High Performance Engine for a Mild One

[Hal Cogburn]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but....
Last year I finally scored a fairly nice 65 convertible...pretty much everything I wanted and in the case of the engine a little more. I purchased the car from a fellow out of Las Vegas who worked for Carroll Shelby Enterprises...having access to all the goodies and wholesale prices he built a pretty nice high performance engine. I have a lot of the specifics if need be. The engine was built to generate about 400 HP, has an MSD ignition system, electric fuel pump etc. While I am enjoying the heck out driving it the most logical thing for me to do...given how we want to drive this summer...is to replace this engine with a nice 289/302...I don't even want the MSD ignition as a petronix would be fine for me.
I have driven the car perhaps 500 or so miles and the engine runs great. The seller indicated the engine had 2000 miles or so on it...the good news is it is in the car and a potential buyer could do whatever tests they would like on it.
The ideal situation for me is to find someone that wants the engine and is also willing to install the replacement for me...the replacement engine needs to new, rebuild, or with documented very low miles. Otherwise I would just sell the engine...purchase a replacement....and have to pay to have it installed.

So...if there is any interest PM me and we can talk...or perhaps you have a friend that wants a nice ford engine?
Thanks
Hal

[Nathan289]

Hal,

I'll trade you a good economical I-6 for the V-8

By now I bet you are :ROTFLMAO:

But man would I love to :3g:

Oh well.. one day i'll build my stroker 351W...

Nathan

[Hal Cogburn]

Nathan....Hmmmm....an I6...would that come with the pedals to help it go up small hills or would a guy just have to get a run at it?
Got a chance to check mileage on the car...11.5 MPG and that is driving my age (and you know how old I am)...of course that is with the high octane fuel. I have been told it is running rich so once I get that taken care of might squeeze out a few more miles per gallon. But I have to say....when it starts up and cruising down the road folks do pay attention. Good news with the 3:55's in the rear I turn about 2300 RPM at about 55 MPH....not too bad.
I will probably just drive and enjoy for now and resist the urge to show some of these little single exhaust rice burners what an old car can do.

Enjoy Spokane...we still miss the east side but do enjoy some of the amenities that we have here....plus a car show or something every weekend.
Hal

[pbrown]

Hal,

What are the engine specs? Could it be detuned? Maybe change the cam and intake?

[Nathan289]

Hal,
I agree with Patrick, maybe just try swapping cams and changing the induction set up.
I only have about 9 months of school left and then I'll probably be joing everyone on the west side, as the career path I (may have) chosen requires me to put in my training time on the west side.

As for the I-6, this engine seems to be real peppy and has had no problems with the hills yet, but I made some drivetrain changes and we'll see what happens.

Nathan

[Hal Cogburn]

Here are some of the specs on the engine I got from the seller:

5.0 roller with a E303 Ford racing grind
Edelbrock RPM Aluminum Heads.
Manly hardened push rods
1.6 Aluminum roller rockers
All ARP fasteners and bolts
The Harmonic Balancer is SFI rated.
Pete Jackson noisey gear drive, electric Holly fuel pump.
Hedman ceramic headers
dual Flowmaster Exhaust.
MSD Pro Billet distributor
9MM Ford Racing wires
Blaster 3 Coil,
MSD 6AL Box
Optima Battery relocated to trunk with
Remote battery disconnect.The engine runs quite nicely and is not a problem on the street. After thinking it through...and running some numbers (I'm a financial guy so analyze everything) it is not at bad as I thought. I have been able to check mileage only once and it came out 11.5 MPG...I have been told it is running rough so I might be able to do better. I assume a mild 302/289 would be in the 18 MPG range...for every thousand miles I drive it the incremental cost (assuming premium fuel with regular fuel at $4/gal) would be $167. So, when all said and done the overall incremental cost is not that great (as long as I keep my foot out of it).
Now...if changing out the cam or whatever would give me a few more MPG it would be fine. Would hate to change the cam, intake, and perhaps heads and still end up with something less than 15 MPG.

So...unless something really great comes along I will just drive and enjoy this summer....and if I still want something milder then will worry about that this winter. I have to say it is nice to be able to push the gas pedal down and pass most anything (except a gas station).

[pbrown]

Hal,

That sounds like a nice motor. It's not that radical at all. That cam is slightly bigger than a stock H.O. cam.

I would lose the gear drive for a good and quiet double roller. Change the Flowmasters for a pair of Dynomax Superturbos. If that Holley fuel pump is the early style (read loud) then get one of the newer style Holley or Mallory geroter (sp?) pumps or change to a mechanical pump.

What do you have for a carb? It may just need some tuning. I know of a 69 Charger with a stroked Hemi and dual quads that gets 18 MPG. You just need to put in the wrench time.

I will bring my wide band AFR meter to the BCC show. I have a tailpipe adapter for it now. You could see what your AFR is and tune from there.

[Hal Cogburn]

Patrick....that would be great! I don't mind "wrenching" at all...really enjoy it..but I usually need someone who knows a heck of a lot more than me to guide me along. We are fairly new to the area and I have not connected with anyone locally....I'm even willing to pay...to work with...except the mechanic I took it to that charges $75/HR. When I was in California I had a neighbor that was very good and liked working on the Falcon...so whenever I got in trouble he would come over and bail me out. I would return the favor when he needed and extra hand or just plain grunt work on his project.
The fuel pump does not seem that loud but hard to tell with the gear drives and when the electric fan is going.

I appreciate all the advice and help I can get.
Thanks
Hal

[Hal Cogburn]

Forgot the carb.....Edelbrock...I believe 600 CFM
Thanks

[jeepmanjason]

How much for the motor ? Complete or ? What are the cam specs ?
Thanks Jason,

[Hal Cogburn]

Sorry, it is gone.

[pbrown]

How much for the motor ? Complete or ? What are the cam specs ?
Thanks Jason,

Jason,

I have a 393 stroker for sale if you're interested. I have a couple of cam choices.