170 to ??? swap questions

[Anonymous]

I have a 1970 econoline with a 170, and a 3 speed manual transmission. the poor thing is so underpowered I have to get a running start at the ramps to change the oil. my question is what would be involved in swapping for a bigger engine. a 200 or maybe a 250. would these be a direct, bolt on swap? or would I need to modify anything? also, does anybody have any ideas for getting more power out of the 170 without doing anything to involved? any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[trashline]

lol the 170s are pretty limited. you can upgrade to the 200. what type of trans do you have?the manual 3 speed. i belive it should swap right in since it is the 170 im not sure if the input shaft is different on the 170 to the 200. i dont think it is. you shoul dbe able to do a swap with no problems. nothing should change

 

[Anonymous]

I dont know a whole lot about the older ford, but I'm learning. from what I gather, the 144s the 170s and the 200s are in a family of engines seperate from the 240 and 300, is this right? and if so, what are the major differences, and what would it take to put a 300 in the van. would the 300 bolt up to the current stock transmisson? I really dont want to part with my beloved three on the tree. Please help. thanks again.

 

[xctasy]

My finacial buddy 64-Ecconoline has one. It's stuck with the worse than useless Dangeham gearbox, so your actually lucky. You've got the 3.03, haven't you?

The later 170's got the post 1967 bell housing when it resurfaced in the April 1969 Maverick, and seven bearings after 1972.

The later 200 engines will bolt right on in. There are some sevre space limitations with fitting the taller engines in early Ecconoline Crushers!.

The 200 can take all the 170 gear, as the pan rail and height of the engine is similar. The dip stick is in a different position on some donar cars.

If you do a 200 swap, then you can incorporate the upgrades to exhast headers and perhaps the bigger Carter or Holley 1946 carb. I think the duraspark II may just fit.

Trans should bolt up without any hassles at all.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the advice, and please, anybody that has anything to say on the matter, please speak up. now I really want to know what it is involved in doing a 240 or 300 swap. everybody please feel free to contribute their 2 cents, thanks.

 

[Junk-Falcon]

ppp

 

[Anonymous]

how bout the bell housing? does anyone know what type of bell housing I would need to convert the 170 with 3.03 transmission into a 240 or 300? would the stock one work? or would I need that from a donor vehicle? for that matter, will a 300 work with a 3.03? I dont know these things, and by golly, thats hard stuff to find out by just surfing around, can anybody recommend a good resource for this kind of swap? thanks again.

 

[Anonymous]

The 240-300 is the big block six and shares little or nothing with the small block 6's The 250 is basically a stroked 200 which came as a bored and stroked 170 which started as a bored 144. Believe it or not a starter from a 240-300 will not bolt on the small 6,s (a 250 is a small and a 240 is the big) but a starter for a 390 wedge V-8 will bolt on the small 6. If you can find a decent 250 you would have an easy upgrade.With only the water pump to radiator clearance and carb to hood clearance to worry about and i doubt that that's an issue on a 70 van. I had a 170/3speed in a 62 econoline and it would run like crazy but the 62 was probally lbs lighter than a 70.And the rear end gears make a huge difference with these smaller mills.

 

[mustang6]

The 240/300 use the same bellhousing as a small block V-8. They also use the same size flywheel as the V-8, but it is unique zero balance flywheel on the sixes. These are easy parts to come by, and there is a plethora of aftermarket intake manifolds for these engines (unlike the smaller sixes), but I think your big problem will be length. These are longer engines than the small sixes. The 240/300 will bolt right up with the 3.03.