Put a hundredHP shot of nitrous on it and drive it til it blows up. Then upgrade to the 200 and go nuts.
Chaz - Haring and Flyin' eye are on the mark. The 144 usedta be the engine used by hydroplane racers in the 60's and 70's for class racin' - a super, super, well tuned 144 would make 200 HP on alcohol and Hilborn injectors. The engine wouldn't last a season; the combination of the long crank and five main bearings meant that crank whip would crack the crank and render the engine a hot lump of cast iron in no time flat. the 200 is a seven main bearing engine; everything (damn near) bolts on and the motor makes great torque and decent HP outta the box. The hot ticket is to add a cam, mill the intake to accept thee 1 bbl carbs, and add a header - you'll be knockin' on 200 HP. I had a '64 Falcon with the 170 and the two speed - I got beat in a stoplight drag by a diesel eldorado on 1980. Diesel Eldos took 17 seconds to get to 60 MPH. A 144 Falcon with a two-speed auto is like tattoing with a rusty needle, IMHO.
No, I think there are 3 guys in matching getups and 3 engines- multicarbed, supercharged, and injected.
Spending money on a 144 is like flushing money down the toilet. Please don't compare small displacement early hemi's and flatheads and such to the turd that is the 144. ditch it and do a 200 or bigger engine if you have your heart set on an I6. www.fordsix.com (I think) is close to releasing a serious aluminum head and intake for the 200/250. I believe early simulations put a 250 I6 at around 300-325 crank hp.
If you're gonna take the time to swap motors, go with the 250. There are hopup parts available, and you've got cubic inches on your side.
Do an internet search for "the ford falcon six cylinder handbook" Its an excellent book, and they have an entire chapter devoted to exactly how big of a pain in the ass it is to put a 250 in an early Falcon. Those who believe it is a bolt in just because its the same engine family are wrong. I've seen it done, its not easy. Theres so much work required you might as well put a 289 in it.
Go ahead and run that 144. Be sure to go to your local tractor supply and get one of them orange triangles to bolt to the trunk. Seriously, the 144 is slower than the smell leaving cat shit.
Isn't the 250 the same block as the 200? Maybe I'm mistaken in thinking it's a shoe-in. All I know is it worked great in my old Fairlane (which has about twice as much space in the engine compartment). All I did was weld up some tri-y headers and use a 1 to 2 bbl carb adapter. It would have worked even better with a different intake and a hot cam.
I know I'm gonna cause a shitstorm here, but my idea is to take the 144 and make the best of it. Are there better engines to work with? Hell yeah Everyone can see building up a flathead, but a logical move would be to replace it with a SBC... A built flatty will never be as dependable or run as strong as a comparable small block... Flatheads are something we just love and we overlook and compensate for their shortcomings. I'm caught up in the potential of this small displacemet ford six. surely theres someone else out there that is interested as well. I've already found some cams and carbs, and I think I can modify the intake thanks to some of the postings here...Sooooo.... Keep the comments coming. Good and bad I'm interested in it all. If it was about a swap, I'd put in a damn 289.....
One problem with it is the fact that you really won't want to rev it much, with those skinny, skinny rods, & lack of breathing. Unfortunately, it has an extremely short stroke, which would lend itself to revving in order to make some power. I can understand your thought process...it's the thrill of the chase, so to speak...would it be a possibility, if you don't want to change the engine...to at least change the crank, etc. & make a 170? Call it "stroking the engine" rather than "swapping the motor".
Flatheads were well designed for their time. Still reliable and able to make at least 200hp without blowing. The 200 was also a good mill. The 241 Hemi was good but small and has a cool foctor to it. You can also get reasonable performance out of it without getting stupid. The 144 just sucks. besides, you can probably find a good 200 cheap from a guy putting in a SBF in an old 'stang.
Homespun, Correct me if I'm wrong here,(and I usually am) but wouldn't a longer stroke make it MORE prone to come apart? I was thinking about leaving the stroke short and boring for larger pistons.
Chaz, I say go for it!!!!!!!! I'm pumpin up the 170 in my 62 Falcon, when and if it blows, then I'll look into a 200, but until then the 170 is it. I thought I had that cover pic saved, but can't find it now.
Hmmmm.. Lets see. The Ford flathead when introduced( 221 ci/65hp ) produced .29 horsepower per cubic inch. At is best , in 53 (336ci/ 152 hp) it produced .45 horsepower per cubic inch The 60 Ford Falcon (144ci/85hp) produced .59 horsepower per cubic inch. The crankshaft isnt even centered in a flatty. A lot of folks are telling me a 144 aint worth the effort and its a real dog.Yet the guy at the scrapyard can get sky high prices for flattys and I beam axles cause "that rat rod crowd will pay big money for those" I understand the allure of a flathead but lets get real - They're no great shakes either. It all comes down to what you like.
The only reason these engines on the cover are 144s is because the 200 hadn't been invented yet. The image showing the y-block being lowered into a Falcon is from one of the "spotlite" hot rod books (I think ... I don't own that one). Chaz, don't use the 144. If you do, I'll have to assume you also whip yourself and eat dog food.
Not saying you can't hot rod the Ford small six, just use the 200. I bought one COMPLETE, with TOPLOADER TRANNY, that RAN, for $100 from a Mustang guy. Ak Miller slingshot: An image I grabbed from the Internets. I think it was for sale at the Pomono swap meet, or something like that...
The 144/170/200 family of engines aren't worth much, even good running ones are pretty much give away engines. The 200s are not hard to find. I have good runner in my yard that was given to me with a good C4 trans attached. I know where there is annother good running 200 and C4 nearby that I can also have for free, all I'd have to do is go and pick it up. I would recommend against hopping up the 144 not because it is slow, but because the bottom end is super weak. Even just enough revs to get decent freeway speed will likely cause the 144 to scatter in short time, then you'll be looking for another engine to swap anyhow. Avoid some greif, find a 200 to swap in and hop that up.
That's true....so after 99 per cent of the posters on this thread have told you NOT to bother with the 144, and to go find a 200 instead, if you try to hop up the 144 anyway, "don't come crying to me" (to quote one of my father's familiar quotations from my childhood).
Chaz, The 144 & 170 use the same block, so "strokin'" it (the engine, dammit! ) at least won't cause any more problems than already exist. You would, however, need the 170 rods, & I believe the pistons are different as well, or at least they have a different skirt design. Not sure on the compression heights. Dunno if you want to spend that kind of coin if it runs OK now. Try headers, new valve springs, recurving the distributor, & maybe some intake/carb improvements & see where you go...not too much $$ lost if something catastrophic does happen.
Don't take this the wrong way but..... those numbers ellude to efficency in stock form and are pretty much worthless in this context.
damn wish i could find my pictures in high school in 2003 I had a 170 in a '65 falcon 4dr. Anyway a milled 200ci head and a homemade header,also built a adapter to run a rochester 2gc on the stock intake.With the three on the tree it was some fun and quite the sleeper with the stock aircleaner on it honda boys had no idea. Wasn't the fastest at school but was fun and would kill the ricer crowd.
Thanks for posting the cover, Haring. Do you have the whole article? I still haven't unearthed mine. I should sway against the 144 to motivate you more . I wonder how many of you naysayers have grenaded the mighty 1-4-4. I somewhat abused mine and it never went. I've got what I was told is a SROD trans. (4-speed OD), a turbo, and a Falcon Holley 1-bbl carb for sale (maybe loan) and Chaz could do it up similar to the supercharged one on the cover. An exhaust manifold can be made from Weld Ells. With low boost it'd make 100 HP and with not-so-high RPMs it'd probably do it reliably. Doesn't your Falcon already have a 144? Auto or manual? And, if the 144 goes, upgrade then.
200's are cheap and easy to get, I bought mine for 100 bucks and it came with a c-4 and a set of wheels with 4 new tires. I love those v-8 guys they can't get rid of the 6 banger stuff fast enough :O) http://public.fotki.com/Keith__Shannan/our_1961_falcon_wagon/200_6_cylinder_and/ keith
Sorry guys but this one wont leave my head... Now to show you how stupid my thought process is , I'm thinking.. A racing challenge for 144 /170 ci ford sixes, The engines are cheap, and since speed parts are rare, homebuilt modificaions would RULE ! It'd be fun to watch because shit would be blowing up all over the place! Blow it up? Go get another giveaway engine. Kinda like a HAGR , but the cost would stay within everyones range, I gotta get more sleep..............
I'll bring the sun dial to time them :O) I drove a comet with a 144/automatic it was very poky. But ran great. My 61 falcon with a 170/3speed is a speed demon compared to that comet. look at this big pile of............performance
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