4 The truck is in great shape but for the fact the engine is toast.
It has the matching numbers 400 CID and an auto transmission. We know nothing about the Ford 400, is it a good engine?
Or should he be looking to replace it with something else?

Thanks

 

Welcome to FTZ! In 79 Ford had about every conceivable emission control. The 351M/400 were slugs off the line, stepping on he gas. The primary reason was the centrifugal advance in the distribuitor did NOT start advancing until about 2000RPM. Any decent performing engine, the advance would be all the way out and done by 2000 R's. The Fprd Dura Spark II system is excellent, just needs the advance modified for better/best performance to wake it up. Not talking about going racing, just to make it more responsive and nicer to drive. You should find much online of tweaks you can do without putting an aftermarket distribuitor in it. It is way old and past emission testing most anywhere. Cap

Just curious, why is the engine toast???

 

I have a 79 400.

They are known as the boat anchor engine, from the detuning from emmisions.

Mine has over 300k miles and is on an overbore.

Most people put a 600 ish carb, cams, intake, and header on them to wake them up a little.

More aftermarket performance parts for a 460.

The 400s are basically a stroked 351m

400s don't get good gas mileage. Pretty much the same as the 460s I've had.

They will put out fine horsepower.

They are reliable

I would just fix what you've got and run it unless you are racing it, it's easier to run what you brung

I have a weiand 8010 intake and 650 holley truck avenger on mine. I haven't done the headers yet but will be putting small diameter long pipes on it.

Good luck

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/rGHMKvR6X1M?feature=share

 

Good info on these engines:https://www.projectbronco.com/Technical_Articles/Dispelling_the_rumors.htm

 

Ok, So I got signed in here. Thank you for asking about this.

 

Good morning. I'm the brother that just purchased this truck from another brother of ours. He tells me it was going thru more oil than gas, and not leaking it but burning it. Then one day it started to run real rough, and as if someone had turn the key, it quit. From that moment it would turn over with zero resistance, leading one to believe the timing chain broke.

 

You Wrote "Good morning. I'm the brother that just purchased this truck from another brother of ours. He tells me it was going thru more oil than gas, and not leaking it but burning it. Then one day it started to run real rough, and as if someone had turn the key, it quit. From that moment it would turn over with zero resistance, leading one to believe the timing chain broke."

OK on T chain possibility, did you remove distributor cap, rotate engine to see if dizzy (distributor) turns ?? If No, something happened to timing chain or gears, or very rarely cam broke. You should look/see what happened.

On uses more oil than gas. The valve stems have seals on them. In times past Ford had valve seal problems, they would harden, crack, fall apart and oil would be ingested thru the valve stems and quite a bit. You may be able to look thru valve springs to see if all there. You can replace without removing the cylinder head's. What's the Mileage on the truck??

On Me, I'm about Why?? Can I fix it rather than replace it?? Cap

 

The mileage is 124k. He did pull the motor and transmission with the intent of replacing it, but lost interest.

 

Guess your one of 2-3 or however many brothers, LOL. Don't need to figure that out. So is the present owner the one who pulled the engine and lost interest?? Cutting to the chase, a couple hrs work dis-assembling this engine to see if it's toast or not. Not knowing who has what capabilities or tools to work with, if whoever wants to look inside and cares to do it, myself and others would walk you thru it. The 124K doesn't scare me. Just removing valve cover's shows clean metal and no sludge, I'd look farther into it. If bad, you can still junk it. If the truck is as nice as you say it is, maybe the P O took pretty good care of it mechanically too.

 

Actually I'm 1 of 5. Just a couple of us prefer the old over the new!
So the previous owner bought it from the original owner 20 years ago. When the engine quit, it sat for a couple years and then he had the engine/transmission pulled. That's where he lost interest. I do have the ability to tear down and the tools. Time is what I lack the most, and yes I will need some walking thru it.
I will message you when I get to the point where I have looked at least under valve covers. Thank you for your response

 

Got it.