What transmission in 79 F350 (auto)

(VIN info from this URL (for older fords):

I should have mentioned that the door plate vin (F10YNB28151) is from a 1976 F100 so clearly the door was replaced somewhere in the life of this F350 Flatbed.

I'm not really sure where the owner and earlier registrars are getting the vin used in the paper work.

Running my vin (F37HNFA0340) according what is on the registration, comes back a 351 but doesn't really say which. I can see its not the

351W (Windsor) and I believe it is 351 M. [...]

Harry wrote:

^feel [ed -hp]

So it would seem then that the 429 CJ would be the more desireable replacement? Or does it require more retro fitting? Further. My vin indicates my engine is a 351 and I can see it is not the 351W (windsor), so from this thread, I'm guessing either the 351 M or the

400 would be about the same task to switch for a 429 or 460.

Mine is 2 wd but it appears almost certain to be a problem here as I can see the current engine and oil pan barely fit over the frames cross member now.

It should be possible (hopefully) to redo the pan if needed.

I've been a skilled tradesman and expert welder most of my life before I retired (But not much of a mechanic) and once exchanged a 351 `windsor' in a 1976 F250 van I had for a 351C from an earlier Cougar. One had a front sump and one had mid sump as I recall, so the

351C would not clear the cross member of the frame.

With both engines out of the vehicles: I cut about 1/2 of the pan (horizontally) away with a high speed grinder and cutoff blade on both pans, leaving enough extra material to lap the seam a bit.

I Left the 351C upper half bolted to the engine so it couldn't distort too much then by hook or by crook, like making short vertical splits where the pans differed in shape, and adding small pieces of extra sheet metal where the miss match was serious enough, I was able to weld up an oil tight new pan that fit from the two old ones spot.

My main fear was that I would heat up the engine bearings too much and cause early failure, so I would weld an inch or so then turn the engine a while. Also allowing any fires inside from oil residue to burn out for lack of oxygen before continuing.

That engine ran good for at least the next 2 yrs that I had it, and was still cranking when I sold the vehicle.

[...]

If I can tap into that wealth of experience a bit more:

First let me explain briefly what I'm doing so any comments you may have can be aimed better:

I'm Building up an old 79 F350 flat bed to move stuff with a medium duty (14,000 lb capacity) 16 ft. open fifth wheel utility trailer with dual elect brakes, both directions from Chicago to Savannah GA.

The heaviest stuff would run about 8,000 lbs not counting the trailer so maybe 11,000 + counting the trailer. (Don't know the exact trailer weight)

The old truck seems to run pretty good for its age without any work being done but seemed a bit under powered for the task. I've made one trip from GA to Chi with a different (lighter and not fifth wheel) util trailer and fairly light load, probably something like 4000 lbs counting the trailer and load.

The truck handled that load ok but seemed to be fairly weak with only the light load. I have yet to pull the fifth wheel trailer with a load.

But getting now to dipping into your experience....

Do you think changing out the engine for a 429CJ or 460 would make significant difference in how it pulls the load?

On slightly different aspect of this goal:

The current 351 engine (In a 1979 F350 Flatbed) while it seems basically sound and has a decent compression reading all around... (not differing by more than 10 lbs).

Does seem to have a heating problem.

I've replaced the radiator with a new (not rebuilt) one and a rebuilt water pump. But still see what seems higher temperatures than the work or really lack of it, would dictate.

I installed a 160 Degree Thermostat but with any climbing or pulling it goes to 190 or so in cool weather. I haven't had a chance to test it on a hot day yet. I'm in Gary IN and we haven't had warm weather since I got the truck.

After all the new cooling related stuff I began to think maybe the temperature gauge itself was out of calibration, so I installed an after market gauge to compare. I used the non-electric type and see it reads the same as the stock one.

Another odd thing is that it doesn't start to smell like a hot engine and on examining under the hood, does not appear to be on the verge of overheating, and does not `run on' when turned off..

I would have thought that with the new radiator and water pump the thing would run cool as a cucumber, staying right at the thermostat rating or cooler.

I know a lean mixture or too advance of spark can cause some heating but the old thing runs too good to be running overly lean or timed to early. (No hint of pinging)

Should I be seeing temperatures as high as 190-200 without really doing work with the old truck?

I know a water jacket blockage could cause serious trouble but is it at all likely to be going on? I can't recall having ever run into a water jacket related heating problem.

But then, I am not a mechanic or at least not a `real' mechanic. Strictly `Shade Tree' in my case.

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:15:07 -0400, C. E. White rearranged some electrons to say:

That agrees with my reference. 351M/351W/400 had the same bearing sizes. But the cranks are different. The 351M/400 block is similar to the 351C block, but it's taller and the main bearing journals are larger. The cam, heads, and pistons are interchangeable between a 351C and a 400.

The 351C/400 block is a different design than the small block 351W.

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:32:20 -0500, reader rearranged some electrons to say:

Do you have a fan shroud on the radiator?

Yes. What appears to be a stock shroud is in place.

Repalce the fan clutch with a good quality heavy duty model. Do not use a flex fan. Fan should have at least 5 blades.

Whitelightning

Is this really likely to be the problem in a non heavy use environment.

I would have thought it would cool fine with stock equipment... no?

What I'm saying is this truck appears to heat up even when not being used hard or in hot weather.

Even the heaviest duty clutch will not be as stiff as the stock equipment which is hard bolted to the belt pulley with an aluminum spacer to position the blade near the radiator.

This is a 1979 remember.