fav engine: any carburated 302
best engine: the pintos 2.3 (just kidding) Boss 429...if you can say you have one of those, you are instantly a god

 

When parts were avail the 390 was one of the best all around truck motors and slap a set of 427 heads one and you have a race motor.

Good torq, good hp and good gas milage the one I had in my 65 F250 camper special would out run tow trucks geting on the highway with a 10 1/2 ft camper on the back and get 15 mpg.

 

1st 300<<<these things are indestructible practically
2nd 302<<<easy to find performance parts
3rd Any FE Series or 460, these were the real deal...nothing can come close to these monsters.

 

300 I6!!
#2 would probably be the 351W.

--------------
1986 F-150 4x4 300 I6 NP435
Warn hubs, DeeZee bed caps, '96 XLT bench seat, new paint job

 

1st--427 sohc(i know where you can buy one for close to $30000)
2nd--Boss 429(dad use to own one and the car that it came with)
3rd--Boss 302 (local guy has one, i wish he would sell it)
4th--351c (spend some money on these and you will have one heck of a motor)


82' Flareside with 400 horse under the hood

 

Mazda 3-ROTOR from Australia.

It has the potential for 750+ normally aspirated HP, and is much smaller and lighter than most engines. It also has an extended RPM range over other power plants.

 

^^ how much money must you spend to achieve that figure? you could probably get that with a big-block for less and have a Ford, not a mazda

 

personnally the 300 6 is by far the best!! sink some money, time, and brains into and it'll out pull, not quite out race, and outlast anything. next would have to be a 429!!

 

I'd go with the 302 first and the 460 second. While I'm obsessed with power, I have a soft spot for the 302. The 302 in the mercury that is currently my sisters has 220,000 miles on the original engine, AOD, and rearend. I would doubt if it's trannie or diff fluid has ever been replaced, and it's probably only seen ten oil changes in it's life, most of those done when I owned it. I can't seem to keep enough pressure on my sister to properly maintain it. Unfortunately, it's starting to rattle like it's gonna throw a rod, and I don't have the equiptment or the money to fix it. I'll probably cry when that engine goes. It has been such a reliable car.
I didn't have the same longevity out of the first 460 I owned, but my 2nd one has 155,000 miles on it and still runs strong.

The Law

 

The best engines ever??? So none of you
guys have the testicular fortitude to mention
the Hemi?? What is this, "Ford Only"?? As
for the "best" engines ever, it's a tie,
between the 300ci I6 (Ford), and the 225ci I6
(Mopar)... There are *NO* engines that live
as long as these two...

Steve & the Rockette
'63 F100
'68 F100
'72 Capri 2L
'73 Capri 2.6L V6
'73 MG B GT 2.6L V6(Ford)
'98 Contour SVT 2.5L V6 (Mods)
'01 ZX2 (No Mods yet)

 

Uhhhh. I have Test Trackular Forditude (spelling on purpose)

Since the Boss 429 almost has a hemi-spherical design,I'll pick it.

Next is the 427 SOHC



Then the 300.



Dennis https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=1733&.jpg



[b]Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions [b]
[b]"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's"[b]


78 F-150 429CJ,Silver, Explorer Pkg.
641/2-Mustang 260,Pre-World's Fair Car.
64-Fairlane500 S/C waiting for a 390-4spd.
68-Mustang 289-Sunlit Gold 80,892Mi
78-Buick LeSabre 403 4V
84 Volvo DL Wagon

 

favorite......460

best.......300 I6

 

I have to say it's a tie for me between Ford's 300 I6 and Jeep/AMC 258 inline 6.
The 300 you can find parts anywhere and will last forever.
The 258 in my '72 Jeep has got over 200,000 on it and the compression test still shows up to factory spects:-X23 and yes, it is origional engine and taken quite a beating over the years.
And the Jeep/AMC 258 I6 has a large bore and a short stroke, perfect for high RPMs.
Put a 4 bbl on it and split headers and shazzam- you've got a Baja engine. No kidding, they've raced these engines in the Baja 1000.

-Dan

"I'm old enough to know better, but I'm still too young to care"
-Wade Hayes

 

A few of my favorites, in no particular order, some are blasphemy I know but...

I saw a cool engine on an educational TV show about 7 years ago. It was a 1/4 scale Chevy Small Block. It was the coolest cutest thing, yes I know I will burn in hell for that. Some hobbiest had machined from scratch an aluminum water cooled SBC that ran on nitro. It was about the size of a 15 inch computer monitor. He had it on an engine stand and was running it on a table top. It was sooo cute and rev'd like heck and made a cool sound. Mea Culpa.

My personal experience engine favorite was my old 67 Dodge 383 B Wedge. What a sturdy block and I learned a heck of a lot from it. Spent way too much time and money building that engine but it was fun. Plus I could dead lift the bare block to show off(Stooopid teenager). Now my back pays me back.

I always loved the Dodge Hemi both kinds. What power. Never had one, but now they are crate motors.

The Chevy Rat motor has always been fun.

I loved the cute little V4 they put in Saab Sonnets in the 70s. It was maybe a 1 foot cube, how tiny.

Don't have enough experience with Fords, but the 460 in my truck certainly is a work horse and from what I hear, it should out live me(I am fffforty something). I would love to have seen and played with the Ford hemi head engine(427?) from the 60's, supposed to make better power than the Mopar.

The flat head has always been very interesting to me but unfortunately I have never got to play with one.

Oh well, some day when I get some time and money, and if the wife doesn't kill me, I want either a VW beetle(love those flat fours), or a 79 Pontiac TA(my first car out of college), or an old(40s-50s) car almost any kind will do, or a late 60s Mopar with a B Wedge(old roots) or finally a Corvette(late 60s-early 70s) with a Rat or a 79-82 model with the 350SBC. I suppose my "dream" car would be a Challenger with the Hemi in it, dream on.

Oh well, too many on the wish list I know, and for some of you way too many Chevies.

Jim Henderson

 

From reading these posts I sure am glad that I have a 360 in my baby, a 351c on the engine stand and a 300/6 in the truck I gave my brother.