Big Block or Small Block

[secluff]

It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. 351c engines are like that...a lot of fight in those.

Don nailed it. Tried to tell all those non believers for years that the 351C was just that good of an engine. Before I changed the first thing on my Mach 1, I was outrunning cars with much larger engines. A lot of fight in those engines and a lot of people left with big bite marks after tangling with one. Would really liked to have seen just how far Ford could of pushed the performance of these engines before screaming insurance companies and ever tightening emission regulations killed them off.

 

[goodnigh]

My mechanic first heard about the Cleveland (I am only using a capital C out of respect) when he was

a freshman in high school, the next year was working on them. They were known as big blocks.

mike

 

[will e]

Small Block. Try bolting up an FE c6 transmission to it and see how far ya get.

 

[mach71351c]

Funny just last week a coworker was telling me about his moms 66 coupe that his dad put a big block Cleveland in.

 

[basstrix]

Small Block. Try bolting up an FE c6 transmission to it and see how far ya get.

Ding ding ding! Winner winner chicken dinner! 351C, 351M and 400 are all 335 series small blocks.

Now, to throw a wrench into it all, the 351M and 400 are also considered small blocks, but they have the same bolt pattern as a "big block" FE and/or 385 series.

 

[Totalled]

FE has it's own unique bell pattern.

 

[basstrix]

I stand corrected! I've always understood the FE and 385's to have the same spatial pattern but different shape...I think I got it from one of my old how to build a ford books...at any rate, a very quick google shows you to be correct. My apologies for propagating inaccurate info.

 

[midlife]

OK...let's settle this once and for all. The 351C is a big block when compared to any of the inliner six cylinders. The 351C is a small block when compared to this:

 

[Mustangfeverrr]

I've heard it called a midblock.

That's what we used to call it in the '70s, too. But I think that was just because of all the other hoo-ha about some Bow-Tie-ers considering it a big block, and the fact that it wasn't the same block as the 289s and 302s that we were much more familiar with. But make no mistake, it is definitely considered a small block.