DeTomaso Mailing List: March 2001, Message #36

What I meant was, the 351C was supposed to be Fords new performance engine in early'69 when the project was started by Bunkey Knudsen (recently hired by Ford-from Chevy Engineering!) Most hi-po engines of the time had 4-bolt mains and I believe the extra bolts were there 'just because.' When Knudsen was fired after 16 months, the whole project went in the dumper- Ford added hydraulic lifters etc and eventually turned it into a truck engine just to recoup costs. Usually, the outside cap bolts are there to keep tiny relative motions between cap & block ('shuffling') from wiping the bearings. In the 351C, block flex is a bigger concern than cap shuffle.  Cheers- J DeRyke