I noticed in one of the tech threds that someone was talking about I6's in mustangs. They can be an extemely great engine, if done right. If you want a good site to pick up performance parts for it, check out this site. Clifford PerfomanceClifford Perfomance
Uhh...I don't believe Clifford even makes much of anything for the 3.3L straight six that was in some early Fox mustangs (and I think they're kinda hard to find too). Plus that engine's a turd no matter what you do to it, it's not like some of the more popular straight sixes that you can actually make fast.
Yup, biggest drawback to the ol' 200ci and 250ci straight 6's was the fact that the intake manifold was part of the head casting. It was basically a log style manifold, just something to get the air/fuel mix from the carb to the cylinders. Not sure what the logic behind the design was, but it sure did suck and you were stuck with it. Somthing else I remembered about those motors was the non-adjustable shaft mounted rocker arms, and the wimpy 1bbl carb. The only inline motors from Ford that had a bolted on intake manifold were the 240/300 found in trucks. Believe it or not, you could order a 1-ton dually from Ford in the 80's with a 300 straight 6.
Clifford = $$$$$ Clifford does have parts for the 3.3 liter (a.k.a. 200ci) six. And I wouldn't buy from them. They charge to much. You can always get your Offenhauser Tri-carb intake from Summit for cheaper last I heard. Check this place out for some awsome 200 parts http://www.fordsixparts.com And if you really want to learn about getting more power out of these engines go read the forums at http://fordsix.com And you can always order an imported Austrailian 250 2v head or an Argentina 221 head which have removable intakes and bolt right on to the regular US 200 block. Hope this is useful.
And there were adjustable rocker arms in some of the early 60's Ford cars using these engines. They can be found on ebay lots of times.
Interesting reading. The Aussie head swap kinda resembles the Volvo head swap on the 2.3's just a bit less complicated. I think I'd attempt the 6cyl head swap before the Volvo swap though. There's a bunch of stuff there that I'd forgot about. I had a '74 Maverick with a 250 and a C4. Swapped the C4 for a 3spd manual. Used the wrong flywheel the first time, fixed that problem and 2 months later kicked #3 out the side on the FL turnpike. Seems the oil pump driveshaft decided to take a vacation that day. Before the motor blew up, I'd been through a head replacement, had the deck welded between 3 and 4. The previous owner let a blown head gasket go for quite some time. I guess they didn't mind the fact that the car would shake your fillings out at idle. Ultimately, I snagged the 302/C4 drivetrain out of a '71 Torino I'd bought and after a few trips to the junkyard for frame mounts and such dropped it into the Mav. But I digress. I only read the tech articles and clicked a link or two. I may just register and see what else they've got going on. I'd always felt it was a good motor in stock form, but was always of the mindset that if I wanted to go fast, I'd have to go V8. At the time I was right. It appears that times have changed just a bit Thanks for the info.
Rustbucket, sounds like you've had a little experience with sixes then. I got hooked on the six stuff when I started looking to see what I could do to the one in my 66 stang. I think you can always make enough power out of these engines to be fun, but of course if I wanted serious power I'd probably do the V8 swap too. There is one guy on the forum (Does10s) running into the 11's with a turbo'd 250 in a round body falcon. later Mike
well, if you want more power, a well built straight 6 will beat most any v8 right off the line. The looks on their faces are priceless
