What engine should I consider buying?

[LowRider]

Hi folks,

first of all, was there any trouble with the forum? I was deleted from the
database and now I'm back to 0 posts??

Anyway, I'm considering buying an Australian inline six. Question is:
what should I consider? I would like to stay in the neighbourhood of 200ci
preferably 2V head, what else would be worth considering? My main goal
is little money and high mileage.

What could be the price including carb, needed adaptors and exhaust
header?

Does anyone know of trustworthy Australian merchants that ship
worldwide?

Thanks ahead of time,

Nicolas

 

[Anlushac11]

8)

If I was starting from scratch I would get either a Aussie 250 Crossflow or a 250 SOHC.

Last time I talked to JD and some of the other Aussie guys the first gen OHC motors were dime a dozen. If you go with auto trans you need the Aussie bellhousing and go with a C4.

The OZ 250-2V are getting as rare as hens teeth (For those who dont know hens dont have teeth so your not gonna find any laying around).

Apparently performance parts from Oz for the X-flow and SOHC motors are fairly plentiful.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, you'll be able to stay around 200ci If you can locate a 2V head. However, its probably easier (and cheaper) to locate either a crossflow motor, or put some pennies down for a later model XR6 motor + computer. These motors beat their 5.0 counterparts, until Ford AU got 'serious' about V8 power.

If you dont want to spend very much money, and want good milage, find a working 250 crossflow and bellhousing to suit (toploader, C4, T5). 3.3 litre crossflows are about as common as 2V heads. I haven't seen one, but they're out there. The stock 34/34 Weber helps keep the milage good, and a 350 Holley bolts onto the intake via an adapter plate..

 

[xctasy]

You may be best to find someone trustworthy like JD.

All this cross-flow 3.3/4.1, 250 2V, 3.2/3.9liter/4.0 Liter SOHC stuff exists in great measure in Australia and New Zealand, but it's the cost of doing trade that kills the idealism!

If your US 200 cid engine has a seven bearing crank and you want it to run wild, why not build a triple throttle body injection unit using Ford Tempo/Taurus 4 cyl EFI bits. These engines are related, and perhaps a cheap after market control unit could be more cost effective? A rework of the stock log mainfold and the rest in valve work?

The Aussie stuff is sure tough enough, with 121 hp for even a base 3.3 2-barrel Weber carbed cross flow alloy head (weighs 473 pound), and up to 220 for SOHC 4.0 liter EFI sixes (540 pounds). Bellhousings and mounts do differ fractionally, but lots of coversions have been done.

How much do you want one. Does a 2003DOHC engine with 244 horses unturbo'd or a factory 321 hp XR6 Turbo device sound cool? The Geelong built sixes all have generic links to that 1960 144 I6!

 

[MustangSix]

Lowrider, a few weeks ago our database got corrupted and we lost access to all the old posts (over 27000 of them) along with the user database. Everyone had to re-register, myself included.

I'm real happy with the way the Crossflow turned out in the Mustang. A few people on this forum have had a chance to ride in it and I think they'd agree that it is fast, driveable, and well-mannered.

But if I were to do it again, I think I would find a 4.0 OHC instead, in particular, a later engine with the 12 counterweight crank. I would do it with the same SDS EFI controller that I'm using now. I think that I'd end up with a smoother and slightly more efficient engine than I have now.

 

[LowRider]

All great info, thanks.

However, it sounds like it's more a matter of personal taste?
A crossflow engine sounds really nice, but I prefer a good old carburated
engine myself. I'm deep into this electronics stuff and the way I see it,
you can't hook up your car on an oscilloscope if you break down along
the way, if you get what I mean?

That 250 sounds really neat too, but again, insurance-wise and technical
control-wise I'm bound to 200ci.

Thanks,

Nicolas

 

[Anonymous]

IF you are bound to the 200. Then go with the Aussie 2v. Use the 250 head on your 200 and improve everything else around the head.

Go headers and dual out on the exhaust.

This will give you a really nice setup and maintain the carb engine you are looking for.

They can be found. I just got mine a month ago, and I have seen two since then for sale.

Just be prepared for the price tag. They are not getting cheaper.
(But if you compare getting the head, machine work, carb, and other parts needed. It was still cheaper than a whole engine.)

Mustangaroo has some results of a Dyno test he just did with this setup. Search those.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok just to clarify I don't think you're looking for a whole new engine. Just rebuild yours if it needs it.

Your looking for a new head. If you can get someone to get you a 250 2v head then great, put that on. I don't know what kind of car or what year or what year engine you have but if you can't get the removable intake heads then you want a late model US head with bigger valves and a bigger carb and a header and all that jazz.

 

[MustangSix]

Lowrider, I gotta disagree on the electronics thing. EFI cars with DIS are no less reliable than a car with carbs and points. If anything, the opposite is true. Factory units are designed to go a minimum 50k miles without any performance degradation or failure because emissions laws require at least that much. Most will do that and more.

And while it's true you can't usually do deep diagnostics on an ECU while sitting on the side of the road, most EFI problems are sensor related and are easy to fix. Very likely, you won't have the tools to do a proper carb diagnosis and rebuild on the side of the road either. A crapped out carb or a sloppy, worn out distributor can give you the same symptoms. OTOH, I can go to the keypad on my SDS and get readouts on a dozen engine parameters to do diagnostics.

But if carbs are your gig, the crossflow can be built that way too. With some fabrication, a 4.0 OHC could too. I plan to use triple sidedraft Strombergs on the Crossflow 200 I'm building. 8) If I had an OHC available, I'd do the same setup just for the cool factor.

What insurance reg binds you to a 200? If you are stuck with that block your head options are limited anyway: Integral Log head, Aussie 2V, or Argentine SP or ME. For the Aussie head check with JD, AZcoupe, or Ausheads. For the Argentine head ask Southern Cross Racer.

 

[LowRider]

MustangSix,

today I saw the fuel injection systems in class, no wonder I have a few questions about the
crossflow now, huh?

First question, what type of fuel injection are we talking about?
I presume the latest (with a CPU and sensors??)

Also, today I got to ride with someone in a Ford 2.3L with injection, I was positively surprised by
the performance of that little, fuel injected engine.
Today I put the "no injection" aside for a while and dreamed what it would be like to have an
inline six 250ci crossflow in my car.

Now, what is it like?

Are there 200ci crossflows?
Are there lots of compatibility issues?
What could be a normal price? (perhaps a newer engine, not in need of any attention?)

A whole new world just opened up for me.
Forgive my previous ignorance.

thanks,

Nicolas

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, there are 200ci Crossflows out there, but theyre reasonably rare. It was Very Cheap to option an extra 50 cubes. It makes more sense to go for a 250, since the engines share the exact same dimensions.

I wouldn't know about compatibility issues, however you'll need a bellhousing to suit at the very least.

Jack, it'll be Very Easy to use a carb on an OHC motor. The TBI on the 3.9 litre motors use a Weber style bolt pattern, and the intakes swap onto all OHC motors. A7M reckons its very easy to use the Bosch distributor on the OHC motor, since the oil pump etc is practically the same..

 

[MustangSix]

There is mechanical fuel injection (mercedes, early Corvette, Alfa Romeo Spica) but I wouldn't consider any of those. They are somewhat unreliable and more difficult to set up.

Go to the SDS site and read up on their system. Others work the same way.

BTW, there are NO cars sold in the US with carbs anymore (that I'm aware of).

 

[LowRider]

All great info, very much appreciated indeed, but nobody mentioned any prices
yet, does this have a specific reason? (numbers beyond imagination?)

This money-issue is a big one for me (and most people I guess).
I'm just a student, I don't earn money yet...

Anyone?

Thanks,

Nicolas