Hey: Ford 170 straight six - Any hope of power????

[Jive-Bomber]

I'm picking up a 63 Mercury Comet Convt. for the wife, as a cool little driver for her. I test drove this thing last week with the stock 170 and a 2 speed Merc-O-matic behind it; Felt like I was pulling a lead block behind me- No power at all.
First of all, its for her not me, so it doesn't need to fly, and I don't need to shove a 289 with a C4 in there- I just want a little more efficency out of that thing. Maybe 15 or 20 more horsies.

1. Would headers or dual exhaust help? Who makes headers?

2. Any 2 carb or 4bbl manifolds out there?

3. Any other advice on unleasing the massive power from this titan motor?
(thats sarcasm, by the way)

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks,

jay

[Farmer]

You can hop up the 170 inline, buy putting a 200 inline head on it(better compression, and a detachable intake manifold) the 170 intake is part of the head. Also, Offy makes a readily available 3x1 intake for the 200 and up motors, and I believe they have a 3x1 that will work for the 170 as well. I know that they are torquey motors for the size but the 200 has a better bottom end, can take much
higher rpms than the 170. I think Egge obsolete engine parts has aluminum high comp pistons for that motor and Kanter auto products has all the rebuild stuff the motor, you could bore it out and run 200 pistons in it at least, and I know that they have a mild cam for that motor available. Talk to the Ausies on this board. they have some
good heads in Aussie for that motor. Headers by Ed I believe
makes a dual exhaust setup for that motor. I know that Clifford Performance makes a header for that. I was gonna build one up. I still have a 170 sittin on a tire in my shop. may still toy with it in future. Also look up Ford Falcon restoration places online, one of the catalogs I had
had chrome valve covers, carbs and all other sorts of stuff
for that motor as well. I think they even had dual exhaust.
Good luck
John

[RileyRacing]

check out inliners.org or fordsix.com?

Info there is good.

Jay

[justinm]

i double checked the date on this post three times cause i thought i MUST have been from two years ago when you had that commet.........

farmerjohn just about covered it.
the 200 are great engines cause they have 7 main berings which makes the crank very stable and willing to go to high RPMs with major engine modifications. the 170 and its little sister the 144 have 5 mains.
the offy intake is for 3 singles, but there is machining to the head involved since the stock intake and head are one cast.
Clifford- has manifold adapters for a dual that's a bolt on. they also make a big deal about the 3 and 4 exhaust ports not being seperated in the original design and sell a nifty little piece to rectify this problem.
they got headers and all sorts of other stuff- i have a catalog so stop by and i'll lend it to you.
have i called you a wacko for buying another car yet?

wacko!

[haring]

Check out this thread:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB3&Number=235775&Forum=A ll_Forums&Words=str8&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchp age=0&Limit=25&Old=1week&Main=234825&Search=true#P ost235775

I have not yet installed my 3x1 200 (I'm still building it) but I've run the 170 for about 5 years and am reasonably happy with it. Buy the Falcon Performance book and it will help you tune the engine in stages.

Falcon Performance Handbook (http://falconperformance.sundog.net/default.asp)

[haring]

To add to the thread, before you start concentrating on hopping up the engine, check all the routine things first. There might be a lot of little simple things adding up to a loss of power.

Check the throttle linkage and make sure you are open all the way when the pedal is pressed. Sounds dumb, but I had a kink in my linkage that meant that I was only opening the throttle plate halfway when the pedal was to the floor. I thought the engine was a dog. I fixed that problem and can now comfortably cruise at 65 with no problems.

Adjust the carb and timing, check all the hoses, replace all the wearable electrical stuff and go from there.

Having said that, the 2-sp auto transmission is a real piece of junk when it comes to acceleration. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif You'll never get a rocket out of that one, but it's OK for putting around.

[kustumizer]

Im putting the 3x1 intake with a header. The only way if you want major power is to put a v8 or something in it. I like the 6 cyl. everybody else has the v8s and i like being different!! Nate

[BARNETT]

Eventually I would like to hop up my 170 that is in the Freak-conoline. For now, though,, it's astrong little motor...pulls my Supervan down the highway pretty nice (70-80 mph easily!), so itshould move a Comet just fine! I would suggest the same thing as Haring and add that a good tune up might be needed. Maybe it's just fouled plugs and bad points, dirty fuel filter, etc.

[Julio]

the best power is reliability...I have one in my 63 comet daily driver

[rustynewyorker]

Okay, but why would someone bump a post from 2003, other than to prove it can be done?

And for a nearly meaningless one liner at that.