I just want to say that I have been wanting to build an in-line for a long time. I would love a 300 in a early F100, or a 250 in a Falcon or early Fairlane.

I love my 68 with the V8, and mine is no where as wild as some of yours, I have a 331 with AFR heads, more cam than it needs, 5-speed and 3.73 rear gear. JBA headers full 2 1/2" exhaust with Magna flows. Its loud and will get nasty at 6000 RPM's

Its funny that this topic came up this morning as last night I went and picked up a buddy's 66 coupe with a 200 and C4, I drove it 80 miles to my place, and it was happy at 75 mph, extremely smooth and so quiet you would think the motor was off. Don't get me wrong, the V8 is a blast, but the right in-line and a 5-speed would make a fun cruiser, and I would like to see how economical you could make it. I don't think 30 mpg would be out of reach. 

I've often wondered if Hudson hadn't been circling the drain when they were building the Hornet what we would think of I6s today.  If the designer had the budget to do the R&D on the next evolution of that engine I think it would have been awesome.  308 cubic inches (imagine that), and its biggest issue was the valve in block design that limited breathing and RPM potential.  His next design would have gone to OHV and triple carburetion. 

Same guy I believe created the 300 I6 at Ford, and I can tell you, I drove an F150 with the 4.9EFI and it was a beast.  I guarantee it made more torque at a lower RPM than any 302, and probably rivaled the 351. 

I'll add the Nissan RB26DETT to the list of bad @$$ I6s.  BMW also built a DOHC I6 for their M1 supercar that was a monster.  A cut down 4 cylinder version was used in the first M3 (E30) and made almost 200HP in the '80s without a turbo. 

Toploader wrote:

I noticed in another topic that someone made reference to owning an underpowered 6 cylinder. I wanted to share that there are some options to boost performance in those engines. There is also a company (Vintage Inlines) manufacturing an alloy head and intake manifold too. I eventually would like to restore an old 1960 Falcon and this is the route I would take. Anyway, here are some links below showing some information and options;

https://www.onallcylinders.com/2020/09/17/how-to-build-a-ford-inline-six-engine-for-durability-and-power/
https://www.vintageinlines.com/product-page/deposit-only-aluminum-head-package
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/mump-0902-ford-six-cylinder-performance-guide/
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/mufp-0607-six-cylinder-engine-performance/

Sure they won't match a V8, but I believe the 6 cylinder engines can be modified to give you some more giddy up than stock.

Clifford Industries (https://cliffordperformance.net/) has been in the market for a long time and they have products for several manufacturers' I-6 engines. 

Having recently gone back to an I-6 from a 351W I can also state that there are tons of resources available at the fordsix forum (the forum home page is https://fordsix.com, the home page of Classic Inlines is https://fordsix.com/ci/, the home for their excellent tech page collection is https://fordsix.com/ci/Tech.html).

There is also a performance handbook (The Ford Falcon Six Cylinder Performance Handbook) as well.  It's available from several sources.

I'm a huge fan of the fordsix.com forums and have learned a LOT from the members there.  I highly recommend that you join if you have any ambitions to work with any Ford I6 of any vintage.  They have dedicated forums for the "small blocks" (144-170-200-250), big block (240, 300), Aussie engines, vintage Ford engines (flathead, 215-223), a single forum for other makes of I-6 engines, as well as forums for turbo/supercharging and EFI.

As an aside, I can't speak for the person who made the "underpowered 6 cylinder" remark but I suspect that there may have been some tongue in cheek at play, since nearly everyone on this site is a committed V8 fanatic.

https://youtu.be/KTmlijApihk?t=2


Lotsa $$$ can make lotsa HP like this 'ol pickup!!

40 pages with lotsa pictures detail what these guys did to build this Bonneville killer!
Sounds REAL sweeet for a  'sic-cylinder.....
6sal6

Rufus68 wrote:

Rudi wrote:

How did Ford break in the cams after engine assembly?
Do you think they ran each engine at 2k for the recommended time at the factory?

Wasn't it the buyer's responsibility to break in the new car? 

That's what I thought and you had a break in period where you drove at varying speeds?

My wife’s 1979 F150 has 300/4 speed/4x4.
It has plenty of torque as it was used in F250 and F350’s as well.
Previous owner installed Offy 4 barrel intake and Holley off-road truck avenger.
This combination won’t ever hit 30 mpg, we’re okay with that.
It’s a truck and that’s how we use it.
We both enjoy driving it…yes she lets me drive it.

Thanks for sharing the inline links.

Last edited by Nos681 (10/14/2021 4:14 PM)

upload images

I guess a six CAN be made to 'turn-on'!
6s6

Last edited by 6sally6 (10/18/2021 4:36 PM)

TKOPerformance wrote:

I've often wondered if Hudson hadn't been circling the drain when they were building the Hornet what we would think of I6s today.  If the designer had the budget to do the R&D on the next evolution of that engine I think it would have been awesome.  308 cubic inches (imagine that), and its biggest issue was the valve in block design that limited breathing and RPM potential.  His next design would have gone to OHV and triple carburetion. 

Same guy I believe created the 300 I6 at Ford, and I can tell you, I drove an F150 with the 4.9EFI and it was a beast.  I guarantee it made more torque at a lower RPM than any 302, and probably rivaled the 351. 

I'll add the Nissan RB26DETT to the list of bad @$$ I6s.  BMW also built a DOHC I6 for their M1 supercar that was a monster.  A cut down 4 cylinder version was used in the first M3 (E30) and made almost 200HP in the '80s without a turbo. 

I had a 52 Hudson back in the day. Duel carb 308 in line 6 with 3 speed stick and overdrive. Literally a bullet prof engine. I always dreamed of putting it in a lighter body. The Hornet body was pretty hefty.

I believe I was the one with the underpowered 6 comment.  I’ve owned my Mustang for 40 years and I wouldn’t trade it for anything except maybe a GT 350. I compare it to my other Mustang which I’ve owned for 24 years, a 1992 coupe 5.0.  In the 80’s I was practically on a first name basis with a guy at Clifford Research. Cam, headers, port divider, head studs, etc.  Allllllllmost  bought a tri-carb Offy setup but books for college were expensive.  Eventually put in a 250 from a ‘73 Maverick. 

  Anyone remember Performance Automotive Wholesale, PAW? I picked up a crank and forged piston kit from them in the mid 90’s which still turn flawlessly in my car. When I got to the counter with my order info the guy walks to the back and yells “Stretch is here!”  I thought “Stretch? Really?”  They must not sell too many I6 parts if mine was a novelty like that. I still get a kick out of it.  Did you know the 250 uses 390 lifters? Maybe all the I6’s do? IDK.  I was handed a pack of 390 lifters with four taken out. I always wondered what they did with those spare lifters since people don’t usually buy them singly.

An 1990’s article in some mag showed how to mill off the carb riser, open up the manifold hole, and put on a 2100 two barrel and that’s exactly what I did. Works OK. Last I read the master of that modification resided in Fresno, CA. Right in my back yard. Not a cheap mod if you pay to have it done correctly. Mine wasn’t really done correctly.

There’s a Mustang 6 cyl Farcebook page I belong to.  Too many modern V6 posts for me to weed through.

Muzz 66 wrote:

An 1990’s article in some mag showed how to mill off the carb riser, open up the manifold hole, and put on a 2100 two barrel and that’s exactly what I did. Works OK. Last I read the master of that modification resided in Fresno, CA. Right in my back yard. Not a cheap mod if you pay to have it done correctly. Mine wasn’t really done correctly.

 
Hey Muzz,
I grew up (at least as much as I could) in Fresno and now live down in Bako. Do you know the guy's name in Fresno who did the mod, or how to get a hold of him?I've got a 250ci I'm dying to do something with.

Bearing Bob wrote:

Hey Muzz,
I grew up (at least as much as I could) in Fresno and now live down in Bako. Do you know the guy's name in Fresno who did the mod, or how to get a hold of him?I've got a 250ci I'm dying to do something with.

I’ll have to look around.  I’m sure I found that info on one of the Six forums. I started weighing my options on a better modified head for the 250 or aluminum heads for the LX.  Having two Mustangs is like serving two masters or having two wives…something is going to be neglected.