Go check my post, #11, to see what I previously said about the name, and just so you understand, I believe that's what the 'M' stands for, as it makes the most sense.
Yeah, ok. Another perpetuation of the MYTH which I suppose if YOU tell it long and often enough a lot of folks will believe it. The engines were produced at Cleveland and Michigan casting plants and modified as an engineering update to accommodate the smog and other engineering changes to improve either the production processes or meet specific design objectives.
I've heard Midland before. Never really caught on in my mind. M for me made the most sense as 'modified'. Hey, my buddy pointed out the factory in Cleveland where the Cleveland was made, last time I was in Cleveland. I thought it was pretty cool.
It's been 'Modified' since I was a kid and my Dad and his buddy's talked about them. We lived 2 miles from Dearborn, and FoMoCo HQ, so they were correct. Midland? How dumb is that?
Do you also consider "Windsor" to be dumb, as the foundry is in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, instead of, oh, say Cleveland?
Of course not. The 351M was cast in either Cleveland or Flat Rock, MI, neither start with an M, so M must be modified.
I don't consider any of the engine names dumb. As long as you have some idea of what engine you have when you are hunting parts life is good. My old ragged factory Ford shop manuals refer to those engines as 351/400 Modified, no mention of Midland. That's all I have known thru the years. It's been a while but Dan or someone posted pics showing the difference in the front of the block between the Clevelands and Modifieds. Big difference in the thermostat area makes it easy to spot what you have. Anyone remember those posts ?
Worthless argument in any respect - none of the Ford Literature I have including shop manuals, parts books, other non-Ford automotive tech manuals have ever mentioned "Midland" in reference to that engine. But who cares??? A 351M or 351M/400 is an engine family starting in 1975 and discontinued in 1979. The only place I've found that refers to it as a Midland is internet car forums - Nothing from FORD. And oddly enough, the first mention of it as I Midland that I can recall was here... go figure. Call it what you want - it was a "good" engine of it's time that was virtually orphaned due to short run of years in production and the fact that no one in the aftermarket community (aside from a very few like Keith Black) undertook making parts to realize the engine's potential (considerable). Had one in a '76 LTD - great runner for a lot of years, just wasn't economical to build it and keep it as the years passed.
IIRC that engine's genesis was Europe, Germany if I remember right. And it has it roots back in the 1960's... around the '64 to '66 timeframe.
Yah. I had a 76 F 250 series. Smog ports not in heads AND no cat Don't even remember an AIR pump, just all kinds of vacuum solenoids on the ignition No cats, no need for AIR / Thermactor. PS Modified may have just caught on. Could be Cleveland, Windsor, Michigan
I do know that the OHV's successor, SOHC, but basically the same eng. (as I understand), is made in Cologne, Germany. Not known whether that is a satellite Ford Plant, or a contractor for Ford. mo.
The bottom line is , you got sad news . A Cleaveland is a much better and desired motor than the 351/400 MODIFIED
You've got a lot of options with that engine and with a little research and effort you can make it as "good" as any Cleveland. There wasn't a strong market of interest behind that engine such as the proponents of one brand or another and the <pick you base engine and insert it here>... That written you can find the go fast parts for it, and you can find a machine shop that can and will do good work to make the engine reach it's potential. There really isn't all that much different in the base engine design of the 'M' series and Cleveland series so figure out what you want it to do and research it - you might be surprised that there are affordable and potent options to get you where you want to be. I've built both, Cleveland's and 'M' engines and have been able to get them to do what I wanted and be reliable.