So I need an engine for the ol '62 ranchero, came stock with a 170 straight 6 and 3 speed on the column. Im thinkin' a little more torque than that could offer would be nice. Apparantly droppin a 200 ci in there is basically the same. Others say might as well drop in a 250 or even 300 ci SIX cylinder. My question is If I did go with the 200 or 250, could I still run the 3 speed?(Uses different bellhousing?) I also hear the 250 could chew that thing up. Otherwise I would be choppin up the floor to fit a shifter in there..(for say a 4 speed?) Lastly, could the stock 7.25" 4 lug rear end hold up to the 250's power?(For more than oh say a 1/4 mile?) Any input from all you 6 cylinder gurus out there would be great
I took the worn out 170 out of a 63 and put the 200 in. Every thing bolted right up and the only thing I had to alter was the carb linkage. Big differance in power too.
put a 250 in it and just take it easy, start collecting parts from a maverick that came with a 250. The 240 /300 is a whole nother animal, might as well put a v8 in it. Consider the 240/300 a big block 6cyl.. the 250 should just fall in place of the 170.
You could go with the 250, it should be a bolt in. The 300 is a totally different monster. The trans and rearend will probably hold as long as you don't hot rod it to much. If you do they will probably grenade. If it were me I would look into a 200" they have better power & torque, but not so much that you would have anything to worry about. I don't know if this matters to you, but it would still get killer mileage.
Thanks for the responses Oh and if I do start gettin on it with a bigger engine I'll be sure to film it Nuthin like some good ol gear grinding to get the day started
The 250 will require mods to the oil pan, drag link or both. There will also be no room for a mechanical fan on the engine, and an electric fan will have to be a pusher mounted in front of the radiator. The 250 will use the small block bellhousing pattern and not the pattern that the 170 and 200 use. The hood clearance will also be tight with the 250 because it is a taller engine. I would go with a 200.
300 too big without major modifications. 200 sixes are a dime a dozen. work just fine. got one in mine. enough power to get the car out of it's way and i get 18-20mpg in town with an auto. if it was a stick, probably more like 22. 200 is the way to go before gettin a v8 in there.
The 144, 170, and 200 share the bellhousing patern until 1977. Then the changed to a 4 bolt pattern that uses 4 of the V8's six bolt pattern. All the 250's use the V8 pattern. The 240/300 is a completely different animal and is considerabley larger that the small six family. The 250 is 1.66" taller than the 200 but should fit fine in your Rancherino. The 250 is 1.5" wider which means you need to slot the motor mounts so that it does not sit even higher. The 250 is about an inch longer so you probably will have to go to an electric pusher fan.
The 3 speed will not last long behind the 200 Talk to these folk: http://tffn.net/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=13&sid=b3b4c8e7a76720128d55da9353f502c7
Oh, an remember. Fuel mileage is irrelevant if it pukes half of it out on the ground while you're trying to fill it. At least with mine the vent tube is ridiculously small and no match for todays pumps.
i just threw a rod in my 62 falcon!!!! the bugger shot right through the freakin oil pan, i was running the stock 170, but now that i have to fix it im on the fence about rebuilding it or looking for a 200
Id vote for the 200. It will bolt right in, the rear and the trans will hold up, and if stuff starts breaking that stuff is dirt cheap around here because everyone wants to put v-8s in there stuff and gets rid of the smaller stuff for cheap. I bought a rebuild c-4 with 10k on it, a fresh 200 with 30k on it, new motocraft starter and alternator and it had a whole new petronix ignition for 200 bucks. Just because the guy was putting a v-8 in it. I just painted it, re gasketed it and put a split header on it. Look at my avatar.
I would also vote 200ci, cause of the ease of the swap. Second would be the 250 the added power and torque would be nice, but you would need to upgrade the rest of the drive line. The 250 also opens up a whole other world of trans options, like the T5! I would not want to go through the work to install a 300 in a round body falcon! It would take a lot of firewall modification, and you will have some serious hood clearance problems. I am replacing the 200 in my Comet with a 250 and T5 five speed. But the 200 moves it along just fine! Brian.
installing a 250 into a roundbody (60-63) falcon isn't as easy as it might seem. the block deck is taller, the pan is wider, and the water pump sticks out farther so using a fan on it is impossible. the bigger bellhousing may or may not mean you'll have to beat fuck out of the tunnel to make it fit, and then forget about kickdown linkages, they won't fit. if a 200 won't do, go V8. it's less work in the long run.
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