[matt167]

So, I'v had my 460 Ford for my hotrod for a while now. Making mounts for the engine, and figuring, it needs at least new bearings ( all wiped to the copper ), and I can't verify the trans is going to work. If I built it, I would end up grossly increasing the HP, just because I could, and who knows if the chassis could hold it.. So I got to thinking, my local junkyard probably has somthing for me. they always do, and at a fair price..

I located a 1996 Ford 4.9L 6cyl with 115k and a 1995 Toyo/ Kogo 2wd 5spd trans with 157k ( '96 was/ is a 4x4 auto ).. $300 for the engine and $275 for the trans and who knows, I could get a discount. I could probably have the 6cyl running on a carb running with junkyard/ ebay parts for an earlier engine, for less than the cost of even a stock rebuild on the 460, and it would give me a tame engine, that the chassis will take, yet with a Offy or old " Power By Ford " valve cover, it will still look pretty good, and I'v always liked the sound of an I6

Any insight on this practical hotrod engine?

[Custom10]

Not on the 6 banger matt, but I can tell you I once rebuilt a 429 CJ another lima motor and thats why I am a chevy guy now

[Hotrodrobert]

Ford 4.9 can be made very strong. There are a lot of parts for this engine and it is very strong and reliable. you can find more info than you can believe at http://inliners.org/. Go to the message boards. Those guys make stupid power from inline 6s!!
Those engines rule in drag racing classes for these engines and they turbocharge nicely!!!

[matt167]

Originally Posted by Custom10

Not on the 6 banger matt, but I can tell you I once rebuilt a 429 CJ another lima motor and thats why I am a chevy guy now

what's wrong with the 429? 429/460 are the same except the crank. CJ had better heads and a diffrent intake

[matt167]

Originally Posted by Hotrodrobert

Ford 4.9 can be made very strong. There are a lot of parts for this engine and it is very strong and reliable. you can find more info than you can believe at http://inliners.org/. Go to the message boards. Those guys make stupid power from inline 6s!!
Those engines rule in drag racing classes for these engines and they turbocharge nicely!!!

I built a 200 with a turbo, ran out of money before it ran on the turbo tho, and I sold it cheap when I ran hard on cash.

[swvalcon]

A 300 ford 6 is about as dependable as they come. The 429-460 are heavy and love their gas stations. I had a ford van with a raised roof and a 460 lots of power but with two fuel tanks. You could run on one and drill a 3/8s hole in the bottom of the other and they would both run out at the same time.I always said the reason it didn't use more gas is the fuel pump couldn't pump any faster.

[matt167]

When my grandfather bought trucks, they had to be the 300 I6. he had 3 or 4 trucks in 20 years. all 1/2 tons. 1 or 2 F-100's, an '88 F-150 4x4 and a '95 F-150.. as he lost the need for the trucks, he traded the '95 and kept the '88 as a wood truck till the clutch went. '88 had 185k miles on the original clutch and the engine used no oil, tho wasn't the cleanest engine. Ended up selling the '88 as scrap because after the sitting, someone stole the gas out of the only good gas tank that was still under it with some kind of awl or punch, and when we pulled it from it's grave, the tank fell out. we put jumper cables on it and it rolled over, and did fire up on starting fluid, but the truck was basically gone

[Cape Cod Bob]

I had 1 ford 300-6
Bought it with 115000 on it and ran it up to 206. The seals were gone by then but I could not kill it and in the 150 I was usually the first off at the lite. Very strong till I sold it.

[LATECH]

I think a 2.3 litre with a small blower would be boss. The valve cover would say power by FORD on it. Just a thought. It would be considerably lighter than a 460 and the mileage would be a little better.It would also fit a smaller area than an inline six. Just my 2 c .
Look at Esslinger racing.com

[LATECH]

you can probably find a running 2.3 for next to nothing for mock up and a core fore a performance build.Lots of them were bolted to 4 speed trannys in rangers mustangs pintos etc.
Esslinger has a lot of eye candy for sale, some of the tech articles may be able to help you decide if you can afford a build that will give the horsepower/fun factor you want.

[matt167]

I'v actually looked for 2.0L's and 2.3L's. problem is, the dual plug 2.3's do not have the boss for the distributor/ camshaft position sensor, and the heads have diffrent intake ports than carb heads, so EFI is really all that's possible for them. That's what the donor truck had, and I actually gave it away. I looked again to find a carb'd 1 or an older 1 that used the CMP sensor, but those were only used in Mustangs and LTD-II's. both are rare for the junkyards around here. there are a few, but there a bit of a drive and too expensive ( given there rareish now ) or questionable junkyard.
I'v got about 3" of 'slack' I left in my cab location on the frame as I havn't built the cab mounts yet because I wanted to fit the cab to the engine,so the 300 should fit without much issue.

[Ford Junkie]

300 is a super dependable engine. Geared right with a little tweeking a basic 302 will sweat bad keeping up.

[LATECH]

The port shape on the 2 different 2.3 liters doesnt matter. I put a carb intake on a later FI 2.3 and I saw the difference in port shape. It didnt make any difference as they were both different from the intake and the intake from the FI motor was also different. FWIW.

[Custom10]

Originally Posted by matt167

what's wrong with the 429? 429/460 are the same except the crank. CJ had better heads and a diffrent intake

Nothing "wrong" with them it just cost me a fortune. It was in a 70 torino cobra and I knew it was worth the money but it set me back for a while.

[matt167]

Originally Posted by latech

The port shape on the 2 different 2.3 liters doesnt matter. I put a carb intake on a later FI 2.3 and I saw the difference in port shape. It didnt make any difference as they were both different from the intake and the intake from the FI motor was also different. FWIW.

what engine did you use? I know the block from '95 on did not have the distributor hole, and 2.3 dual plug heads ( most common on Rangers ) need to be swapped with single plug heads because the intake mounting is totally diffrent. So the common 2.3 Ranger engine that is widely available, needs a lot of work.. Mustangs used the single plug EFI engine until 1991 but rangers got the dual plugs in 1989. and for some reason, Hollander interchange says Mustang and single plug Ranger engines do not interchange.. I'v located an '88 Ranger 2.3 which is single plug, for $300 but at a yard that is very, very sketchy. '88 Mustang 2.3 at the same yard for same price, but there so sketchy, I don't trust them...