What about the Chevy 265 and 283?

 

worst idea i ever had was the Ford 410 engine build . been a rattler , ping and knocker ever since . No matter what .

 

Excellent engine....the Volvo B18s...4 cylinder, dual carbs...very rugged, very good power in it's day, very durable.

Advertising back then....'In Sweden Volvo's last an average of.....'

 

Any Chevy LS motor. Have 3 over 150K miles and they run like the day that they were brand new! Unbelievably dependable and long lasting!

 

Have you seen the horsepower some of the magazines are getting from LS engines? I saw an article in Hot Rod a while back where they got something like 1200 hp by just slapping a turbo or blower (I forget which) on a junkyard LS they bought for like $600. Unreal.

 

IMHO the pushrod motor rules! I was so bummed when Ford went to the triton OHC configuration! The LS motors are pretty amazing with horsepower and how long they run. The 4.8 and 5.3 I have seen engines with over 300k miles on them that don't burn oil and still run great!

Ford still builds the best trucks though, always preferred Ford trucks over GM but always liked the GM gas engines better! The newer 6.2 and eco boost Fords are stepping it up though! GM though has been running the similiar LS motors now since 1999 and probably will go many more years.

 

Didn't realize we were talking ALL engines, not just Ford. In that case:

Best: Harvester DT466- Wet sleeves, I6 config, steel piston crowns. Gets the job done, and made for fleet service if anything ever was.

Nissan KA24 (both versions)- Cheap, long stroke, reliable, and not too hard to work on. The inline configuration is a plus, although I wish it had a balance shaft. Insanely fuel-efficient for such a durable motor.

Still believe the Ford 300" I6 is the best light truck motor EVER MADE, and here at FTE there's no need to explain why.

Worst: GM Iron Duke, GM "Abortion Motor" (the gas engine they made into a diesel and put in Grumman vans), any Cat, Ford Essex V6

I'm not as big a fan of the (other) 4.9, as most people here are. The 302 is a great sports car motor, but IMO not a great truck motor. It's fast, but the rods and the stroke are too short.

 

Now that I look back at this and I don't know if I fix this, but I meant to say is that you have to pull the Jakes off to set the overhead. Ya..... Big screw up again for me

 

The best around here-Mitsubish K3A 30 hp diesel-17,000 hours on oil changes and air filters and 1 valve setting.

Absolute worst we ever bought GM 6.5TD-took 4 of them to get 100,000 miles

 

Yeah, on an engine dyno for a whopping few pulls. Not impressed in the least, put that combo into a 3500 lb car and make a few pulls on the street/track and watch it grenade itself.

LS rods and rod bolts can barely handle half of that power reliably in the real world.

P.S. Hellion has taken stock 03/04 Cobra engines to ~1100 RWHP, and have them last on the street.

 

Hey, I'm a hardcore Ford guy and wouldn't own another GM product if they were free, but how can anyone not be impressed by the numbers they get for very little dollars? I also agree that Hellion makes killer turbo setups that work, even on my favorite engine of all-time, the 289/302 Fords.

 

I'm not impressed with the Hod Rod junkyard turbo LS dyno, while it makes for great headlines it is a ticking timebomb out in the real world. Even with C16 and an ultra conservative tune it is a hand grenade waiting for the pin to be pulled.

The simple fact is that with the right fuel and tune almost any engine can survive a couple pulls on an engine dyno at huge power levels with fingers crossed and a cleared out dyno cell. What Hot Rod did with that LS was done for shock factor, it isn't representative of stock LS capability.

The 03/04 Cobras can handle that kind of power (with turbos) because they have a nice rod and piston combo from the factory. The LSA/LS9 would also make some impressive power reliably with a couple snails hanging off of the front of it.

 

Look, I tried being objective about it, and the more you type, the more I'm sure you never even read the test. They made over 50 pulls (you say a couple) that registered more than 1,000 hp with a junkyard 4.8l LS and a cheap set of ebay turbos. If you're not impressed, fine. But don't belittle the test by saying it was for "shock value" only. The LS engine isn't the single most popular engine swap because it blows up all the time. Like I said, I consider myself as hard-core of a Ford guy as there is, but I've also been to many a dragstrip and don't take the LS Chevys lightly.

 

Sorry to disappoint you but I've read the article, and being a car builder/tuner myself I saw the article for what it was. They made something like 50-60 pulls with the combo at various boost levels. Their 27 psi hail mary runs were limited to a couple pulls.

Also of note is that they DID go into the engine to freshen it and open up the ring gaps, it also had a cam, a set of TEA ported heads and FAST R manifold. But the fact remains that this was a test designed to grab headlines, and it would be a ticking timebomb on the street. I've personally seen plenty of LSx rods and rod bolts fail at half of that power.

Cheap eBay turbos? It was a twin T76 PTrim kit with an air-to-water intercooler designed for the dyno cell, that kit wouldn't fit in any street car I've ever seen.

 

I didn't read through the whole thread but did anyone mention the pos 2.2l Chevy ohv. in the cavalier slow noisy head gasket always failed . steel freeze plugs and cheap timing chain tensioners made it a nightmare the only good thing was that it was easy to fix. the best my vote would be for a truck 300 i6 a car 302v8 and for a cheap easy and good build the 350 SBC . I have personally had a 302 and it wouldn't die , I tried the 300 I had was awesome torque monster and strong . 350 In my truck wasn't abused but was a good capable engine.