I can't believe I missed this historic thread.
Why did I stay with the six?
Well, to be completely honest I almost didn't. My original plan for the 6 cylinder was to rip it out and drop a V-8 into the convertible. The best laid plans.
What really convinced me to stay six was one day, after I had owned the car for about 2 months I went to a local show and shine. At the time, my engine bay looked like this:
Nothing fancy. In fact, I was kind of ashamed. So when I pulled into the parking lot, I kept the hood closed. Then people started asking what I had under the hood and I kept answering "Just a Six". Out of the 40 cars there, I was the only car with less then 8 cylinders. Finally, a few of them really wanted to see it and convinced me to pop the hood up. I had more people coming to check out my 200 then any of the other engine bays there...and that's with it looking like crap. That's when I realized that maybe people were tired of see V-8s.
Also, about that time is when I finally found fordsix.com. I had been hanging out on VMF and in fact my first post was how to go about pulling the 6 out and putting in an 8.
So finally I was convinced to stay six. It was only compounded when I installed and showed my Offy set up.
I went to another local show and shine and popped my hood and the crowd that gathered made my engine the envy of all the V-8 owners. Everyone was checking out my little tri-power six and ignoring the run of the mill V-8s and even the built ones.
Then I met a friend who owned a 68 GT500 at another local show and shine. We parked beside each other so we could BS and keep an eye on his car at the same time, thinking mine would be skipped sitting beside a GOURGEOUS 68 GT500. I mean, this car was beautiful. Then amazingly, people walked by his car...would pear into my engine back and then do a head snap at mine engine bay and just stop and stare. My friend said that had never happened to him before with that car.
It's a great conversation piece.
"Oh, what do you have in there"
"Just a six"
"You should put a V-8 in there"
"Nah...too plain"
Then I show them why I stay six.
Recently talking to a new mechanic I found who helped me with my rear end problems. I asked what I had done to the car, which at this point is to make everything a V-8 except the actual engine. He asked why I didn't have a V-8 in there...and I just shrugged. He laughed because he said "You've done all the hard work of the V-8 swap, why stop now?" Then I took him for a ride and he understood.
So when I finished all my work this winter I did have to take a step back and laugh at myself. When I originally wanted to put a V-8 in, the one thing that stopped me was all the other work I was going to have to do to make it done right. Rear end, Transmission, front end, steering, brakes. Now, 6 years later I've done all of the required V-8 upgrades...except for the V-8 part. I could literally do an engine swap and my car would be perfectly ready for it in a day. Everything is done...
Yet somehow I've stayed six and intend to stay inline (at least on this car). I'm so into the six's that I fully intend to buy a 6 cylinder fastback or a cheap V-8 coupe (which will be swapped to a 6) and go a little crazier on the engine then I am comfortable with in the convertible.