Favorite engines

[dan]

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 market

Chevrolet 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 405HP

Chevrolet 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-1

International, 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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[Benjamin Black]

For me, my favorite engine is the 4.2L Vortec Straight Six engines that they put in the Trailblazers. They have plenty of power and torque to get you (and whatever you are pulling) where wever you want. And they don’t feel like a heavy truck engine.

[Author]

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