Your favorite or least favorite engine, and why

[V Majestyk]

'eer we gooo....

I will proudly carbon date myself with this. Proud Ford Fossil that I am, I'm a fan of a few motors for a few reasons. My father worked on the old Ohio State Patrol cars when they ran Galaxys with 427's. He also had one of his own that he raced. FE motors are pretty bulletproof from 352 to 428. They ran as stationary power for pumps,generators,industrial welders as well as marine applications.From NASCAR to LeMans,60's to 80's, been everywhere,done everything! ONE FLAW-(recently)-Gobbs of HP out the crank means gobbs of fuel down the intake! Windsors ,260 to 351 are great for cars. I like more torque for trucks. 300 straight sixes are also strong,reliable torkers. 351c-nice heads,weak bottom end. 429-460, good motors as well. I just think that as far as my tastes for 67-72 trucks go, a 390 or 428 FE is as good as it gets IMHO!! FE's rule.

 

[mtflat]

Fantasy favorite? Hands down the Cammer. I've been able to stand next to several of them. One in a 68 'Stang that had the inner fenders reworked and shock towers moved out. One in a 64 Fairlane - lightweight version. One in a 32 roadster - that was artwork! And one, never fired - on an engine stand being displayed with plexiglass covers on all the openings.

That kind of HP right out of the box? Unequalled back then and then John Force came along and added to the legend. 200 mph qtrs.

Pretty exciting, especially when that 6 foot timing chain started to get loose and one bank would get to firing out of sequence with the other side!!!

I really like most of Ford's engines and have many of them sitting around here.
The flathead is a classic and is still making heads turn. It's also my real life all-time favorite. I've driven one for the past 8 years daily. They're just cool!
The FE's besides the 427 SOHC are all outstanding performers - gas was cheap and make serious hp.
I've owned a bunch of 302's and have a 351 mercruiser in the boat. Great high revving engines.
The 300 six is legendary, you just can't kill the thing. Nothing to write home about, but it'll get you there every time.
335 Series is about the same as the 300. Chronic low oil pressure but it keeps getting the job done and torques it's way thru it all. 400 and 351M
385 series is a blast. The 460 doesn't even try hard to move mountains - it does everything you ask it to - except cut back on it's drinking!

Only one I didn't care for was Ford's 171 cid V6 in a 75 Mach I Mustang II. Timing gear (cast iron gear with molded teeth) disintegrated in 25,000 miles.

Also have had 223 six, 240 six, 3 series of flatheads(21 stud, 24 stud 59A and 24 bolt 8BA/8CMs), 2.3L four, etc.

Non-Ford favorite: 5.9 Cummins Turbo Diesel. Nothing like it in my book - not even close. Now that's a big six!

 

[klatt_89]

Very good imput Tim, thanks for coming over

 

[1970Custom]

Favorite would have to the 300-6 from Ford, because it'll go forever and pull anything..

GM would be the new generation Vette motor

Dodge/Mopar would be the 242-I6

Toyota would a toss-up between the 22R-E and the 2JZ-GTE

Nissan would have to be the RB26DETT

Mazda for me would be the Wankel (I'll have another one soon)...

 

[Raptor22]

My favorite GM motor (and I dont care for GM) is probably the 32v DOHC LT5 v8 from the 90s. Legendary corvette engine.

 

[BKW]

Most reliable Ford engine = 390.

Most troublesome Ford 6: 3.8L / Most troublesome V8 = 351M.

Best A/T: C6 / Worst A/T's: AOD & A4LD.

 

[blackhat620]

Favorite Ford: Toss up between the Flathead & the 427
Least Favorite Ford: 428

Favorite GM: Toss up between the 427 Mk IV & 350
Least Favorite GM: Toss up between 262 & current 3 & 5 cylinder engines

Favorite Chrysler: 426 Hemi
Least Favorite Chrysler: Toss up between the current "Hemi" (not really a hemi) & the 6.7L Cummins

 

[klatt_89]

Thanks for sharing your input Bill, i know you know your stuff and thanks for your input blackhat620.

 

[expeditionman]

as much as the Ford 3.8 gets ripped on, the only major issue it had was the head issue which was not technically a gasket problem but more so the cast block with the aluminum heads(or was it the other way around, cant remember) causing the heads to warp and lift off the block
my 93 cougar had that problem, but after rebuilding the motor (for only $400 doing the work myself as apposed to over $2000 at a shop) from the heads up and using a proper gasket to accommodate the expanding and contracting of the 2 different metals.....that engine was awesome, when i went to trade it in for my expy, the dealership swore up and down that it had the 5.0 in it after they did the trade in test drive....lol

the first gen 5.4's have the plug blow out issue due to not enough threading in the heads, but that was fixed by '99 i think...other than that, i cant complain about this motor....

my favorites would be the 300, 460, carburated 302 and 351.......all great power motors and easy as hell to work on......i still remember what size oil filter my old 78 LTD II 351m used....lol

 

[Blue Bomber]

my favorite ford engines are (#1) 240-300 six (#2) 351C (#3) 5.0
my favorite non-ford (#1) toyota "R" motors (#2) toyota 1JZ (#3) 1958 Pontiac Straight 8 (not GM!!! Pontiac)

 

[LEB Ben]

I pretty much looooooove every Ford engine. The only one I have a complaint about is the EFI 302, I just feel they are too underpowered.

 

[polarbear]

the first gen 5.4's have the plug blow out issue due to not enough threading in the heads, but that was fixed by '99 i think...other than that, i cant complain about this motor....

Unbelievably, they actually didn't fix it until the 3V version came out. Not much incentive when all the failures happened well out of warranty. Unfortunately, that kind of thinking handed the imports over 50% of the domestic car and truck market.

 

[expeditionman]

Unbelievably, they actually didn't fix it until the 3V version came out. Not much incentive when all the failures happened well out of warranty. Unfortunately, that kind of thinking handed the imports over 50% of the domestic car and truck market.

holy crap...it took that long for them to fix that issue???

3V came out in what, '03 wasn't it??

whenever i can afford it, i'm gonna do that Time-Sert on mine so i dont ever have to worry about, been lucky with almost 160K on the clock (**knocks feverishly on the nearest piece of wood**) lol

 

[polarbear]

Really just a question of not believing the "100,000 mile" spark plug change.

 

[BKW]

1958 Pontiac Straight 8 (not GM!!! Pontiac)

Last Straight 8 Pontiac L head engine: 1954: 268 cid.

This was a GM designed engine, what else could it be?

Pontiac was introduced as a companion car to the Oakland in 1926.

Last Oakland assembled in 1931.

Buick, Cadillac and Olds also had companion cars.

The Buick Marquette and Olds Viking only lasted a coupla years, the LaSalle was dropped after 1940.
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As far as the 3.8L was concerned...if the timing cover didn't rot out before 60,000 miles, it was a miracle.

The valve covers seeped oil from day one.

By 80,000 miles (if one was lucky to have made it that far), the heads were HIS-TOR-E!

The engine was a POS!

And this is from someone who had to deal with this jazz every day at the Ford parts counter.

 

[expeditionman]

Last
As far as the 3.8L was concerned...if the timing cover didn't rot out before 60,000 miles, it was a miracle.

The valve covers seeped oil from day one.

By 80,000 miles (if one was lucky to have made it that far), the heads were HIS-TOR-E!

The engine was a POS!

And this is from someone who had to deal with this jazz every day at the Ford parts counter.

must've been the lucky one cause my heads didnt go until 93,000 miles and and just had them resurfaced......traded the car with almost 140,000 on it and the only issue was the head warp....lol

 

[5.0]

My '95 Mustang 3.8 had over 200,000 when I traded it. A blown head gasket was the only problem I ever had with it. I've not dealt with near as many engines as Bill has, though. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few with no problems...

 

[1970Custom]

I pretty much looooooove every Ford engine. The only one I have a complaint about is the EFI 302, I just feel they are too underpowered.

I've been impressed with mine, pulled a 24' enclosed race trailer w/a fox body and full 48" tool chest... pulled 60 just fine but needed equalizer bars...

 

[Blue Bomber]

oops, your right on the year. i just want a straight 8. not sure why, but thats kinda how i am. thanks for the info BKW, id be lost with out ya

 

[mtflat]

I pretty much looooooove every Ford engine. The only one I have a complaint about is the EFI 302, I just feel they are too underpowered.

5.0 EFI just needs the right gear combo... I've put more than 330,000 miles on the EFI 5.0's in my 86 F150 4x4 4 spd OD with 3.50 gears. Never lacked for power, but I can always grab a better gear - not something you can do with a slushbox.

I hear guys rag on them all the time, but this one has always been a screamer....and I'm on the 3rd engine in a hard working truck. It's even done 2 hours at a time with the speedo needle buried - they just hit the hp/torque curve at about 2500 rpms.