Most power out of 1978 ford bronco?
How can I get the most power out of a 78 bronco. It has the 351m motor with 3 inch straight pipes and fuel injection conversion Would it be worth putting a supercharger on it? I heard you can put the 460 crank and pistons in it to make the 351m a 460 but I don't want to rebuild the motor again. What are your Guy's thoughts on it?
I dunna no.
The 351m/400m weren't Ford's best effort. The idea was to get big block power and small block fuel economy. The reality ended being small block power and big block fuel economy. The heads are terrible, and blocks had a tendency to crack. They are basically boat anchors
"I heard you can put the 460 crank and pistons in it to make the 351m a 460 "
That's a myth, the engines are from different families. What you can do is use a 400M crank to stroke out the 351M which would make it a 400M.
"What are your Guy's thoughts on it? "
If you're trying an build up an engine, the 351M/400M aren't the best candidates, Compared to a Windsor, your aftermarket options are limited, and often pricey for what you get. If it were me, I'd leave well enough alone. If you want more power, go find a 351W and start over again, there's a lot more potential there.
The 351m can be upgraded with some basic mods which boil down to improving compression ratio by milling or swapping in better heads… Or swapping pistons…, upgrading the cam/timing chain and perhaps installing a 400m crank/piston setup… Rods are the same on both motors. Have to install a 400m crank harmonic balancer as well. You can't swap a 460 crank as they differ/are not compatible. Upgrade the carb/intake and exhaust as well if needed. Or swap axle gears if possible to have better off line or low rpm acceleration.
Installing a supercharger may work as well if available but adds more complexity in cutting the hood, linkage and drive pulley issues, etc. Or a common and fairly low cost or easier route is adding a 75-100 hp nitrous system for times when you want more power at WOT… Just make sure to upgrade the fuel system capacity/flow as well and/or adjust injector pulses if needed. Nitrous systems add more oxygen to the fuel-air mix which requires an equal increase in fuel being supplied or you can run too lean and melt pistons or do other damage. A stock engine can usually handle up to a 100 hp system but no higher without modding or beefing up crank, rods, etc…
A good article/writeup on related 351m mods…
http://www.projectbronco.com/Technical_Articles/351m400_performance_build_up.htm
Improve the air intake with bigger filters, put in hotter spark plugs, retime it for premium fuel and use synthetic low viscosity oil. Change the rear gear ratio for more power. Other than that, you would be spending too much money for too little gain.
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