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The vintage engines thread

I'll second the Mopar slant six -- the engine time could not kill; especially in carbed version. I've put over 200K on a couple. Changed the oil and filters and left them alone.

Having made my living writing about hi-po auto street and racing engines for 25 years, I bow in the direction of the Detroit smallblock Chevy -- for a pushrod engine it has had an astounding lifespan. But for domestic car production engine exotica that you could actually buy: 426 Hemi. You don't hear people saying, "Yeah, it's got a smallblock."

That said, there are some impressive import street engines: original 4-banger in the Datsun 510, Alfa Romeos all aluminum twincam 4-cylinder, BMW's 1600/1800/2002 4-banger. I think the Mazda rotary (I had a 13B in their short-lived pickup truck) has to be included for a nerve it took for a major manufacturer to put into production a Wankel -- after ones like M-B gave up on it.
 
Adam said:
The truck engine I've always been somewhat curious about, but I don't think I've ever actually seen is that V6 GMC was using back in the 60s...
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Here is a webpage about the GMC V6/V12 engines.
http://www.6066gmcguy.org/

I saw a 1960's GMC V6 once in a school bus in a junkyard. The junkman let me take a battery out to it and try to at least see if it would crank...must have been seized up as the starter would not even turn. I was surprised to see a V6 on such a large vehicle and then learned more about it. It had a very small single barrel carb on it.
 
I loved my Chevy 350 Turbojet engine in my '72 Chevelle.
Also loved my Buick 340 from '67.
And I still have an original stock 30 year old Chevy 350 running perfectly well
in a '77 Vette. Amazing!
 
grumpy said:
always been a Chevy 350 guy here but I have a new found respect for the AMC 304. Just wish more aftermarket companies made parts.
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Find a 360 or 401 from a wagoneer. Direct bolt in swap instant power upgrade. It's all the same basic motor only bore and stroke change.
 
Nothing like a flathead ford.
 

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rickr15 said:
Find a 360 or 401 from a wagoneer. Direct bolt in swap instant power upgrade. It's all the same basic motor only bore and stroke change.
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I considered it for a min but decided no. Was not sure if the TH400 would bolt up without sinking money in it and I really like the 400 better then the 727 most wagoneer came with. Not to mention my Dana 30/44 would not live long under that much more power.
 
Adam said:
I left out the Pontiacs...389s, 421s, 428s...
One time I had a really involved dream in which I had a '62 Catalina with the SuperDuty 421 with the dual quads, and I remember thinking in the dream that somebody must have swapped it with an original 389 because I don't think the 421 came out till '63. It was a 2dr, but not a hardtop, it had faded gold original paint, and the grill was broken, but it had a factory 4 speed with a console. That was a great dream... Once I heard that Pontiac made a fuel injected version of the 347 in '57, but I've never seen one.

As far as the Boss 429, I'm not that familiar with ford engines, I just thought it was a nice looking engine, I had a 65 Mustang with a 289, didn't think it was that great, drove a '79 Mercury Monarch with a 250 six, and that was faster and more reliable. In many ways those are similar cars, and I think the 79 Mercury was much nicer to drive, something to think about given the high prices of Mustangs lately. Maybe I should have noted some of the early 60s Ford performance engines like the 390 Thunderbird engine with the 3x2, or the 406, or what was that hot engine they stuck in the Edsel in '58 or 59, the 410?

The 366, the lesser known big block Chevy, if I remember that had the same stroke as the 396, but with a smaller bore, and all the truck blocks were a bit taller. The truck engine I've always been somewhat curious about, but I don't think I've ever actually seen is that V6 GMC was using back in the 60s...
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the 421sd actually arrived in 1961 and was built thru 1963,,, main differences in the hp were from compression ratio and cylander head design 1961 head was a #306 ,,the 62 head was #127,,, and the 63 head was a 980 of course i,m not counting the seven 421 hemis that mickey thompson built that would have been introduced had pontiac stayed in racing ,,man i know my super dutys
 
avionic said:
Sitting in my garage..
I've got a 400 ci. bored .030,forged trw pistons,chrome-moly rings.4 bolt mains/studs..Cast #16(68-69 RA,HO)heads with Lunati springs,10degree loks and retainers,ARP rocker arm studs,crane pushrods.harlan-sharp 1.65 rollerrockers.Lunati (streetmaster) cam,Elelbrock true roller timing chain,superduty oil pump/w hardened drive from warrior racing.Also from Warrior single plane intake with the polished aluminum valley pan.Atop the intake is a speeddemon 750 cfm.Electrical MSD-6AL -Blaster coil-And DUI Livewires..And a bunch of other go fast goodies all stuffed inside a 1980 Formula Firebird.Poncho's Rock!

Dave
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outstanding you need to drive that indian here to minnesota and give me a look
 
damn i went to a junkjard in daytona and the owner just rebuild his ford flathead he got all cars i ever dreamd of in his junkjard ,he said they got a good rest here .i got photos but no scanner ,he did race with flathead in daytona
 
Wornears said:
That said, there are some impressive import street engines: original 4-banger in the Datsun 510
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That would be the first use of the Nissan L series engine. Introduced here in 1967. Nissan made 4 and 6 cylinder versions and put it into a wide range of Datsun models including the 240/260/280Z.

There were 1,300, 1,600, 1,800 and 2,000 CC variants of the 4 cylinder and 2,000, 2,400, 2,600 and 2,800CC variants of the 6 cylinder. There was a diesel version, the LD28 and a turbocharged version, the L28ET. The 6 cylinder version eventually got electronic fuel injection and was discontinued around 1983. The 4 cylinder version were all carbs and were discontinued around 1980.

Both the 4 and 6 cylinder versions rocked the sportscar racing scene troughout the 1970. John Morton's BRE 510 set the pace and Paul Newman sucessfully campainged a Bob Sharp prepared 280ZX in the late '70s early 80's.

- Pete
 
Flatheads

My personal favorite. H-D 45 cu in flathead. Used by H-D in the same basic form from '29-73. I'm biased of course. I'll try to post real pics of it tonight. But for automoblile engines, I've gained a respect for Ford FE blocks. 352, 360, 390, 410, 427, 428. Massive blocks and the main bearings are totally enclosed in the block. Had a '73 F-100 with 190,000 no rebuild, no buring oil, ran great.
-Derek:music:
 

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My favorite was the L-88 Chevrolet V-8 350 cubic inch engine. Used TRW pistons from the factory, four-bolt main bearings, easy to work on, all it needed was a decent camshaft to really bring out the power. They used them in Corvette's and Z-28 Camaro's.
 
grumpy said:
I considered it for a min but decided no. Was not sure if the TH400 would bolt up without sinking money in it and I really like the 400 better then the 727 most wagoneer came with. Not to mention my Dana 30/44 would not live long under that much more power.
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IIRC, I think AMC used GM Hydra-Matic dual-range models to the late 1950's, Borg-Warner automatics from the early 1960's through 1971, then they switched to Chrysler Torqueflites in 1972.
Tom
 
My 72 jeep commando uses the TH400 and so did the 73. I think either in 74-75 they switched to the Chrysler trans.
 
LBPete said:
Lets not forget the Dodge/Plymouth Slant 6. I also have a soft spot for Nissan L series engines. Totally overdesigned. The Don Devendorf/Electromotive 280ZXs were cranking more than 700 hp from 2,800 CCs (170 cu in) using stock blocks, crank, rods, heads and rockers.

- Pete
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you are right Pete, the slant 6, couldn't kill those engines, not even sure running it without water or oil would kill them...lol
 
I didn't know they had the 421 as early as 61, I've only ever seen it in 63s.
The LS6 454 was a great engine, I left the big chevys out of my list because I sold all my big chevy stuff to buy my Buick last summer, don't want to think about all the good parts I sold.
I wouldn't have thought those GMC V6s get as big as 478c, didn't know they had a V12 before either...
 
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