Hot Rods The best engine you have ever had- looking back

A 289 in a 65 Custom 500. Bought the car for $100, ran the piss out of it for 3 years then sold the engine that was still running great for $100 to friend for his 63 Fairlane wagon. That was 45 or so years ago. Little sbf was indestructible.

 

Beat the hell out of my 289 4b 4sp Ford, never left me on the side of the road, went 313,000 before it ate its timing chain, just lucky I guess.

 

Dependable & trouble free ; 300ci 1979 ford 6 ! Couldn't get out of its own way @ highway speeds towing , but able to pull tree stumps ! In 140k miles & 20 years ;
1 water pump
1 fuel pump
1 egr valve
1 " tune up"
Guy that bought it got 6 more years out of it ( I know he never changed the oil )
Edit , 1 set of brakes
1 muffler

 

The 225 in my 62 Dodge 1/2 ton with a 411 ish limited rear end lasted for just under 300k miles before I gave it away still running. The only major work it had a piston put in at 163K, started chewing up plastic distributor gears around 270k, so I fond a metal one. At this time it would also bend push rods going over 55 MPH. I gave it away to a guy who needed the rear end but he just switched out my rusted cab and put his on. The truck was later stolen and fond with the engine and tranny gone.

 

Jeez, I have to jump on the 327 sbc bandwagon. True story: I used to sell tools and one of my customers had a shortblock with domed pistons under his brake lathe for many many years. Every so often I would ask him about it, his answer was always " you don't want that, it's been under my lathe for 20 years". Well one day I took the engine for a down payment on a scan tool. Turns out it's a '68 over the counter 327 with steel crank, pink rods, 10.5 to 1 pistons. I cleaned it THOROUGHLY at home, new rings and bearings, L79 cam, put 461 2.02 heads and the 3x2 set up. Slammed it into the 57 in'09 and I'm still wailing on it! What a great, tough motor!!

 

In 1990 I built an oval port 454 with a 6-71 and a Chet Herbert hydraulic flat tappet cam. 4 bolt, L88 rods, TRW blower pistons, good 2.19 valves. Made about 640 horses, and has been through all kinda hell, including drag racing, land speed, and at least 10,000 street miles. Still going strong in it's 3rd car.

 

Those LA engines are tough. I have a guy 100 bucks for a MH that wouldn’t start, small one built on a 1 ton chassis.
Anyways, quick oil check, good, cleaned up the cables, put a battery in it, she fired off.
Hmnn, no oil pressure. No worries I thought. Has a slight engine miss. Hardly noticeable.
Figured I’d crawl under it and take a look at some things, out of the corner of my eye, I’m like “wtf”. Rod sticking out the top side of he pan.
For grins I tore the engine down, carnage unfolded. Some push rods all bent up laying in the valley, the crank has a wear through it like nothing I’d seen before.
Did I mention just a slight miss? Lol.

 

105bhp from 79cu.in. is 1.33bhp/cu.in. That's equivalent to a 465bhp 350. And to think that the twin-cam was available in that state of tune in 1955!

The closest I've had to a "traditional" engine was the 948cc BMC A-series in the Morris Minor. That's where my love of SU carbs comes from. I did have a BMW M05: first introduced in 1965, with the M10 engine family of which it was a version dating from 1962. That was probably the most beautiful engine I've owned, and might have turned out to be the best if I'd had the money to sort it properly. A series of VW EA827s took me the furthest distance, though.

 

One other engine I beat on was a 1979 360 we got out of a Illinois Highway Patrol Car. Paid $125 for the car at an auction. It had HP stamped on the heads. Don’t know if that stood for highway patrol or high performance. It had a thermos used on it that would suck your hat off your head.

We used the car for our burnout car. Went through hundreds of old used tires.

Ended up pulling it and stuffing it a friends 79 pickup. It was quite the sleeper.

 

The 4.3 in my 94 GMC. Almost 472,000 and never so much as a valve cover been off still smooth and quiet
And (not) powerful

 

Log my vote for the 327 also. Had one in a '62 chevy 2 sedan, 4 spd., geared, etc. 350hp cam, and mild build--'vette killer delux.

 

I've always had a soft spot for FE's but one of the oddest, running wise, was a '63 383 Chrysler. It would overheat in a skinny minute but never gave up, never blew a head gasket, nothing. I found out after taking it out to use in a '57 Dodge Coronet that the cooling jacket was full of casting sand and the head passages were blocked. Second place is the LA 318 in my old van. ran it dry of oil (twice!) when the feed line to the mechanical oil pressure gauge broke. Clattered like a garbage can full of rocks but new filter and oil and she ran like a top. Quieted down in just a couple of minutes running.

 

Probably the slant 6 in one of my first cars... a 1963 Plymouth Valiant 2dr. Stupid ass me beat on it mercilessly. Surprising power and never a problem with the engine. I did notice the transmission eventually protesting a little bit from the many push-button neutral slams. There was no RPM safety switch for the transmission. Rev it up and hit the button. BAM!

 

The 327 in my coupe has been in there for 40+ years. Still runs pretty good. I've got some aluminum heads on the shelf waiting for it, as well as a bigger cam. I'll probably just inspect the bearings and cylinder walls and if everything looks ok it's going back together for another couple decades.

The 350 I got from you @Roothawg was a strong runner in my 40 sedan.

 

Buick nailhead in my 29 Ford roadster first a 1957 364 in. then a 1965 425 in. nearly 60 years of Buick powered hot rod beating them at the light.

 

Best one was an Olds 394 a buddy pulled out of a '61 88 parked in another friends back yard. Hadn't been run or moved for 5 years or so at the time. He and his dad put it in a 1950 Ford panel truck; then abandoned the project when he left the area for work. I inherited it, changed the oil and filter, cleaned the plugs and points and drove it for a bunch of years; daily driver, work truck, bike hauler you name it, on the freeway and forest service roads. Abused it mightily and it held up. After a couple of years the Roto-Hydramatic gave up the ghost so I swapped in an early Hydro and drove it for at least three more years. The engine finally broke a chunk out of the cylinder block between two cylinders which sent it to the scrap yard.

 

429CJ that I put in my 66 Cyclone. Would shift it at 7200rpm. One fast car. Also the flatty in my 39. Been running since 1993.

 

Stock nylon cam gear is the Achilles Heel on the 289. I've owned many of them and my favorite engine w/ the large bore/short stroke. Low piston speeds= longevity. For all-around durability (and worst fuel mileage) has to be 300 I6. No timing chain

Joe

 

When I bought my 38 Chevy "kit" car in 73 he threw in a 350 SBC. I knew zip about overhauling motors but I'd read a lot of hot rod magazines articles and had a Chilton's manual, and a garage When I tore down the engine it had a windage tray and a six quart pan with trap doors, it was an early 350 with the hole for the draft tube. When I disassembled I found some of the rings were not in the right place so I just cleaned 'em up (using an old wring to clean the lands), had the crank ground, cut out the ring ridge, (yeah it should have been bored) had the valves ground, used an unknown cam with solid lifters. It saw 7K a couple of times but most of the time it was just a driver car (after a divorce it was my only car for a time) I drove it 20Kmiles and parked it in the late 80's (long story) the motor locked up so I disassembled and "did it right". The rebuild was not initially as good as what I had back in the 70's, now it's OK after I fixed my own errors. With age did not come wisdom

 

Hate to say it but two both off topic . #1 72 olds 350 over 400 thousand miles ,one timing chain dozen valve cover gaskets and rocker arms.
Other one 94 350 in my daily driver pickup 600 thousand and still going one timing chain (at 500 thousand) and one set valve cover gaskets
I KNOW both off topic BUT you asked!!

 

Back in the early 80's I bought a 440 Dodge engine from a coworker to replace the blown up 400 in my off-topic Charger. It was basically a dingle ball rebuild with a mild cam, Edelbrock Torker and a Holley 780. I raced that car to hell and back going through 5 or 6 automatic transmissions and a couple rear ends but that 440 would never die. It was still in the car and ran like a top when I sold the car a few years later. Never had another engine that absorbed so much abuse without as much as pulling a valve cover.

 

A 300 Horse 327 Does It For Me..

 

Here’s all that’s left of my dream engine from the ‘60s, a piece of pan rail sitting on the ashtray that I made out of a Jahn’s piston from my buddy Gene’s seized 301 Chevy from around the same time. We were hard on equipment back then.

 

Ford or dodge ?

 

Hey Lou, those 300 hp engines don't get enough respect, you have any more photos.
Friend of mine has a blue 66 roadster with a 327/300 hp, I tell him it's his L-79's (Chevelle) little brother.

 

Sorry, Dodge.

 

Similar from 1959-61

Hello,

That would be our second iteration of the original 283 SBC we bought as a long block in 1959. We ran the 6 Stromberg carb version of a 283 with an Isky Cam, polished heads and aluminum pistons/rods. Then 3 months later, we took apart the whole motor and had it bored to 292 c.i. from Reath Automotive. Now, the goal was to get it back together with the blower spec speed parts we could get our hands on for the next level.

So, a new 671 supercharger we bought from a diesel dealer’s showroom display, that Reath modified and put together. A Joe Hunt Vertex Magneto, new ported and polished heads, Jahns Pistons/Rods, a balanced Reath Crank, and a new to the market, Isky Gilmer 671 Blower Kit for the 292 SBC motor. It was one of the first Isky-Gilmer Kits for an SBC on the scene. The rest of the parts that could be used were taken from our parts supply from the original 283 build.

The 6 Stromberg carbs sat on a new Weiand Maniford specifically for a 671 install. The 671 sat on an Edelbrock Blower Manifold. Hedman Headers with dual mufflers, finished the 1940 Willys Coupe, street legal install and components.

Now, it was a licensed, street legal Willys Coupe that was driven on the streets of Bixby Knolls and did well at Lion’s Dragstrip in the B/Gas class at first. Then with additional steel structure welded in support in the trunk, over the rear axle, we were able to drop into the C/Gas Class for competition.

Jnaki

As good as the new 292 C.I. SBC motor ran, it led us to believe we could set national records in the C/Gas class. Our 12.60 E.T. was a .20 sec off of the national record for 1960. Our plan was already set in motion with the goal of the U.S. Nationals in Detroit in the Fall of 1960.

So, we had on order and sitting in a friend’s warehouse in Los Angeles, larger/wider M&H slicks, sized to fit Halibrand Mags, and a Two Port Hilborn Injection System. The install of a B&M or C&O Stick Hydro was also on the install books for the middle of August.
Lion's Dragstrip pits
But, without the 292 SBC 671 blower spec motor build with what we used, it would have been fruitless.

What would it have been like installed in the 58 Impala?

A similar concept install by the Mickey Thompson Speed Shop proposal in the fall of 1960
or taking the place of the old, Flathead, under powered motor out of the Salmon Pink Sedan Delivery?
to this:
The opportunities were endless, but time and life moved on with the story ending after we said goodbye to the 671 SBC motor in a crate, being shipped off to the new ownership from the Midwest.

 

The Slant 6 in my 64 Valiant when I was in High School as well as the 223 Straight Six in my current 55 F100 and 4 Banger in the Model A. They have been very reliable and easy to maintain.

 

My favorite engine is my current flathead, but since you asked best, I also have to go str8 six. My 1954 Hercules str8 six is a beast and runs like a top. Just absolutely bulletproof engines.

 

The 383 (2bbl) in my grandmother’s 64 Chrysler Saratoga (2dr). Rated at 305 hp/410ft-lbs. it would easily squawk the tires going through the gears even with a 2.73 rear end.