Ford 272 C.I. runs low 11's. Why do Mopar guys need 408's?
- Thread starter 318willrun
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NC Engine Builder
Grumpy Old Man
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That's the car I mentioned in post #66
j par
Well-hung Member
I was just wondering why somebody disagreed with post #8 ??...
I pressed on the disagree to find out who that could be and lo and behold. It's mad scientist yellow rose rat bas-turd ...
AKA madyellowrat... LOL...
I know he longed for my attention but can't he just not push the disagree button and pretend? I'm not there as well...
j par
Well-hung Member
I helped a customer restore a 63 fairline 500.. He had the engine rebuilt twenty years previous and never broke it in... (260).. It was a cute little thing with not much interchangeability it seems like... It ran fine, for whatever reason he wanted to take it back apart and I can't remember why. But we took the heads off and had them gone through again... I don't know if it was his paranoia or what but we did it... while in the meantime we rebuilt the 2 speed Ford O-matic...Ford did have a 221 and a 260 V8, they could easily grow to a 272. But this guy is 6 popp'n it ???I seen a Pontiac that had a 4 cyl (from the factory, half a 389) and it would go 11's
One thing I know for sure that two speed was no performance transmission... It consisted of the two smallest little clutches i've ever seen in a transmission...
j par
Well-hung Member
The fun part about that car was when his seventeen year old son came in while we were breaking the engine in.. He had spent his entire life helping his father push that car in and out of the shop and it was the first time he ever seen it actually running...
j par
Well-hung Member
OK as I talk about it now. I remember why we had to take that engine out and take it back apart.. Twenty years previous in his infinite wisdom did not put any r t v on any gasket and it was leaking out of every orfish l o l...
I personally owned a '63 Fairlane. Fun car, 3 on the tree 170 6 popper
my Dad and brothers owned a lot of '64 Fairlanes. 260, but most were 289's. Man those cars were quick with a 289 2bbl and a standard shift. I said it before, but may be the quickest small engine with a factory 2bbl of that age. 273 2bbl and 283 2bbl's didn't have a chance.
j par
Well-hung Member
Somewhere I have a video of him With the car completely gutted a driver's seat and him doing a twenty foot long burn out l o l... But the car was drag race light. It didn't have windows seats interior or anything in it. We were just testing the engine and transmission... You could say he was putting it to the test...
j par
Well-hung Member
Tomorrow i'm helping a new customer who has a seventy fast back mustang and a four sixty on an engine stand that's been dyno'ed... It's painted but it's also gutted. It has a four linked ford nine and a mustang two front suspension.. My preference is this and starting from scratch and not fixing other people's work...
I distinctly remember those 302/5.0 fox body mustangs whuppin all over the 305/5.0 camaros.
In fact, it was so bad of a mis-match that magazines started doing shootouts between the 5.0 mustangs and 350/5.7 corvettes!
...and sometimes the mustangs won!
In fact, it was so bad of a mis-match that magazines started doing shootouts between the 5.0 mustangs and 350/5.7 corvettes!
...and sometimes the mustangs won!
Since ford is main topic...this is a 64 falcon me and my best friend are building...(his car) 1964 falcon Coyote lll gen with 98mm turbo...he is going 4 link 9"...10.5w....oh yeah...lenco...gonna be funnnn
j par
Well-hung Member
Since we're talking fords... My customer I helped do a frame off restoration on a seventy two hi boy of course bought Of shore H e I one wire distributor and the cheap sherpin Broke and and left him stranded... He fixed it himself and after another couple hundred miles that broke again and left him stranded.. This time he took it to the machine shop and they fixed it proper... Again the engine stopped running eighty miles out of town three hundred feet from an exit on the freeway.. He got towed home and pulled the distributor to find that the gear had not broken off.. I put it back in for him got it running and determined he had ran out of gas... LOL...
j par
Well-hung Member
Yes taking those shock towers out and putting the mustang two is definitely the ticket..
ir3333
Well-Known Member
The hobby has changed so much in recent years. Used to be only Classics were restored
or modified but anything and everything seems to be included anymore. For racing the
easiest way to hp was usually chosen.But some guys like to be different or do something
that is more difficult or interesting.
It's pointless to argue which is best...my engine builder says anything can be made fast
nowadays...isn't there a 4 cylinder Maserati that is around 700 HP?
Back to the original question..why do mopar guys need a 408?
or modified but anything and everything seems to be included anymore. For racing the
easiest way to hp was usually chosen.But some guys like to be different or do something
that is more difficult or interesting.
It's pointless to argue which is best...my engine builder says anything can be made fast
nowadays...isn't there a 4 cylinder Maserati that is around 700 HP?
Back to the original question..why do mopar guys need a 408?
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j par
Well-hung Member
"NEED"...???..
I think 318willrun's point anytime anyone wants to build anything other than 360/408 including big blocks and even 340s which are told to sale a lot of the time. All these V8s 318-543 can build the 300-600 hp most people will build pick your poison (rpm/powerband).
TT5.9mag
Two atmospheres are better than one
A 500hp 408 is a pussycat of an engine. Can be driven all day. A 500hp 318 is an entirely different animal. It’s just so much better to start with more cubic inches for a street car. And the aftermarket makes it so easy to buy a kit and drop it in.
And a 500 hp 543 would be super daily driver making the most 1000-5000 rpm hp/tq so?
It's all what you like @66fs likes the power and powerband of his 300-350 hp 273 over a similar 360 others wouldn't most of this is personal preference, most the arguments 408 guys make if followed would have a 440 to 540 in their car. Funny it ok to build a relatively small 408 compared to 500+ cid engines but not a 318.
Well, a 408 will fit anywhere a 273 will. A 500 or whatever cubic inch big block won't. Or not as easily for sure.
That said, I just put a new Edgy finned aluminum head on a flathead six, and a new 500 AVS-2 Edelbrock on slant six. Neither are powerhouses, but both run a lot better than stock. Sometimes it's fun to work on goofy engines.
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Big Block with aluminum parts and headers is about stock LA weight, and unless your a serious corner carver a weak argument for the ability for more power.
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