I'm sorry for what follows. It's a hap-hazard hotch potch from an unrepentant Ford Six freak!
Read the
Tech section right away, and spend some background time at
FSPP website (by
AzCoupe)!
Then, buy the
Falcon 6 Performance book, and get blessed with grunt!
Then, read all the posts by the Schendahl brothers.
Then read
MustangSix's later posts (after Xmas 2003) on desk top dyno runs.
Then start looking at
Mustang Geezer, RickSmol, Mustangaroo, CobraSix, I66, yada yada yada!
500 bucks will
always get more power on a Slanter than on a 200 Ford.
Sad, but true!
The Slant has mamoth torque with a free breathing head. Any carb is an improvement in top end power. With the 200, just placing a 2-bbl isn't going to move the earth like it does on a Slanter. It must be done as a pakage on the Ford. 200 i6 bolt ons, even with the stock small port head, can give a 20 to 30 hp boost on an already good stock engine, with an improvement in fuel ecconomy as well.
The
first issues are routine maintenance issues such as worn timing chain, lifters, oil pump, water pump, ignition, heat stove locked on heating the carb up, worn guides from unleaded gas, valve seat recession. Poor compressions. A 24 hour static leakdown test is the only good way to estabilish its conditon wiothout a head tear down.
You can waste a lot of money on a strip down of the head. If it were me, here is the options I'd look at:-
1.Straight bolt ons like just a 2-bbl Holley Weber with Cifford adaptor on stock head,
2.Duraspark or Petronics I mod,
3.tube headers with Clifford adptor properly pegged in.
4.A two pipe 289 hp style exhast (very cheap, and nice sounding if you don't go too big)
5.new timing chain with stock cam degreed. (Stock morse chain is often totally nerked after even a few miles, with enough slop to upset idle and driveability problems)
6. T5 trans is a good one too. It always the moderate grunt of a stock 200 become a significant factor. It's a very cheap bolt on when you consider the massive improvement in top gear fuel economy and the cheapness of the stock gearboxes from a breaker yard.
7.New water pump and cleaned up cooling system.
There is no point in going any further without bigger cookies being spent.
After those 7 steps, its time to plan fro more extensive head work and some more exotic bolt ons.
The best options are what the Schendahls recomend.
My take on the options without thought of cost, is thsi:
bolt-ons:-
1. T5 Mustang 2.3 5-speed or later Fox SROD or SR4 4-speed manual gearbox! Anything with a stock auto or 3 or 4 speed manual won't allow a stock 90 hp net 200 cube engine give its best!
2. Either
a) Later unleaded head is the single most important bolt on improvement. Stock 1.3 to 1.5" hole in all pre 1970's and most pre 1974 200's had insuficent runner volume and size to make good power. The later heads were very strong, inserted, and breathed well. Decked about 30 thou, with a good gasket, they are unbreakable. Make sure the oil transfer gallaries are still operative after any head plane.
b) 2V Aussie or ME 188 or SP 221 2-bbl heads. (Very expensive, but a long term asset you'll never be sorry getting)
3. electronic igniton for reliability (no real performance boost, but it optimizes the ignition. Older points systems have too many issues, and its easier to get good reliable parts for the later stuff)
4. 2-bbl Ford Autolite, or Holley 2300 carb if direct mount, or 2-bbl Holley/Weber 5200 or 32/36 if Clifford adaptor. Stock 1-bbl carbs like the bigger 250 cube Carter are very good, the 1946 Holley 1-bbl is very good, but not easy to tune. If you don't want a 2-bbl, follow Mark P's posts, an ex Ford ignition engineer
5. Headers. Dual out, single, from Pacemaker, FSPP, Clifford. The port divider Clifford sells is reputed to help by reducing thermal heating of the carby base form the exhast. In itself, it may not give much extra power, but it does after the engine is warm.
6. 3 angle valve grind on the post 78 heads. The later valves are huge.
7. Jacks Engine Analyser runs show the most important to be port pocket blending and exhast ruuner blending.
8. Nitrous oxide. See
Mandarina Racing's awesome red Mustang! If your modifed bolt on engine does 115 with the stock head, it will do 170 hp with nitrous. That's a low 14 second pass untill the bottle runs out!
9. Later stainless aftermarket SI valves from FSPP can be very good. Roller rockers are not manadatory, but help valve guide life, especially if you are stepping on it.
Non-bolt ons.
1. decked block. The single most important internal mod you can make.
2. Flat-top pistons from 2.3 HSC Tempo/Topaz or the 4.2 255 Ford V8 pistons if you've got a 250.
3. Lastly, a cam.
A cam on a stock engine won't help a great deal.
The stock engine won't do better than an 18.5 second quarter with the 85 to 91 hp net they came with. (The factory 125 hp tag is gross hp, and there is no difference between a 125 hp 1964 200 and an 85 hp 1984 3.3 in actual power),
With bolt ons, there is about 25% with the low restriction exhast, header , bigger 2-bbl carby ignition and timing chain. That's enough for a sub 17 second blast with about 115 hp on tap.
Please search
80Stang from Finland. He has used imported US bits on hios stock 1981 Fox body Stang, and it has dynoed at 114 hp.
Lastly,
Import Killer and Does10's have some interesting bolts ons once you get to the fully rebuilt engine phase. Turbo's can give an additional 65% perforamance boost on a 115 hp modified, or 170 hp nitrous engine.
Here is a 190 hp nitrous oxide Aussie Falcon that does 13.6 second quarters with a stock 200 six, bolt on 500 2-bbl Holley and 3 speed manual.
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/426826
If you'd like more, just add a Import Killer or Does 10's exhast manifold, a T04, nitrous, and 280 hp, any one?
