Hey All,

I'm kinda new to this whole thing, I just got myself a '57 ford f-100. I love it and she looks great, the thing is that she has the original tired 223 inline six. Now don't get me wrong I like the six banger with the three on the tree, but it seems like there is a problem. Right now my top speed in third with the hammer down is a shaky 45-50. I just installed a rebuilt carb, and that has fixed the idle problems...but it seems like I loose all my power at a hill or when starting in first after the motor warms up. So what can I do? I want to keep a six cyclinder and the three speed. Rebuild the present mill? Swap to a larger late model six? As a side note what can be done to hop up a six banger?

Thanks,

Jack

 

Jack, Cool truck. I know that the family of engines that includes the 215 and the 223 also includes a 262. Made in 1964 or so. It might just be a stroker crank in a 223 block. I'll do a little research on that.

Meanwhile, you might want to do a compression check to see if all the cylinders are up to par. As for performance mods, I've heard that your cylinder head is about as good as it gets. You can try milling it for an increase in compression. And maybe giving it a 'pocket port' job with a nice valve job including trick valve smoothing. A Pertronix or Pertronix II ignition and a custom cam.

I've wondered if the rockers on the 223 are the same as the rockers on a Y-block. If so, you can hunt for some 56-57 Y-block rockers. They have a 1.54 ratio compared to the 1.43 ratio of the standard Y-block rockers.

Good luck.

 

Definitely do a compression check. I had the same problem when I bought my '59, the 223 started & ran nicely but had no power. A compression check showed good pressure on #1, #2, #5 & #6, but ZERO on #3 & #4. I pulled the head and found out the head gasket was blown between those two cylinders, and both exhaust valves were burned. I replaced the head gasket, replaced the burned valves, and she runs like a champ now. Plenty of power on hills, and it keeps up fine with highway traffic.

Make sure your rockers & rocker shaft aren't worn, too.

Good luck, & let us know the results of the compression check.

- Jay

 

Hey,


Thanks for the advice and ideas. I will do the compression test this weekend and let you know the results. I really appriciate the help.

Jack

 

As the size increased from 215 to 223 and the cr went up the engine started developing head gasket problems.
Ford changed to 1/2" head bolts in 61 and dramatically increased the bolt torque specs.

Instead of trying to hop the 57 up consider a later 6 including the workhorse 300.