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Favorite engines?
we have all owned cars or liked cars that have engines we enjoyed, what ever reason we liked the engine in the car, power, torque, reliability and how easy it was to work on it all depends on the person i suppose…
whats yours?
and here is my list not in any nesissary order
2.5L “Iron Duke”
the little Iron duke as it was nicknamed is probably my favorite inline four cylinder engine, i got too work on one that was in a scramble derby car. it was a 8 valve pushrod four cylinder engine though it wasn’t the most powerful engine out there it put out enough power too make the car scoot through a few victories on the race track, and it took some serious abuse as well, it was originally developed buy Pontiac.3100SFI
though it was plagued with its lower intake manifold issues and piston slap the 3100 SFI was a reliable and durable engine with simple care would run for hundreds of thousands of miles, the little 60 degree V6 was a 12 Valve pushrod engine that with later variants created 175HP at the crankshaft, simple modifications like throttle body swaps or top swaps with a 3400 engine could boast it a little more power, but as far as the parts market was concerned for aftermarket, there wasn’t much too make it a power house.
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3800 “Buick 231″[/color][/b]
i will always have a warm spot in my heart for the beastly buick 231, also known as the 3800… it earned a reputation as a robust engine, and one of the last 90 degree V-6 pushrod engines with cast iron block and heads to be put in modern cars as old as 2008! the earlier series I engines put out some 160HP, later series II L-36 engines put out 205HP too the crank as well as the L-26 series III which is probably a modest rating considering the many improvements for the series III, the L-67 supercharged engine is well known and is rated at 240HP and the L-32 rated at 260HP with its Gen V M-90 Blower was the last supercharged 3800 too be put in cars like the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP… simple modifications too fuel system and smaller supercharger pullies result in horsepower ratings as high as 350HP at the WHEELS, stock bottom ends on these engines are recorded too withhold over 500HP at the wheels with turbo conversions, and various very high performance versions are known for being rated at over 800WHP in fwd W body cars… it is also known for being the engine in the 87 Buick GNX!Ford 300 straight six
not powerful, not pretty too many, but there is one thing that cannot be denied in the case of the ford 300 straight six and that was it just wouldn’t die! arguably one of the most durable engines ever made the straight six was also easy to work on, few things where changed with the engine as it was used for years, simple things like fuel delivery and ignition and maybe a little bit of mechanical, otherwise throughout its entire service life it remained pretty much the same engine proving its reliability, it was eventually phased out in the search for more fuel economy.Chevrolet 327 small block
the 327 is a well known engine, fuel injected versions where put in cars like the legendary 1963 Corvette stingray split window, rated at 375HP this little high revving small block was not lacking in power, a reason Corvette chose the engine.Chevrolet 350 small block
every car guy knows the Chevy 350, it was used for YEARS, from trucks too cars, even the Corvette saw extensive use of the 350 small block Chevy, many variations where made, many different horsepower ratings, probably one of the most well known engines on the marketChevrolet LT-5 DOHC 350 V8
introduced in 1990 and put in the ZR-1 Corvette of that year, the high revving DOHC v8 put out 375HP which in that time period was super car territory, later versions created 405HPChevrolet LS-7 7 Liter small block 427 V8
this engine was put in the Corvette C-6 Z06 and put out 505HP, its true displacement in Cubic Inches is probably however more like 428Cubic inches.Chevrolet LS-9 6.2L Supercharged V8
this engine is the engine in the C-6 Corvette ZR-1 cranking out 638HP it is not at all lacking in power, and makes the Corvette ZR-1 a fast car along with other engineering!
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Chevrolet L-88 427 big block V8[/color][/b]
nothing like big block power, and the L-88 provided plenty of that, rated at 435HP from the factory, but this was a hush hush Bulls@#$ rating, they under rated the engine too keep the authorities from getting there underpants in a twist, rev the engine too 6,500rpm and the engine will twist the crank too 560HP! it had a 12:1 compression ratio, cast iron block, aluminum heads, 750CFM 4BBL carb. with headers, high compression pistons and a few tweaks and tunning race engines would bust out between 600 and 800HP and rocket racing corvettes too victory!Chevrolet ZL-1 427 big block V8 “aluminum L-88.”
about 140 of these engines where made and put in ZL-1 Corvettes and ZL-1 Camaros which with other added bonuses with the package added a hefty price tag too the car, the ZL-1 427 was a aluminum block engine with steel cylinder sleeves, a sister too the cast iron L-88! it was 100LB lighter however than her cast iron sister, and created some 580HP, thanks too a slightly hotter cam and some say slightly higher compression ratio, other than that she was very similar too her cast iron sister!Chevrolet 454 7.4L Big block V8
introduced in the Corvette ZR-1 package in 1970, this engine featured a lower compression ratio that its smaller sister 427 but boasted around 500LBFT of torque, some say there is a version with identical compression too that of the 427 small blocks such as the L-88 and it put out some 600HP, but it was used in just more than the corvette, it was also in the Chevelle SS and a few other cars int muscled, and was also put in trucks too!Buick 455
this engine was put in the Buick GSX and was lighter than Chevrolets 454, but put out hefty HP ratings that made the Buick GSX one of my favorite muscle cars.Ford 427
the engine that was banned from Nascar, some say because it was so powerful, the truth is that it wasn’t in any regular production car so it wasn’t necessarily legal, it was a 427 V8 SOHC engine with a 13:1 compression ratio, some rate it at 650HP and it was a very powerful engine, rivaled engines like the 426 Hemi and the 427 ZL-1International, 7.3L Diesel V8 “Ford Powerstroke.”
i like the International 7.3L though some give it the hateful name “power choke.” because quite commonly they blow head gaskets when heavily modified, but i have something too say, i have seen Cummins blow head gaskets too! so its not just a powerstroke problem, a good diesel engine in my opinion!Packard Merlin V-1650-7 V12
no its not a car engine, its a airplane engine and was put into the P-51D Mustang but it has been placed in some cars, it was a 60 degree V12 engine with a displacement of some 1,649CI built under license almost a copy of the Rolls Royce Merlin 66 V12 engine. it featured a “injection.” or “pressurized carburetor.” which allowed inverted flight or negative G without stalling the engine a issue had with earlier Merlin engines with float style carburetors. it also featured a two stage two speed supercharger which was in essence a big centerfugal supercharger with a smaller one on top of it, the second speed would spin the compressor turbines faster, the second stage would have the smaller turbine feed the larger one… this allowed excelent high altitude performance, giving the P-51D Mustang a service sealing of 41,900FT and a top speed of 437MPH at a critical atitude of 25,000ft under Military power, and 442-448MPH under war emergency power. at takeoff at sea level it had a power rating of 1,490HP and 1,590HP with the second stage engaged for higher altitude operation, at full boost measured in mercury of 67HG it had a power rating of 1,720HP at 3,000RPM and could sustain that for about 5 minutes before possible engine damage, this mode was achieved buy advancing the throttle on the quadrant passed a stop gate wire. with 150 Octane AV Gasoline some 2,000HP was possible at about 72HG mercury boost, it also was liquid cooled.Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Wasp 18 Cylinder double row radial engine
no this is not a car engine, and hasn’t really seen any cars, this is a 18 cylinder air cooled radial with a displacement of about 2,800CI. its rated at 2,000HP but later versions with a more advanced version of water alcohol injection put out 2,450HP. the engine was large and heavy but wasn’t lacking at all in power and torque, it was really actually two engines sandwiched together. what also made this engine great was how durable it was, aside from it being air cooled meaning no liquid cooling system to fail it was extremely durable, engines had been recorded having entire cylinders blown off, low oil pressure, and still created enough power to get a plane home.
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[quote=”wafrederick” post=138711][
The 3100 SFI and 3400 also have problems with camshafts breaking in half.The block is automatically scrap when this happens washing out the cam bearings.I scrapped a 3400 for this reason out of a 2002 Pontiac Aztec.The block is casted wrong in the cam journal is the reason why.[/quote]I have heard of that issue with the 60 degree V6 engines, though it wasn’t as common as some of the other issues, and seemed to only be a problem with a couple of the engines, my old Buick Century never had that problem, and i beat the tar out of it.
[quote=”13aceofspades13″ post=145085][quote=”wafrederick” post=138711][
The 3100 SFI and 3400 also have problems with camshafts breaking in half.The block is automatically scrap when this happens washing out the cam bearings.I scrapped a 3400 for this reason out of a 2002 Pontiac Aztec.The block is casted wrong in the cam journal is the reason why.[/quote]I have heard of that issue with the 60 degree V6 engines, though it wasn’t as common as some of the other issues, and seemed to only be a problem with a couple of the engines, my old Buick Century never had that problem, and i beat the tar out of it.[/quote]
The culprit is the block was casted wrong,the camshaft journals were casted off set and the camshaft is hollow in the middle.Leaking intake gaskets not caught in time take them out kills them too.Have replaced these engines because of leaking intake gaskets not caught in time.Both interference engines too,differant pushrod lengths (6 long and 6 short).Will bend valves if the push rods are put in the wrong spot.makes sense, not catching the leaking intake gasket can ruin your bottom end in a hurry, i would imagine it would do the same to the bearings for the cams…
My favorite engines are the jeep 4.0 I6, I dont think you can kill any of those from before -96.
The electrics might do some weird things.. Renix anyone? but if thats not a problem they are great, you get all power and torque at around 2000rpms which is great for towing and offroading.The 5.2 and 5.9 liter v8:s in the grand cherokee,s are also good
The 6.2 and 6.5td engine in chevy trucks, the 6.2 is slow but sounds awesome nice when it starts in cold weather.
Only drawback i can think of with the 6.5 td is that the block cracks on the earlier ones, the one i have has a crack in it at “only” 625000milesThen there is the 14liter and 16 liter v8,s that scania used in their trucks, relativley easy to work on and plenty of power and torque for just about anything.
They also sounds great with straight pipes.
Here is a scania 143 v8 w straight pipes ( i have actually worked on it and driven it a few times at the garage i work at)
This truck is scrapped now, electrical problems and age got to itHere is a mix of scanias 3,4 and R series with v8,s and all is sounding great according to me
I live maybe 10km,s from one of the highways here and through that town the road has an incline on it so i can hear when a scania v8 is charging up that hill.
Well as I have one in my Commodore SV6
GM HFV6
[IMG]http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/22/464dc3f2ed605dac9f4a40e77b28a5a2.jpg[/IMG]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks for the suggestion man! I am inlove with everything toyota so I have to be biasd by number 5. I am sure you agree with me that its the best also :p
[quote=”Jinzo” post=107618]I got a nice list of engines. Some newer some classic. also this list isnt in a particular order
1. 225 Slant Six. This engine has so much potential in it. The thing was damn near bullet proof.
2. 426 Hemi.
3. 3800 v6. Same as the slant six so durable and could be modified to make a ton of horsepower.
4. Subaru EJ Engines. They always had crappy gas mileage but what they lacked in that they made up for raw power in a light package.
5. Toyota 1JZ. these things was awesome in drifting cars and good for drag racing to.[/quote]Thanks for the suggestion man! I am inlove with everything toyota so I have to be biasd by number 5. I am sure you agree with me that its the best also :p
got some new engines i really like, and they are of the really old kind…
Clerget 9b
the Clerget 9b was a air cooled rotary piston engine, meaning the crank was stationary, and the block rotated on the crank with what ever it was driving bolted the crank case in most cases the prop for a airplane. the pistons rotated on the crankshaft via connecting rod and slave rods, in a offset smaller circle than the cylinders.
The benefit of a rotary piston engine was it was self cooling, and saved a lot of weight, because the entire engine block rotated it self cooled as the cylinders spun, also the block acted as a flywheel and required no flywheel, a lot of the jobs of certain parts of the engine where done with centrifical force such as the valves being held shut and the engine being lubricated, the clerget 9b only weighed 350LBS or so, which meant it was a lot lighter than inline engines.
the downsides where simple, it had a all loss lubrication system and was lubricated by castor oil, as the engine ran the oil just pretty much got dumped out of the rockers, and got slung into the slip stream of the airplane, causing the pilot and their machine to get soaked in oil. the engine most of all especually for lighter airplanes such as the Sopwith Camel with the bigger Clerget 9b caused a lot of gyroscopic procession, the engine made up roughly 1/4 of that weight, and 1/4 of that weight was spinning between 500 and 1,500RPM, the effect was the airplane would want to climb when yawed left, or yaw left when climbed, adversely it would want to dive when yawed right, or yaw right when dove… the effect happened with the horison, so when the airplane was turned to the left the aircraft seemed to want too yaw up, or turned right it would want to yaw down, so the pilot would have to counter these effects with rudder inputs.
The rotary piston engine was applied to automobiles!
I have some more engines I like as well. Mainly either for historical purposes or there innovation or design.
Ford Flat-head V8. I think this was one the first engines used in hot rods.
Mazda Wankel Engines. I love the Rotary engine. So fun to look at and watch
Ford Eco-boost. I’ve been as of late fascinated by these engines. namely the 4 cylinders. I can’t believe how much power and fuel economy Ford’s been able to get out these things. It’s awesome that these things can whip the pants off some the bigger v8s now.I had the 3100 SFI in a 95 Grand Prix. It was starting to have an engine rattle that could’ve been a camshaft bearing, but I traded it in for a brand new 2003 Venture before anything bad happened. The 3400 LA1 engine was complete junk, and they knew it before it went into production. It’s why my car listing is Ford now. The older LQ1 aka 3400 DOHC was a better engine. I did like GM’s 4.3 motors; as I still see many of those on the road.
2.5L “Iron Duke” – Really? Designed as a tractor engine and used in 1980’s GM cars. I think the 1980 carbureted version maybe had 80-HP. At least the later EFI version got good fuel economy, but the torque to yield head bolts would break and blow out the head gasket.
My vote would be the Offenhauser.
The Buick 3800 is also good
I’m a Mopar guy, and they had some decent engines (and some junk too.)
I never has a slant 6 but hear they are good.
The V-8’s are strong and can be built to double their advertised power rating fairly easily.
The nice thing with some of these older cars, is the drivetrain (transmission and rear diff) could take the extra power.The Chrysler 3.3L V-6, and 3.5L SOHC engines were pretty good for the 1990’s
The only 2 engines I’ve had the opportunity to work on are the Jeep 3.7L V6 DOHC and the Jeep 4.0 Inline 6. Both great and strong engines. Love the torque on the 4.0L and its easier to do most of the routine maintenance versus the 3.7L.
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