This hits it on the head. Those very short intake runners of those carbureted 60 degree V6s are what cause that lack of low end torque. The long intake runners that came with the switch to port fuel injection cured the problem.

'79 General, I too have firsthand experience with the engines of which I speak and I too base my conclusions and comments on that experience as well as the experiences of others and the information and experiences I gathered from many other sources as well including but not limited to the years I spent running my own 600+ car and truck recycling and dismantling yard. My experiences do include the MOPAR 383. It is everything good you have heard and read about it. Get one. You'll love it!

As for the Mopar 360, again, speaking from my experiences and the experiences of others, it's fuel economy is no worse and in some cases is slightly better than the other same year, same displacement range gasoline truck engines got. The 360's performance was also slightly better than most in it's range and even most out of it's range. You've got to remember that the 360 is very related to the 340 and it really performed very well in the first muscle truck: The "Li'l Red Express". Even with only it's mild, stock 3.55 gears, NO other truck could touch it, not even the much worshiped 454 Chevy trucks. Back in '78, Hot Rod got a 15.71 1/4 mile E/T out of a stock production "LRE" which is pretty remarkable when you consider that even the later, fuel injected, lower geared SS454 Chevy and first generation Lightnings couldn't and didn't do any better than that in the mid 90s! http://www.moparmusclemagazine.com/f...k/sources.html

I've seen many flat lobe SBC cams, but have never seen one come out of a Mopar 360. (Or any other Mopar for that matter! Must have something to do with those big .904" diameter lifters! Unequaled by any other truck engine except for AMC Jeeps!). Yes, the cam's specs are mild but again, no worse than the other same era, same displacement range truck engines were.
Regards, Eric

 

I posted it before in this thread, prolly years ago, but #1/2 on the list are for most cases interchangable: SBC and the buick 213/3.8

As for the 660 program, back when it came out in the citation, Ed Cole said it was gonna be the next 283. If you recall, once the teething problems were fixed in the original 265, the 283 became the launching platform for everything and all the lessons learned are in the current generation motor.

as for a post saying you have never seena 4.3 over 200K: Meh. you aint been around. even the non-balanced ones will put up those numbers if the crap S-something it is installed in does not rust in half. (I oft tell people that the Z code 4.3 behind a 700R4 in a blahzer, despite the problem of it being a blahzer, was perhaps the best utility off roader for the masses when a locker is installed. more stable than the exploder and 4runner, more torque than the raider, isnoozoo - full of non-breaking tech. again, save the fact that it is a blahzer. for people who live in the boonies and drive sanely, you dont tow too many out of the snow/mud)

 

The GM 3.8 V6 motors were insane! Good low end power and torque and man those engines go and go and go!

 

I have read the first couple pages of this thread and am VERY suprised that no one has mentioned the epic Nissan RB26DETT or the Toyota 2JZ-GTE! They are arguably the best made, most bullet proof engines to have ever been produced!

 

Jeep 4.0 was/is pretty outstanding. Reaching 300,000 to 350,000 miles is routine for them.
Regards, Eric

 

I would put money on that most peopl eon here dont even know what an RB series nissan even is. They are well made with the 2JZ being better IMO. Both have great power, terrible torque curves, with neither being well suited to truck duty.

 

I'd like to add something to this: Let's disuse the phrase "hands down" here. After 70+ pages of dialogue, there's plenty of "hands up" in objection to any opinion of almost any motor you can think of.


Good man!

 

i do have to correct one statement i made of the 300/4.9. I do know one guy that has blown up 4 300s in his 78 f150. From breaking the crank to cracking a head and so on. But we can file that under the category of operator ignorance not engine fault. because you cant run the bog pit in granny low and low range at 5500 plus im guessing (all i know is EVERYONE got away from the pit) and expect it to live. it sounded like that poor 300 was spinning 10 grand and you could almost feel the crank come apart. It blew mud out of the pit when the chunks of crank came out of the oil pan.

 

The best engine I have had was in my old 78 f-150. It was the ever trusty I6 300 4.9L. I blew a radiator hose and still managed to make it about 6 miles home. Got it fixed, then drag racing ripped a motor mount, engine jumped and put a big dent in the underside of the hood and somehow messed up the trans so it wasn't drivable. There were some other small things as well.

All in all, the 4.9 I6 is an indestructible motor and I wish I still had it. My father ended up sending the old beast to the boneyard.

I have a 460 now and it makes serious TQ. I drive it hard sometimes and never lets me down.

The Worst

GM (great mistake) engines are up there high on the list.

Hyundai and Kia share the same junks baby rattles.

 

The worst: Jeep's Overhead cam 230 I-6 and Chevrolet Vega engine

The Best: Toyota's 22RE, Ford 300 I-6, Chevrolet 327 V8

 

I would agree that the 351M is an excellent engine. I also put the 460 V8, the 428 FE and the 300 I six at the top of any list for durability.

 

Kaiser Jeep OHC 230! Wow, forgot all about those. And yes, they did have problems.

 

There are too many good ones out there for me to pick the best but one of the worst has got to be the Ford 3.8. What a piece of crap that motor was.

Mom bought a brand new Thunderbird in 1994 and other then the motor it drove like a dream. Blew a head gasket at 42,000 and then blew it again at 48,000 (could have been a bad job done @ dealership). She had a new motor put in it and get this, traded it in on a brand new Windstar with the 3.8!!! lol

You can guess what happened to the Windstar after a couple of years, she now drives a Toyota. She wrote off Ford forever which I find funny as she came from a die hard AMC family. You'd think she would be used to her car being broke down all the time.

 

its is deffinley a 300 l6. ive put mine through hell and its still kickin

 

The Vega also had the best 4 cylinder American motor produced in the 70's! The Cosworth powered Vega is a rare but cool powered Vega...... not to many people even know about them, they only remeber the standard version with the crappy 4banger in it!