1500 hp is in reach if you go buy a 4.0 DOHC Falcon turbo, make up a steel crank, steel or titanium rods, get some nitrous, and a couple of big T71 turbos. Aussie sixes are on the cutting edge at about 244 hp before even a spanner is laid on them. With demon mods, the latent strength of what is basically a 250 US block on streriods takes over.
Now, back to your domestic consumer durable Ford Six...
If you re-read the information in the Tech section (by clicking on the FordSix.com icon), you'll get much better advice than what follows.
On our sixes, the ceiling limit is this:-
Question One:cubes you start with are they 144, 170,188, 200,221, 240, 250, or 300?
Phase 1.do you want the best performance for the least cost...if you do, you'll have to get the Ford Falcon Six book, and follow the Schendahls advice to the letter. The other option is 2V Aussie or ME 188 or SP 221 heads from Argentina. At some stage soon, an alloy Cross-flow head swap will be available. For the Big Six, there are some awesome items getting custom made, but the choices for carbs and manifolds are better than the Little Six.
Phase 2.do you want it to be streetable... if you do, don't go for cams which rev to over 5500 rpm
Phase 3.do you want nitous... if not, forgo 1.5 times the best hp from a street six
Phase 4.do you want a turbo or super charger...if not forgo 2 times the power from not having one.
Phase 5.do you want nitous and a turbo... if not, forgo 3.0 times the best hp from a non turbo street six.
Lets sum it up this way
200 cube to Phase 1, about 200 hp net at the flywheel max
200 cube to Phase 2, about 200 hp net at the flywheel max
200 cube to Phase 3, about 300 hp net at the flywheel max
200 cube to Phase 4, about 400 hp net at the flywheel max
200 cube to Phase 5, about 600 hp net at the flywheel max.
The last two Phases are La-La Land for most of us. Bank on 200 hp tops, and be happy with a little less.
If you have a 144, multiply the hp at each phase by 200/144.
If you have a 300, multiply the hp at each pahse by 200/300.
Dollar for dollar, nitrous, a 2-bbl carb, and headers is the cheapest option. A very close second is turbo chargeing.Huge boost, all else stays stock.
One of the best options is to trade off the total quest for power, and just rebuild the engine to make it last practically forever. That gets my vote. One day, you'll get old, and people will want to go for cruises in a hot Ford Six which was rebuilt like a Swiss watch in 2004...still running in 2044!
Regards,
dEAn0