170 or 200

[Anonymous]

Hello all, have been registered for a while but this is my first post.
I have a 70 maverick with a good 170 are these engines worth hopping up or should I swap to a 200( have one that needs rebuilt). Not looking for anything radical, just a little more power, better fuel economy wouldnt be bad.
I plan on doing a dsII swap soon. and was thinking of a 2bbl carb. I will order the falcon six book too.
Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.

 

[69.5Mav]

First is it a 70 or a 69.5 mav. The 69.5 mavs have the ignition key on the package tray under the sterring wheel. The 70 and up mavs have the ignition key in the steering column.

I just put a Holley/Weber 5200 on my 69.5 and it work well. I picked up 1.5 MPG and the car feels a little stronger.

The next step would be roller rockers with a 1.6 ration. This will make the cam appear a little hotter and a set of headers with a flowmaster hushpower2.

Next I would replace the radiator fan with an electric fan.

These changes should give aditional performance and make the car sound much better as well as increase the Milesx per gallon.

 

[Anonymous]

what difference would the electric fan make?

 

[powerband]

Hello all, have been registered for a while but this is my first post.
I have a 70 maverick with a good 170 are these engines worth hopping up or should I swap to a 200( have one that needs rebuilt). Not looking for anything radical, just a little more power, better fuel economy wouldnt be bad.
I plan on doing a dsII swap soon. and was thinking of a 2bbl carb. I will order the falcon six book too.
Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.

KISS is my first rule.. Keep it simple stu....

I have a great running 170 that I removed from a '71 MAverick along with most other parts. I currently have it in my DD, a '63 wagon. I built a full performance log head (Thanks - Falcon Six Performance Handbook) for a 250 conversion and wanted to test it on a stock known-good block. The head has lots of work but the block is stock C8xx 170 with OEM points dizzy. I did put a new cam timing set to freshen it.

With the price of gas going through the roof, I want to keep it as drivable as possible and the 170 adds a MPG premium. Actually I have the head milled @ .090 (48cc HC) and am using a steel shim head gasket so my CR is @ 10:1. With premium and a heavy foot, I'm getting @ 20 MPG.

With a stock CR and mild 2Bbl , you could probably get 25 MPG on regular octane with the 170 and still have fun ( I'm running the 5200 2Bbl & Headers - T5).

Powerband

 

[69.5Mav]

falconwagon61

The takes engine power to spin. When the car is moving it useally does not need a fan, so the horse power that would turn the fan now can be used to accelerate the car. An electric fan with a thermostatic control only draws power when it is accually needed not all the time as with the fan belt driven fan.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies. I have a 69.5 maverick. with my current set up im getting about 22 mpg. I might get floggged for this but I think im going to pull the c4 and put my three speed back in. I guess i like gear bangin too much.
Are they carter yf carbs any good for mods, that is what came factory on mine.
Looks like I will be gathering parts now. I never could make up my mind to keep the 6 or go with a small block.With the price of gas it just got easier to make the decison.

 

[69.5Mav]

falconwagon61

I meant to sat "The Fan takes---"

falconwagon61

The takes engine power to spin. When the car is moving it useally does not need a fan, so the horse power that would turn the fan now can be used to accelerate the car. An electric fan with a thermostatic control only draws power when it is accually needed not all the time as with the fan belt driven fan.

Moms70

If your going to put the Stick shift back in why not go with a T5 5speed?

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Moms70:

The 170 is in good shape is a good running engine. It's short stroke benefits from a light weight vehicle, but the torque converter of a C4 auto trans helps it to think it is more torquey then it really is. I'd stick with the C4 IIWIYS.

The DS II is a good upgrade, but you can feel a difference by maximizing the initial spark advance on your stock distributor.

The 170 Carter YF is rated at 150 CFM. Moving up to a YF from a 200 engine will get you 187 CFM for a nice increase in power. TUned correctly it should not hurt your mileage to badly, as long as you can drive with restraint. It should be a direct bolt-on with no modifications.

THe other area you can help your engines performance is to free up the exhaust. A low restriction turbo type muffler is a good beginning.

After that you start to spend money and get more complicated. The return on a 170 is marginal. You'd be better off looking for ways to lighten your car and to lessen rolling resistance and parasitic loss. Like an electric fan, like synthetic motor oil, like increase tire pressure and so on.

Bolting on a set of stock type adjustible rocker arm with a ratio of 1.6:1 will gain you about .030" increase in lift at a cost of about $250. They are an easy bolt-on and may be worth it to you. If your engine is in good shape and you don't want to crack it this may be something to consider.

The 1970 170 engines still were rated at 9:1 compression, so that is still in your favor.

Keep us posted on your choices and your progress.

Adios, David