Rebuilding the '61 144 I-6 - HELP -

[Anonymous]

Howdy... My dad has decided to rebuild & reinstall the original 144cid I-6 in his '61 Ranchero, rather than go with the 302 EFI V8 & AOD Trans, like we had originally planned.

He figures the original 144 still has that "cool factor" and I agree.

We plucked the block & Ford-O-Matic trans. We then stripped it all down one evening to a bare block. The rings were in bad shape, as you could move the pistons around inside the cylinders. The car ran decent, but had very poor compression (duh!).

We're wondering what you guys would do during a rebuild in this little 144?

We're looking for a stock rebuild, and a few possible performance upgrades. Maybe a head swap, header, intake, carb, cam, etc. It all depends on availability & price.

The main issue is that this car will be driven, alot, just like all our other classic cars, so hopping up the motor for a signifigant power increase isn't really ideal in our case. Mild upgrades for a smoother/better running, more dependable, and slightly increased power is all we're looking for. If we want alot more power, we'll just drop a V8 in it and consider it done, but we're starting to become more & more fond of our Ford 6's.

If anyone has any advice/suggestions, please let me know. We're looking for anything, thanks alot!

 

[xctasy]

Early cars had blocks with very thick cylinder walls. Bore it out 180 thou to fit 3.68" 2.3 HSC pistons, and add a set of 4.71" 200 rods, and the last of the 4 bearing Fairlane 200 cranks. Open up the chamber a little to lowere the compression, and add the thick 60 thou composite head gasket.

A 200 cube sleeper engine, with all the got bits.

The other option is to use the later 170 cube crank, and add the aftermarket Pinto pistons which run the 0.912" wrist pin. Then you can use the stock 4.855" long 144 rod, 2.94" stroke, and a 75 to 105 thou over bore for the stock 3.575 or 3.605" (+30) Pinto pistons. The stock Pinto pistons sit in around the 1.62 to 1.65" deck mark, and are super strong.

Then you get a great boost in power with very little extra cost. All the numbers match. :roll: I'll bet someone here has a four bearing 170 engine holding up there hen hutch!

 

[CZLN6]

Howdy Unroller:

My suggestion are a bit less less involved than Xtaxi's, but might be useful to you. Don't be fooled into spending your money on the nickel/dime, miracle stuff, like spark plugs or air cleaners. Put your money into the block and head and quality machine work first. Accessories will follow.

If you are building the block go with as large an overbore on this little 144 as possible, using stock OEM cast replacement pistons. You will be challenged to find a mild solid lifter performance cam for this engine, but if you can it will be worth it. Look for something in the 248 to 256 range for duration and a lift of about .400". Buy and use the best timing chain set you can.

The '61 144 used a Holley #1908. It is very similar in appearance to the earlier #1904, and the later #1909. On a 144 engine it flowed 130 cfm. On the 170 it flowed 150 cfm. Stepping up to a 170 carb would make a noticeable improvement. All three of these carbs came with a manual choke, a Spark Control valve for the Load-a-matic distributor vacuum signal. All three were rated the same cfm a 130 (125 cfm in 1962 #1909) for the 144s and 150 for the 170 engines. Air Cleaners are interchangeable.

All 144's that we've been able to verify have the CODE head casting, which has the smallest valve sizes, intake volume and combustion chambers of any of the log heads. You could improve on this head by all of the usual rebuild mod; three angle valve job, back cut the intakes, install an exhaust port divider, and mill to your goal compression ratio. Or,

You could upgrade to a C5XX (1965) casting, or later 170 head for an increase in valve size and intake volume. Either head will be otpimized by the performance valve job.

The '63 and later exhaust manifolds have a larger outlet at 2" as compared to 1.75" on the '60 to '62 manifolds. The early ones used a flat gasket between the manifold and head pipe. The later ones used a donut type gasket for a better, longer lasting seal. The later ones are built heavier and less prone to cracking. Any one of these manifolds along with a 2" exhaust system with a turbo type muffler for a nice sound, improved throttle response and faster revving.

The last piece is the ignition and about the only option is to convert to a Petronix Ignitor System and make sure that the Load-a-matic vacuum advance system is working as designed and add as much initial advance as possible with out knock.

Also know that this trans is less than ideal with this small engine. To compensate stay light well tuned and use at least a 3.5:1 rear end gear.

Measure carefully and go no higher than 9:1 CR with Ford-O-Matic.

Know that you'd be money and time ahead, not to mention torque and power, to step up to a late model 200 with a C4, three speed automatic tranny.

That's my two cents, for what it's worth.

Adios, David

 

[XFlow_Fairlane]

hehehe I got a 4 main 170 sitting in my parents garage I just pulled out (strong runner too....) I think it had more power than my 200 does (the 170 has a milled head) since the 200 is low compression (working on a turbo setup)