Most all inline 6s have had 7 mains since the mid-60s. By the time the 80s rolled around, the only inline left that didn't have 7 mains was the Slant 6.
There are other design elements too that made the 240/300 such an enduring engine.

Regards,
Eric

 

I'll say my favorite engine would have to be either the 302 or the 330 (5.4L). The worst engine would have to be either the 350 Olds diesel or the 6.2L and 6.5L diesels. Some swear by them but I would not want to own one if it has been a poor engine for people.

 

I like the 351 HO and the 1985- 460 HO.

 

i didnt take the time to read all the posts. However, I will throw in my 2 cents.

Best engines that I have had..

Toyota 22R (79 toyota pickup)
Ford 7.3 powerstroke (97 4x4 and 95 4 door dually) - currently own both
Ford 302 (94 ford bronco) - just got hit and totaled by a drunk driver -- best most reliable truck hands down/ bar none
Ford I6 300 (1978 f100 stepside) - currently own
honda E-series engine in a 79 honda accord
chevy 350 gas (197* 4 door impala)
1.5 liter in a 2006 scion xb -- currently own

Worst engines that I have had.

Plymouth volare 318 (forget year)
4 cyl in a 81 olds omega (whatever it was)
2.3 liter 4 cyl in a 1981 ford tempo

 

Does anyone know if there was HO 351W engine in 1996 E-150 club wagons? I've heard that they were roller engines ( roller chain, roller tipped push rods, etc.)

Thanks!
Favorite Engines:
312 Merc in a 56 Ford Customline
260 in a 64 Falcon
302 Mercury Comet (still have it)
289 67 Ford Fairlane wagon , installed it a a 64 Fairlane Sports Coupe which is being restored.
428 C.J. in a 68 Ford Torino GT, C-6, 735 cfm Holley , 4:10 Gears.
351W in a 96 E-150 Club Wagon,
351C 73 Mercury Montego & 351 W in a Mercury Cougar,s
4.6L 2003 Mercury Marauder

 

What year was that Impala? Could you please narrow it down a little? Was it early 70s or late 70s? The late 70s was a very dark period for American cars.

I have a 94 9C1 LT1 Caprice that I'm trying to decide if I should keep or not.

 

Best Diesel 7.3l, Best Gasser tie between 302 and 351. Buddy had a 351 Windsor in a CobraII OMG! that car was FAF. Worst engine well I wont go there.

 

I owned a 72 f100 4x4. It had a 289 from a fairlane. Dont remember the year of motor. When I bought the truck it had a rod knocking. I drove the hell out of it for 3 years. Including running it in 3 bog-ins and 4 wheelin every weekend. Sold the truck with the same rod knocking. Now the ol 289 wouldnt turn but about 4600 rpm, but that has to be the toughest engine I have ever had. When going down the highway and the rod got too loud I would just turn the radio up to drown it out.

 

for the hauling that i do, i had to move to a 3/4 ton truck, but before that i drove a nissan 2.4 litre for many hundreds of thousand of miles ... ridiculously trouble-free and dependable. everyone i ever met who owned one agreed.

 

Dang you're good.

They are my favorite engine even if they aren't that good. Not that I have seen one because I haven't.

 

sombody beat the tar outta the 350 motor in my 78 jimmy and my 351's previous owner beat it to hell as well but damn if you couldn't stop them from running and my 7.3 will probably never die 500k on what are pretty much original injectors (i think two have been replaced). I've had pretty good luck with motors so i don't really have any horror stories of my own, but i've heard a few about the 5.4 triton

 

that's what all the Chevy guys think.now its not true the fact is is that all 350 parts interchange so that makes an illusion that they are goodmotors think about the problems after 300,000 then compare that to the Ford 300 inline six

 

Road Car Use
The Buick 3.8 is an amazing engine. The ability to make HP is the easiest I've found.

My build, I'm at 630 hp on 20 psi, it's not uncommon for these built engines to run 26-30 psi.




Race Car Use
Best Ford engine..........Boss 500 10,000 HP!!

 

Wow how did I miss this thread, no way I'm going to read all the previous 1300 posts. I'll just start out, the best engine ever made is mine, and the worst is yours, so there, lol.

Best and worst is rather objective and vague. Overall for worst the jaguar I6 and V12 come to mind. Best is much harder, best for what? Given that this is a Ford pickup forum I'd say the best Ford pickup engine is given the pickup either a 7.3IDIT or a 400.

To all the "chebby 350" guys, it's no where near the best, just the most overrated. It's downfall is largely poor head design. However up there with overrated engines are FEs, again, very poor head design.

There's also engines I consider underrated, the AMC V8s(304,360,401), as mentioned the International IDI diesels(6.9,7.3), the 335 series ford V8s(351C, 351M, 400)

I'll start there.

 

Brute, why do you consider the Jaguar I6 bad? and which one are you referring to? The older engine, the one Jaguar designated the XK in 1949, was a strong reliable engine until it was loaded up with emission controls in the mid 70s, at this point they started having a problem with the tappet guides loosening in the head. This would ultimately result in a cam lobe breaking one, but before that it would be noisy as all getout due to the guides floating in the head. Fix was simple, an external set screw to lock them.

Biggest issue I ever saw with that engine, improper antifreeze and not replacing it made the head a bear to get off the studs when after somewhere over 100K it would need the valves done. In all my years of working on these, I only had to rebuild the bottom end on one, it had been badly overheated and scuffed two pistons.

The V12, I am inclined to agree, it seemed more of a "let's put a V12 in our 1961 chassis so it has more prestige" than anything else, and absolute royal PITA to do anything major to in any of the cars I worked on from the E-type series III through XJ-12 and XJ-S.

Bigger issue was not the engine on the 6 and 12, it was the ancillaries, the Zenith-Stromberg CD carbs on the emission control engines, the Lucas OPUS ignition systems, all on the later models.