The search for a V8 - need help

  • Thread starter Thread starter ghsnu
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Can't do on the engine, asked my dad and he says we can't afford rebuilding another engine. So, it's pretty much a complete engine or bust.

He also found a 351W - complete and all - out in Texas for a good $350. BUT, he won't bother driving down there and the guy won't ship it ether. And I can tell he wants that engine too :banghead:.
 
Cano
This. Altough, Slashfan, I think you better go and read the add again. The thing does not have GT40 heads, it says "put on GT40 heads and you will have a beast".

Altough indeed, our not-quite Mustang friend Slash is right in that the 74 block is a very good starting point for a cool street engine due to it's taller deck.

And his calculations of about 350 horses with stuff you can find used on e-bay for cheap sounds about right. You can have a a pretty fun engine for about peanuts because you can run used stuff, since you're not running Pro Stock or anything like that. For a few stoms in the throttle now and then, this is a very good starting point, and it's a great price for an already cleaned out engine that you can be asured ran before it was pulled from the donor. I'd get it.
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'74 had the lowered deck height increasing compression. It wasn't until 1975 that deck height was increased. 9.4" to 9.5".
 
This paired with smog heads and bumps, pumps etc dropped power to 175rwhp. 1969-74 hp at the crank was about 300. Increased deck height and large combustion chambers dropped compression from anywhere 9.5:1 to 11.5: to a measley 8:1 which is about 135-140 psi per cylinder. Hardend valve seats were introduced to run on unleaded fuel as well. After 1975, ALL 302/5.0 and 351W heads are the same excluding the mid '80s high output engines.
 
I'll say it again, the car runs now, doesn't it? Go drive it with the L6, start saving money, and some more, get a good engine, or buy parts to rebuild one, who cares if it takes a years to save the money and to get the parts? You already have the car, start enjoying it, the V8 will come, just be patient. I always told myself that my first car would be a American car with a V8, well guess what? That didn't happen. It took me 11 years and multiple German and Japanese cars before I got what I wanted.

Just be patient.
 
Dennisch
Just be patient.
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This.

Get all the kinks out of the car first, enjoy it, then save up to get upgrades.

You've got plenty of time to enjoy some insane V8. Save up money and then build something that's of true quality. Buy once, cry once, be happy.
 
As both last posts said, you could very well tajke the patience aproach and sort out all the glitches in the car, whatever interior pieces might be missing and such stuff, before you drop in another engine.
 
Good luck searching for an engine for that Mustang. As for Me I'm weighing my options upgrading my front suspension on my 70 Mach 1.
 
You could be cool and get a JDM motor like a 1UZ-FE. You'll piss a lot of people off, but it'll be funny. :p
 
Slashfan
You can get 300hp from a 6 with ease. Head, header, intake, carb and cam will put you in that range easy. Or you can put intake and headers + carb and turbo it.
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Which 6-cylinder are you referring to? I could see that happening with the Ford 300, but the 200/250 inlines have the intake manifold siamesed to the head - you'll need a brand-new head if you're going to do a different intake setup on that engine. A new high-performance aluminum head runs $1,350-$1,965, that's well over the cost of a remanufactured small block Ford.

Inline sixes are great engines in my humble opinion, but the cost involved in making a 200 c.i.d. inline-6 produce the kind of power you're talking about is nearly stratospheric. Trust me, my dad tried to turn the inline-6 under the hood of his '71 Maverick into a hi-po engine and the cost quickly became prohibitive.
 
I was refering to the 300. 200/250 can do it too but with much more work. Hell 300s will hold 500 horse if you let em.


And not really, a crate costs 3k or more, heads alone for a SBF can cost $800+. They are great engines, bullet proof and last forever if you treat them right. Like I said, it might not come cheap but it can be done. 300's can be built cheaply though, I've done it and so have other friends of mine that race regularly.

Either way I'd take out the 6 and sell it and swap in a V8. Most old Ford engines are great.

Don't forget, his is rebuilt so I'm not sure if he had anything hi-po installed on it. I'd have to look at it but from the pics he posted it looks like the builder cleaned up stock parts and replaced what was needed and bolted it all back on after boring the block out.
 
Personally I think its retarded. I'd slap you lol.


Old SBF's are some the most reliable and tough engines ever build. I'm not saying that because I like Ford, I'm saying it because its been tested and proved to be true since 1960.
 
Slashfan
I was refering to the 300. 200/250 can do it too but with much more work. Hell 300s will hold 500 horse if you let em.


And not really, a crate costs 3k or more, heads alone for a SBF can cost $800+. They are great engines, bullet proof and last forever if you treat them right. Like I said, it might not come cheap but it can be done. 300's can be built cheaply though, I've done it and so have other friends of mine that race regularly.

Either way I'd take out the 6 and sell it and swap in a V8. Most old Ford engines are great.

Don't forget, his is rebuilt so I'm not sure if he had anything hi-po installed on it. I'd have to look at it but from the pics he posted it looks like the builder cleaned up stock parts and replaced what was needed and bolted it all back on after boring the block out.
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I agree, a 300 would be a VERY stout engine, they're bulletproof as it is so making good power reliably would not be an issue.

As for the 200/250 inlines, the cost to build one to make 300-ish hp is stratospheric compared to a small block Ford, and I'm not referring simply to a crate engine. I'm talking just modifying the existing 200 to get to 300 hp: http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/1971-maverick-200c-3-speed-214547.html.

How hard or expensive is it to take a small block Ford from another Mustang, or a Maverick, or any other '70s era Ford and get it to 300 hp?

You are right, they're both expensive, but I'm looking at things from a $$$/horsepower perspective, and we both agree that the small block Ford is the cheaper alternative to pouring money into that 200 inline-6.
 
You could make an easy 500hp with a long rod old school build out of a 351W for less than it would cost to build a 250. Most SBF's are rated right around 300hp stock anyways, some produced much more, some produced less. It really depended on what the owner ordered coming from the factory back then.

Like I posted before, that build I posted will make mega power out of stock parts and not many people know about this. My dad likes to keep things looking stock while pumping out massive power (of course the 780hp build is a different story).

Then again mine is an automatic so by the time it works its way through the C6 and into the 4 wheels power will power dropped at good 20%. Sosince mine is rated at 540 at the crank, its about 432 by the time it hits the ground. Not too bad. Substantial loss, yes. Still lots of power, yes.


A 200 has about 88-100hp stock. I'd imagine it wouldn't take more than a head alone. And like I said before, a pair or GOOD heads for a SBF can cost $800 or more. In the end though it would still be cheaper to rip the 200 out and stick a SBF in it.
 
Slashfan
Personally I think its retarded. I'd slap you lol.

Old SBF's are some the most reliable and tough engines ever build. I'm not saying that because I like Ford, I'm saying it because its been tested and proved to be true since 1960.
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Sorry you feel that way. :lol:

You couldn't lay a finger on me.
 

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