Now that you mention it, the BMW slant-4 is worth a look. Lose the little Solex and fit either twin DCOEs or Kugelfischer mechanical injection and they become considerably less edible. They're good-looking engines, too, albeit in a heavily-rounded Teutonic way. That said, my first choice would be an Alfa Romeo 2-litre twin-cam. That's a classic engine if there ever was one, and it looks like this: The one you'd want is 1962cc and 132bhp @ 5500rpm.
Earlier in this thread I suggested the 3.7 liter Mercruiser 470 boat engine. I will again make that suggestion as many of the suggestions include small displacement engines that have to turn some rpms and generate less than 200 hp. The Mercruiser 470 has 3.7 liters, Thats 224 cu/in for those of you who are too lazy to convert liters to cu/in. The engine is a proprietary design of Mercury Marine for their inboard outdrive Mercruiser line. They were manufactured from about 1977 to 1989. The bare aluminum block weighs 75 lbs. Fully dressed the engine weighs about 350 lbs. In order to run this engine in a light weight street rod it is advisable to change the cast Iron 460 Ford BB head for an aftermarket 460 aluminum head. The water pump and alternator are also problematic on the boat engine but can be converted to a more practicle instalation for a car. The basic engine came in several hp. configurations from early 165 hp to 190 hp QuadraJet 4 barrel versions. I start with the 4 barrel version and add the performance aluminum heads with bigger valves and better flow. After a few other modifications I end up with a 225-230 hp engine that produces about 275 ft/lb of torque. The bellhousing pattern is vertually a Chevrolet pattern, except for 1 missing bolt. There are plenty of holes that line up anyway. These engines are real torquers that put out power similar to a older small block V8s but they weigh several hundred pounds less. While they do not look like an Offy they do dress up like an early engine with a minimum of plumbing. I will paint my engines early ford green and install a PowerGen alternator that looks like a generator. There are many 4 cylinder engines that are more exotic than the 470 but there are few that will provide the torque and hp that these engines will even when run on regular grade gas. The QuadraJet has very small primaries and if these engines are driven with a light foot using low speed torque and 5 speeds they should get good miliage. In boats people who knew what to expect for miliage in a boat have attested to the relative good miliage that they produced in that capacity. The neat thing about them is that they will provide miliage when needed and still produce bodacious power when the 750 cu/ft QuadraJet opens up. Lets see the 470 is very light, and it can look like a tractor engine. It can get fairly good miliage, it will produce a lot of when you push on the Go pedal. And it used 460 Ford pistons and CJ Truck rods making it reliable.. What else is there to desire except the performance look. I kind of like Stealth myself and enjoy a sleeper. Think of the fun when you surprise your Flathead friends with this 4 cylinder pushrod engine. See a Ford Motorsport flier, the boat engine and a picture of someone elses stripped down engine in a car below. Dick .
If you want to keep it American that pretty much tosses out the Datsun's, Alfa's etc. The 2.0 and 2.3 Fords are great motors, I had an almost 3.0 liter one in my Off Road race truck that made right at 300HP, but the truth is with the OHC design, they don't really look old. For that reason I think the newer Zetec 2.0 Ford is a good choice. Like the Quad 4 it can look a lot like an Offy, and unlike the Quad 4 it's still in production with a good aftermarket support.
My boys run Mod 4"s ( dirt modifieds) . We ran a Ford 2.3 They made over 200 HP and we would buzz them 8,200 RPM. There are lots of speed parts for them. Check Esslinger, Racer Walsh, even Speedway sells parts. There is intakes, cams, headers, valvecovers, timing gears and belts and more. We race under Wissota sanctioning. The cars weigh 1650# with the driver. They turn a 3/8 track in 16.8 seconds. The superstocks run 17 flat. My 2 cents worth. Steve
2.3l ford - turbo or not can find speed parts in speedway catalog and are reliable have some buddies running 2.3 pinto motors in model a's and another buddy running 85 mustang 2.3l with 5sp in a roadster with track t nose looks good moves good and gets mileage out the ... runs around the country side on pocket change and draws a crowd pisses off the Street Rodders
Marine Volvo, already looks the part. you can find em in glastrons and fibras, usualy hooked to penta drives.
Yep" I've a couple of them, "1" in my 1980 Toyota short bed with over 300,000 miles and still going strong! The other with an after market cam, header, modified intake, 32/36 carb and runs like a scalded dog! These little motors are virtually indestructible and lots of aftermarket high performance parts available.
I always thought a sr20det (2 liter turbocharged Nissan engine) would be a cool hot rod motor. It seems like they're pretty easy to get around 300 hp. They're also readily available. Not very traditional though lol
I had a buddy in high school that had an econoline about that age with a HP289 and a toploader 4 speed. Used the column shifter for the forward gears and had a lever on the side of the seat for reverse. That thing would haul the mail.
All the previously mentioned four bangers are great. You just have to figure what you want now. I have used quad 4's, 2.3 fords, Zetec's, GM iron dukes I even have an old Toyota 1600 hemi headed four banger that is a pretty cool looking engine. I bet I have one of each of those engines sitting around my shop. I like the way the quad 4's look. All can be made to haul butt.
Im a mopar guy so my vote is the 2.5 dodge used in thousands of dakotas - all backed by 5 speed tranys - cabel op clutch so linkangeis simple - uses 2.2 dodge neon speed equpt. so those parts are plentiful - right at 100 hp in stock conig. - light weight and simple to work on - long life and good torq. - just a thought - jaxx
jaxx, If the 2.5 is anything like the Neon 2.2, I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. My wife had a Neon when we were first married- one of the worst engines I've worked on. Parts are expensive, it's prone to leaking, early failure, etc. Every mechanic and/or parts jockey I talked to when I needed parts/advice/etc would roll their eyes in tormented disgust when I told them what I wa working on.
I would recommend the Ford 2.0 and 2.3s found in the Rangers. I have also seen a Pontiac Quad Four used in a hot rod. It was stripped down with a Weber I believe, Looked very slick.
Thanks Warpspeed, I'll pay you later. Sometimes there just isn't any way to get people to consider any suggestion that falls out side of their scope of familiarity. Randy Dupree ran one of these engines at the Maxton mile and turned 170 mph. That engine was actually destroked to 181 ci/in. There are all sorts of people who have no personal experience running one of these engines in a car that bad mouth the engine in many ways. The people that I listen to are the ones who have sucessfully run them. Most of them have modified them into the Twilight Zone and they have still hung together way past their expectations. The bottom end is actually heavier than a 460 ford truck engine. The crank weighs 66 lbs. the heavy internals help the engine from jumping around See this 470 running on the ground and notice that there is not any excessive jumping around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkIxuT5pt1I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kz5NPYIJdA I suggest mild modifications that provide good drivability, reliability and performance on the highway. Dick
These things are made to run all day long at FULL THROTTLE 4,800 rpm, pushing against a great wall of water. They are built like a tank. The 460 Ford truck motor heritage comes into it too, with it's 351 Cleveland main bearings, these things are tough. And they are also surprisingly also very light weight..... I would like to see some of these little toy overhead cam buzz motors run constantly at full load full throttle on a dyno at 7,000 rpm+ at full load for hours and hours on end trying to make similar power with similar durability..
wizzard23, The closest things to old Chevy II engines are the Mercruiser 120 and 140 engines. They are 2.5 and 3.0 liter Chevy industrial based engines sweetened up by Mercury Marine. They also make good banger engines but weigh over 100 lbs more and get about 90 to 110 hp less than the 3.7 liter 470s. They also require you to either make your own manifolds or purchase industrial or performance manifolds. The one benefit of them is that they are slightly shorter than the 470 mercruiser. I have a 140 hp in a boat that I got for $250.00 including the trailer. It isn't frozen up but I have yet to see of it will run. If I can get it to run I will probably put it in one of my future projects of maybe in a tractor. It would make an 8N tractor run very well. Anyway Mercruiser 4 cylinder engines are naturals for light weight early cars. Dick
Just to set the record straight... The neon and 2.2/2.5 have very very little in common with the neon 2.0. They have the same bore spacing, but that is about the end of them having anything in common. The only way to use neon speed parts on a 2.2/2.5 is to build a "hybrid" motor, a 2.2/2.5 bottom end with a neon DOHC top end. As for the neons bad rap... They had a design flaw in the original HG they came from the facotry with. Once those are replaced they are a very tough motor. Ive had more then a few neons, and have never had to do anything to them other then changing the oil. My current neon/DD has 220k on the chassis, 130k on the motor and Ive put the last 20k on it. I have done nothing to it but change the oil, and fix a couple leaks. But like anything, once it gets a bad rap its hard to get away from it. As for using either of these motors in a hot rod... I wouldn't. I have a love affair with the 2.2/2.5, Ive had a dozen of them. But I wouldn't put them in a traditional hot rod. They just don't have the right look, even in carb form. Even the carb motors use a ECU for the ignition. They also lean over like a slant 6 and I just cant see one looking right. Like I said, if anyone was gonna be the guy to put one of these in a rod I would be the guy, but no matter how you do it, its going to look like crap.
Mine is not a 2 litre but a 1600 from a Giulia GT 1965, 106bhp. I am currently building a lake header for it and in my opinion it looks great in the old Ford.
There was a street-driven T at Bonneville a couple years ago that had some kind of four-cylinder japanese bike engine in it. It looked kinda cool and sounded...well...like a bike engine, but it was surreal to hear that sound coming from a hot rod. It seemed to scoot pretty good, too. No idea what he was using for driveline parts though.
If you arent bothered with it looking "period" then slot in a Volvo t5 turbo or a Saab turbo engine. Both good for a very easy 300bhp with minor fiddling. Spend an extra $1000 and you could probably get 600bhp.
x2 I think the Ford 2.0/2.3 is about the ugliest motor out there. Might be tough and have loads of potential but it screams I'm from the 1980s.
The AMC 2.5 that was in millions of Jeeps is quite a nice engine. There are tons of performance parts and had a 5 speed before it. I have seen them go with trans for 2-300 dollars. Clifford Performance has a nice selection of parts.
The particular engine in the picture was produced from 2000-2007 and it can be found in they Chevy Cavalier, Chevy Cobalt, Chevy HHR, Olds Alero, Pontiac Grand Am, Pontiac Sunfire, Saturn L-cars, Saturn Ion, and Saturn Vue. Mine came out of a Saturn. The tranny is out of a Chevy Colorado pickup and the bellhousing is from a Pontiac Solstice.
I would go with the model "A" engine with a Riley two or four port head, Ardun head, a Chevy Overhead valve head, a ROOF head or a Miller head. I like the over drive transmission because you have six speeds instead of five. No metric wrenches required. The model "A" engine has a lot of torque.
The Jalopy Journal
