170/200 or 250... which one?

[mean_maverick]

planning on building another car as a 'driver' and havent dealt much with the 6 poppers so i wanted some opinions. this car has a 250 in it and im wondering whether or not to leave it as is or swap out for a 170/200 and maybe even a 3speed manual since the car is auto. im not looking for alot of performance or anything, just driveability and fuel mileage. any thoughts?

 

[BENJENBROOKS]

Well, based on your goals, I would say stick with the 250 engine, all the best features of a 200, 7 mains, etc... carb swap(direct mount for more power, or adapter with a H/W for mileage/easy install), cam swap or increased ratio rockers for a little more go. If money allows, aluminum head would be great as it flows much better than stock.

Fuel injection would be a great addition, but that is a bit too involved for me right now.

With the right ratio rear, efficient tune and all, mid to high 20's are possible.

Be Blessed and have fun with the project,

Ben

P.S. do some searching on the mod's you want to do, just about everything that you need to know is in the archives, if you can't find it, ask, the guys here are the best source of info that I have found... even when you ask a question about the bent-8 motors...

 

[mean_maverick]

thanks! ill see what i can find, in the meantime keep the thoughts coming!

 

[CoupeBoy]

Stick with the 250
If you go with a 200/170 you will have to find all the parts to convert to using the small 6 bellhousing. The 250 shares it's bellhousing pattern with the small block fords and parts will not interchange.

Plus you won't incur the costs of finding a motor and all those other fiddly bits either you will already have your core motor and you will know that you have all the parts to make it work.

And if you do decide to swap to a manual transmission you would use all small block parts except the flywheel (unless you had a SBF one rebalanced) and with the 170/200 you will be looking for a 9" flat flywheel and a small 6 bellhousing, which are much harder to come by then the SBF parts.

Make sure you are using a Duraspark, direct mount a 2bbl.

-ron

 

[jamyers]

Keep the 250. Apart from the above, a smaller engine doesn't always mean better fuel economy. Sometimes a larger engine uses less because it doesn't have to work as hard. Gearing and/or tire size to move the rpm range around.

 

[mean_maverick]

Stick with the 250
If you go with a 200/170 you will have to find all the parts to convert to using the small 6 bellhousing. The 250 shares it's bellhousing pattern with the small block fords and parts will not interchange.

Plus you won't incur the costs of finding a motor and all those other fiddly bits either you will already have your core motor and you will know that you have all the parts to make it work.

And if you do decide to swap to a manual transmission you would use all small block parts except the flywheel (unless you had a SBF one rebalanced) and with the 170/200 you will be looking for a 9" flat flywheel and a small 6 bellhousing, which are much harder to come by then the SBF parts.

Make sure you are using a Duraspark, direct mount a 2bbl.

-ron

yeah, that was the only reason i was considering dropping down to a 200/170 is because i have a 170/3sp in a parts cars that has everything i would need, and an extra 200 block and auto tranny and bell. but on the other hand i also have 2 extra 250 engines and a bunch of misc parts laying around. i have like a small junkyard of mavericks so i can pretty much build anything and everything, just cant decide which direction to go.

as for the 2v conversion, should i find an adapter and use a 2100 or is the smaller 2v carb a better choice? (ie. pinto carb, etc)

thanks for the replies so far!

 

[mean_maverick]

Keep the 250. Apart from the above, a smaller engine doesn't always mean better fuel economy. Sometimes a larger engine uses less because it doesn't have to work as hard. Gearing and/or tire size to move the rpm range around.

that's what i was thinking. not to mention i plan to swap to 5lug so while i have the rear out i may swap the gears as well

 

[CoupeBoy]

When I say direct mount I mean take the head off the engine, remove the factory carb adapter. Make a large flat spot on the top of one of your flat top logged heads and open a hole in the top of the log that matches the butterflies on your 2bbl carb. Then drill and tap new bolt holes into the top of the intake log and bolt it together.

No adapters required or desired for a direct mount 2bbl. Just some machine work.

-ron

PS any chance you have extra pre-federal bumpers lying around.. you know the purty ones?

 

[mean_maverick]

When I say direct mount I mean take the head off the engine, remove the factory carb adapter. Make a large flat spot on the top of one of your flat top logged heads and open a hole in the top of the log that matches the butterflies on your 2bbl carb. Then drill and tap new bolt holes into the top of the intake log and bolt it together.

No adapters required or desired for a direct mount 2bbl. Just some machine work.

-ron

PS any chance you have extra pre-federal bumpers lying around.. you know the purty ones?

thanks for the info. that looks like something that could easily be accomplished with the extra 250's that i have.

as for the 'small' bumpers, i have a few. just pm me and ill see if i can help

 

[CoupeBoy]

I don't actually own a Maverick, but I know where there is a really straight 4dr. And with the latest addition to the family (DOB 8/25/08. ) I should look into getting something that is easier to get into and out of the back seat of.. Plus you just don't see that many pre-federal 4drs...

-ron

 

[mean_maverick]

I don't actually own a Maverick, but I know where there is a really straight 4dr. And with the latest addition to the family (DOB 8/25/08. ) I should look into getting something that is easier to get into and out of the back seat of.. Plus you just don't see that many pre-federal 4drs...

-ron

this is true. i own a '73 4dr, which was my first car some yrs ago, and in '73 they have a one yr only front bumper that isnt too big or too small so they're not that bad.... but hey, they're still not the small bumpers, lol.

and my 4dr does help with the 2 kids that i have