Hot Rods The best engine you have ever had- looking back

I'm a Ford guy so not sure why I should find myself telling this story but, I was on the hunt for a Fairlane. Kept coming up empty when an OT '69 Dart GT pops up. I thought, Hmm, I can do a Dodge. 273 ci. under the hood with an automatic console shift. Motor gave it up 4 months later with the low rpm knock. Damn, it had been sitting and I just drove it without doing much in the way of investigating. I tripped on a 273 solid lifter motor out of Barracuda S, did a generic build with a cam and Edelbrock 4bbl and dual Flowmasters. That thing ripped.

 

I have had the merc flathead in my little green t for going on 18 years. I have probably put 35000 miles on it. The best part is that i pulled it out of a 1952 ford dump truck that was sitting in a field. I washed it off, put my dual carb intake on it and stuck it in my little car. It is finally in need of a rebuild, but to me this was the best motor ever!

 

Mine wasn't quite the best but it was the fastest by far a 429 cobra jet in a69 mustang and no it wasn't a 428 that car was scary fast. My best would have to be a 352 FE two barrel ran the piss out of that engine and it wanted more.

 

I rescued the '51 Merc in my car from sitting upside down in a mud puddle after some local yokels removed it from a very nice '51 Merc Fordor. I cleaned it up and stored it under the stairs at my shop. After 20 years, I pulled it out and mounted it on my engine stand. When I tried to turn it, it turned easily, so I pulled the plugs and took a compression test. It was over 100 lbs on all eight. I thought, "What the hell" and changed the oil and plugs and put a good carburetor on it. It started right up and ran great with good oil pressure. I added a set of finned heads, a Rochester 2G, as well as a Mallory dual point and installed in my '51 Ford club coupe.

That was 6 years ago, and it hasn't missed a beat since. I'm just lucky, I guess.

 

I've had a few down here, GMH red '6', a scaled down Chevy '6' with triple side draft SU carbs. However I'm happy with my stock 5lt SBC and eventually looking forward to the 383SBC in the 46 Olds.
I loved the torque of the 390FE in my OT '66 Fairlane and now have a 427FE (8v) in the 64 that scares me. The 64 loves a drink!
28mpg from the SBC, 14mpg from the 390 and 7mpg from the 427. I see a pattern here

 

4.3 in my parts chaser.
1/4 million miles and still dead reliable.
Heads have never been off.....change oil every 7500 miles when I remember.
6sally6

 

I've owned three 4.3 V6s, all in 5 speed S10s. My current one only has 183,000 miles on it; the other two were run up to 293,000 and 313,000. The last one was still running strong, but too many NY winters did the rest of the truck in.

 

I had a 375-396 in a '33 Tudor; it was fun. I had a 2bbl 307 small block in another '33 Tudor; it was fun too; but the 396 was a lot neater; but I sorta wish I had kept the 425-409 that was in the first '33 when I bought it, probably would have been interesting too. Now I just have a mundane 350 in my coupe and an old 327 in my '47.

 

I had a 536 ci blown caddy in my 34 chevy coupe,it was loud,obnoxious, overheated ,ate gas like there was no tomorrow but I loved that monster!! Also had a 64 Impala with a 327/300, added a 350 hp cam and that was it,it ran like a raped ape..my 2 favorite engines..

 

16 year old sons 400 Pontiac with high miles. Street car then weekend drag racer with 125 shot of nitrous. Beat the hell out of it. Finally pulled engine & trans & junked car. Took engine apart for rebuild, found like brand new, bearings & rings. Could not believe it. Did little porting, valve job, reassemble & sold. Great engine

 

427 in a chevy ll in 1965....paid 175$ helped the guy at the junkyard pull it out....

 

My stroked Caddy with 12:1 pistons , Crane Hi Rpm Drag Cam , ported and polished heads , 3 duces , Jacob's ignition . Built it in 1965 and it still running strong in my 37 Ford .

 

302 Ford. The only beater car my older brother ever bought. He passed it onto my sister who passed it onto me. The throttle plate would freeze in the winter so I would be driving down the street way too fast. I would hop out of the car and beat on the linkage with my snow brush. When I finally got another car, my next door neighbor bought it because he was really impressed with how good it ran.

 

Some real diversity here. Funny how the focal
point is based on your days as a kid. Mine as well.

 

400-block, 0.030" over, bearing spacers, 350-crank, 377-cid, massaged 292 casting heads, 114º LSA cam, with over 300º duration, cross-ram with 2x 390's.

Clutch-of-the-Month Club membership.

 

289 4bbl,4 spd in a 65 mustang conv,a winney little bitch

 

In an on-topic car: 383 B block Mopar. In an off-topic car: 2.3l Ford Duratec I4.

 

250 and a 318. Never failed, never asked for anything except gas.

 

Best? The 350 that came out of a 78 Chevy van that had 300,000 miles on it with only a timing chain replacement. dropped it in my 52 Buick and it’s still around down the street parked in front of a restaurant.

 

I built a stroker 400 SBC when I was a teen, inspired by an article in Hot Rod in 1983. I had this thing (like many) for early Hemis and the 417 Donovan's displacement inspired me to try what I did. Offset ground stock 400 crank to fit small journal rods for a 0.010 gain in stroke, 0.030 overbore to 4.155 produced a 417.6. I redid the rods myself, followed the Hot rod article for minor head work and cam choice (don't recall what it was now) and dropped it in my off-topic G body daily. It sounded great and seemed to pull hard - of course, back then dynoing was not a thing available to the masses so the seat-of-the-pants estimate for power was in the high 400's...

 

The 1970 Ford 302 I have is the second engine that is one of the best I had,its not the most powerfull but runs so good and much better then any of the newer 302s I had over the years.

 

I won’t post a pic because it’s in my OT Hot Rod. I hope I’m not jinxing myself, it’s a strong running 440 that’s been reliably powering the GTX since 2000 with little more than oil changes and an occasional tune up. I’ve never worked on it because I had to…

 

My favorite is the current 427 big block Chevy in my 64 Camino. I've had the car 32 years, beat on it, raced it, had more powerful engines, but wanted a driver that was reliable and ran good, following the idea of a 390 horse 427. This thing runs so good I want to share it with everybody, let them experience driving it. I took a 4 bolt CE block dated 1970, put a 427 steel crank in it, good rods, forged pistons, had it all balanced. Heads are a set of 990's I had ready to go. Shoulda used ovals, but I had these and didn't have the money to build a set of ovals right. For a cam I went hydraulic roller, and to get the specs I wanted I actually found one designed for a boat. I put a low rise early GM intake on it to clear my hood. I had planned on a Q-jet, but couldn't find an intake that would fit both the rectangle port heads with a Q-jet flange and I didn't have room for an adapter. I threw on a Holley 650 double pumper I had dialed in for something else, dang thing runs so good I haven't touched anything but idle speed screw.

It'll pull a 12 second 1/4 mile on stickys, but more important it has great manners on the street and never lacks for power and gets decent mileage as well.

Devin

 

Lunched a 427 Ford in my 63 Galaxie way back when. I was working at a Ford dealer back then and a buddy (who also worked there) had a 68 Torino 390Gt that was about to go out of warranty coverage. Wrote it up for engine problems and I replaced the short block in it. Held on to the old short block till all the paperwork cleared then went to work. Took all the good stuff off the 427 (pro built heads, 2x4 intake, clutch etc.). Ordered a C3AZ-C hydraulic cam for it and put it together. Beat it up pretty good but that car would run consistent 12.90s. Other guys in my class complained that I was running a 427. Since it didn't have crossbolts they made me run it as a 428. They stuck me in E/HR but it didn't matter. I was able to handle what few cars were in that class.

 

My 340 in my 68 Dart GTS!

 

COMPLETLY off topic engine, but the 3.8 Ford V6 in my 1982 Ford Granada wagon, my daily driver- has 200,000 miles on it. I have replaced the heads once, never have had the pan off of it, has dual exhausts, and just runs nicely.

 

My best engine is the one in my 55. It was originally built in about 1968. The short block started out as a Power Pack 283 in a 1960 Chevy. In 1968 it was bored .080 with Jahns 12:1 pistons, 300 Hp 327 cam and intake.

The heads were Camel Humps off the same 300 Hp. 327 as the cam and intake. However, Chevrolet accidently installed 2.02 heads on that 300 Hp. 327. The carb was a Carter AVS. By the way, the Cal Custom valve covers, and air cleaner, along with the Eelco wing bolts were installed in 1968, too.

My older brother Bob bought the engine in about 1970. He added a 375 Hp. 327 cam, Edelbrock Tarantula intake and a 780 vac. secondary Holley.

When I bought my 55 Chevy from my brother, the 283 went with it, but I had to install it. I've gone through it a couple of times since then. It's now bored .120 over with 11:1 TRW pistons. The rest of the engine is still the same as in 1977, when I bought my 55. Same cam, carb. heads and intake. The rods are still the 1960 283 rods, although rebuilt with new rod bolts. A Mallory Unilite replaced the points distributor, and it has Hooker Super Comp. headers.

The first two photos are from 1984, after my first time at the drag strip, (1/8th mile). The second two are current.

 

Ok , I'll jump in... I've had too many Chevy V8s of all size's to even count at nearly 60 yrs old... My first car which I still own is a 57 Chevy 150 that came with a 235. My first sbc came in a 71 Chevelle that I bought for $150 . It was a 307 with a turbo 350 I bought it when I was a junior in High School. First thing I did was rip off the 2 bbl and put a factory quadrajet intake on it with one of those funky Holley spreadbore carbs on it. Next was a set of used Blackjack headers and a couple of turbo mufflers. At that point I really thought it hauled ass so the next best thing was to yank out the slipping T350 and install a Muncie out of a wrecked 69 chevelle , pedals and all. About the same time I found a used Mr Gasket Verti gate shifter so that went in too. I learned a shitload playing with that little 307. By now I was a senior in High School and someone donated a 350 4 bolt to the auto shop which I rebuilt with a 350 hp cam and a set of 2.02 heads . I bought a used Z28 intake for $50 and put a 600cfm Holley on it. Soooo ... when the day came to swap out the engine I parked it across the street from my parents house and fired it up and placed a brick on the gas pedal.... I took a seat on the brick wall in front of my folks house and let it scream. About five minutes in my nieghbor walked up and sat down next to me ....He asked what I was doing , I explained the situation and he sat and watched for another ten minutes until it sent 2 rods through the block. The funny thing was this guy owns several Ferraris and very early one cylinder American cars but at point he was just hanging out being a car guy. After I let it cool down I fired that bitch up on 6 cylinders and drove it into my folks driveway and swapped in the 350. That little 307 was the best learning experience ever. Btw the 350 kicked its ass

 

Though I rebuilt several engines for myself over the years, (BBC, 340 Mopar, Ford Y-block etc) I'd have to say the 1970 Ford 429 in my avatar. Rebuilt just before moving from Portsmouth Virginia to San Diego in 1996, it didn't miss a beat even after running for hours at about 3,500 rpm across New Mexico and Arizona. (70 plus mph with 3.73s). Sucked down some major gas though! Rejetted the carb twice I think, the Rockies didn't like big jets.
Drove San Diego to Florida a couple years later, same thing. Fast too, passed everything but a gas station.
The engine was originally an automatic motor, had to have everything rebalanced when it got new 0.030 over pistons and a 40 lb steel flywheel to spin the 4 speed toploader. Even with the bigger cam it ran just as smooth as when it was in my '70 T-Bird.
Got another 429 block, crank, flywheel and set of 1970 heads under the bench right now, just waiting for a new home.

 

My dad had a 69 T-bird 2-dr Landau with the 429 Thunderjet. Learned to drive with it. Would smoke the tires easily from a stop. Lol! It had one of nicest interiors I had ever seen with the centre console, buckets, wood grain dash, and wrap around rear seats.