is the 4.6 and 5.4 a small block or big block? i know that the 4.6 is only a 281ci but on the outside it is bigger then a 429ci.

 

it's the smallest modular Ford V-8 you can get

 

but is the modular V-8 a small block or a big block? if you look at the bottom of this page it is a big block. i just dont see how a 281ci is a big block.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Mo...ngine#See_also

 

It's neither. The distinction between a "small" and "big" block is not a definition cast in stone, Ford only has one V-8 block now - the "modular". You can still apply the "small" and "big" definitions to GM - the 4.8/5.3/6.0 could be called "small" and the 8.1 "big".

 

Those are chevy designations. Ford has never claimed an engine to be "small" or "big". I have a 351 cleveland in my mach I that looks like a "big" block but ford never called it that. There was also the old 292 that lookd "big". Chevy mostly only ever used 2 V8 engine types the small and the big. Ford has had allot more engines..

 

Well, people generally called the 302/351 a "small" block and a 460 a "big" block. There was a pretty big difference there.

 

I agree that the modular engine class(4.6/5.4) only has one block and that it is neither called a small or big block. However, I've always known everybody to call everything 351ci and under a small block and everything over a big block. Those figures pertain to stock bore and stroke just to clarify. Like the old 351w or 351c was the biggest of the small block class and the 390 was a big block. Just because Ford themselves never designated them as such doesn't mean the automotive world followed suite. Those 2 designations are well known in the "outside the factory" world.

 

All the Ford guys I have associated with over the years certainly had classifications of small block and big block. All the Windsor and Cleveland engines were small blocks whereas the FEs and 429-460 families were big block. There was even a transmission we called the small block C-6, one of which I still have. I agree, the current engines are in a classification all their own, Modular.

 

Well, you had the 351W which is like the 302, then the 351C by it's self and the 351M/400 also. The 390,427,428,429,460 and I guess even the 360 (baby 390) would be big blocks, in most eyes. The 351W and below would be small blocks. But that leaves the other 351's up for debate. I forgot, I guess you could use 351C heads on the small blocks, so I guess that puts it small.
The Modular engine is a large engine, but the block itself is pretty much the same, I think. Deck height is different as are heads. Bore is the same, stroke change. The V10 is the same bore and stroke as the 5.4, just 2 more cylinders.

 

The 351C and 400 were considered small block. The trannys from the Windsors are interchangeable with them. It being a small block was why it was so much fun to beat a 454 Chevy. Really hacked them that a small block Ford took them.

 

The 360 was not a baby 390 was it? Was it in the FE family? Possibly, I just don't remember it as so. I was thinking that the 360 belonged in the same family as the 429, but maybe not. The big blocks actually started way back in 1957 or 1958 with the first FEs, the 332, 352, etc. There is almost an infinite number of sizes used in Lincolns, Mercurys, some Fords and then the Ford truck engines. I think I recall a 361 and a 391, then 401 and 406 and of course, the 427.

 

The 400 used the Large displacement bell housing except in a very rare exception. Lots of 351m's used the big bell housing as well.

 

Yeah, I knew you were going to come back with that. Ford did that just to confuse the issue! I assume they did that so they could use, stronger trannys and components or maybe it was to simplify production. Who knows.

My 351 C used the same motor mounts as my 289, bolted in the same place, and used the same C4 tranny and top loader. That made it very convenient.

 

FE/FT/MEL engine ("Y" block) (Ford Edsel, Ford Truck, Mercury Edsel Lincoln)

Displacement Bore Stroke

332 4.000 in (101.6 mm) 3.300 in (83.8 mm)
352 4.002 in (101.7 mm) 3.500 in (88.9 mm)
360 4.052 in (102.8 mm) 3.500 in (88.9 mm)
361 4.047 in (102.8 mm) 3.500 in (88.9 mm)
390 4.052 in (102.9 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
391 4.052 in (102.9 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
406 4.130 in (104.9 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
410 4.054 in (103.0 mm) 3.98 in (101.1 mm)
427 4.232 in (107.5 mm) 3.784 in (96.1 mm)
428 4.132 in (105.0 mm) 3.98 in (101.1 mm

385 series:

370 (medium duty trucks only)
429
460

These were considered big blocks. The Windsors and Clevelands were considered small blocks. The 351M and 400 fell into that category.

221, 255, 260, 289, 302, 351, 400

 

Australian 302c heads will bolt onto a 400 that uses a large displacement bell housing... My point is its not clear with Ford (like it is with chevy) where big block ends and small block starts... Is obvious a 289 is small and a 460 is big then theres everything in between..