Thread: What's everyones favorite factory motor and why?

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Originally Posted by viking

Got to go with the ZL1 myself

Speaking of which, have you seen this:

http://wardsauto.com/ar/block_revived_scrap/

You guys find some of the greatest photos . Was there a 1965 396 425HP that had aluminum heads ? One guy at work said he had a 1969 Nova that had a 396 425HP and it had aluminum heads ? THANKS COOL

Hands down the ZL1 for all the reasons Viking gave + it was a sign of things to come.

Originally Posted by tango

You guys find some of the greatest photos . Was there a 1965 396 425HP that had aluminum heads ? One guy at work said he had a 1969 Nova that had a 396 425HP and it had aluminum heads ? THANKS COOL

There was a 425hp 396............not sure if it had aluminum heads. There were aluminum heads available on certain engines in those years. Most of the square port big block engines....396/375hp......427/425hp and 454/450hp....were seriously underrated, mostly to keep insurance companies happy.

Well, if a Factory Motor. 440 6 pack Mopar

Originally Posted by poncho62

There was a 425hp 396............not sure if it had aluminum heads. There were aluminum heads available on certain engines in those years. Most of the square port big block engines....396/375hp......427/425hp and 454/450hp....were seriously underrated, mostly to keep insurance companies happy.

A L78 was a 425hp 396 but I don't think it had alum heads.
A L89 was a 375hp 396 with alum heads.

yes ill admit i like 283's 302's and 327's but if i could build any motor right now, i would build a 343 or a 390 amc , or a 421 pontiac, or a 406 ford or a 427 side oiler. those motors just caught my eye ever since i was a little kid. and of course the beloved 427 bbc and the ls6 454, ive got a finger int he cookie jar in a little of everything

Cammer



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Cammer is the name pinned to the little known, amazing engine produced by Ford starting in 1964. The 427 cammer was amazingly powerful. The secret behind Chalmers factory rated 616 horsepower (@7500 RPM) with a single carburetor or 658 horsepower (@7500) with two carburetors, lies under the abnormally large valve covers, namely, a single overhead camshaft. There's two camshafts in the 427-cammer (the reason this big V-8 can get to 7500 RPM).




By now you may have guessed that the cammer is based on the multi- application 427 block. One of its various forms. I wish I could remember them all. Side-oilers, top-oilers, high-risers, medium-risers, and low-risers, among others. These mills came in various vehicles, including Galaxies, Fairlanes, Mustangs, Cougars, Mercury Marauders, Mercury Comets, AC Cobras, GT-40's, etc (Mike Greene). Regardless, the cammer itself was intended for racing only, but there are a few which have made it into the "street", making life a nightmare for, in many cases younger, but less vital, hemi's, LS6 454s, and even the boss 429.

Originally Posted by viking

A L78 was a 425hp 396 but I don't think it had alum heads.
A L89 was a 375hp 396 with alum heads.

http://cdnclassics.chevelles.net/68_72opt.htm

http://www.holisticpage.com/camaro/camaros/ss.htm

http://temp.corvetteforum.net/classi...n/engine.shtml

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656798/posts

There seem to be conflicting numbers on this subject. The way I read it...In a Corvette, they seem to be rated higher whether they have iron or aluminum heads. Like I said earlier, these engines were rated lower to satisfy the insurance companies. In a Vette, you were paying the extra premium anyways..............I guess.

Originally Posted by cnile64

Cammer



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cammer is the name pinned to the little known, amazing engine produced by Ford starting in 1964. The 427 cammer was amazingly powerful. The secret behind Chalmers factory rated 616 horsepower (@7500 RPM) with a single carburetor or 658 horsepower (@7500) with two carburetors, lies under the abnormally large valve covers, namely, a single overhead camshaft. There's two camshafts in the 427-cammer (the reason this big V-8 can get to 7500 RPM).




By now you may have guessed that the cammer is based on the multi- application 427 block. One of its various forms. I wish I could remember them all. Side-oilers, top-oilers, high-risers, medium-risers, and low-risers, among others. These mills came in various vehicles, including Galaxies, Fairlanes, Mustangs, Cougars, Mercury Marauders, Mercury Comets, AC Cobras, GT-40's, etc (Mike Greene). Regardless, the cammer itself was intended for racing only, but there are a few which have made it into the "street", making life a nightmare for, in many cases younger, but less vital, hemi's, LS6 454s, and even the boss 429.

i cool engine but i think you would not find one round to many Us street but if you had deep pockets you could have one or if you were ed pink or home&moody BUT over the counter you could get the LS7 454 One Bad Engine . there were the CanAm all alum blocks that could go well over 502 cid that could hold there own but for the blue collar guy the lower hp 396/454 with headder intake and the l88 cam would do a good job and sweep the streets . gm big blocks.. heads were some of the best flowing heads and the Oports did very good job . the big 3 HP heads were not much better then them. i was thinking this was more what you could find out on the streets but ? i would take a Can AM engine

1970 Buick 455. 400 hp 10.25:1 compression. It was in my mom's puke green 4 door LeSabre, and i inherited it when I started driving to high school. It chewed up and spit out a few of the new 84 Camaro Belinetta's that the rich kids were driving.

Originally Posted by falconvan

1970 Buick 455. 400 hp 10.25:1 compression. It was in my mom's puke green 4 door LeSabre, and i inherited it when I started driving to high school. It chewed up and spit out a few of the new 84 Camaro Belinetta's that the rich kids were driving.

A good friend of mines parents had one of these.
It would just smoke the $hit of the tires without even trying in fact his dad was so mad at him he made buy new tires for the car one year.
The other thing I remember is the car had a very good heater in it.

Although we hot rodders rib each other regarding one brand being better than another, the truth is, pretty much every brand has some great engines they have created. Over the years I have played with Pontiacs, GTO's, Chevys (even raced a 301 smallblock for a while) , Fords, Oldsmobiles (both pre-65 design and post '65 design) etc. Never played with Mopar, but they certainly have some great engines to their credit also.(BTW, I hear Chrysler has re-released the 426 Hemi and lots of original speed parts like intakes. FANTASTIC...........LOVE THEM ELEPHANT MOTORS!!!)

American rodders have been blessed to have such great foundations to build upon, and I think this brand loyality thing comes about by what our Father had, or what we have had good luck with. However, I honestly can't say that one engine stood out head and shoulders above all the others in performance or dependability. I loved each brand when I was playing with them.

But for personal nostalgia reasons, I have to say I like pre-65 Oldsmobile engines the best. I just like the looks and brute stock torque of a 394, although I know there are faster engines out there. It's just cool to me to see an Olds in a hot rod.

Don

contrary to what you`ve heard size does matter ( wait a minute !!! a man mite not need to be saying that ) i was a 289 freak for 15 years before i stepped up to a 429/460 .. never will i go small again ..though if ford had built the 351 cleveland years before and later the chevy small blocks popularity would have deminished a great deal i think

Well, I am going to buck the nostalgia trend people have replied with so far and say my favorite factory motors are the current LSx motors from GM. They are a masterpiece IMHO. All Aluminum, 6 bolt mains, great flowing heads, work well with either EFI or carbed, infinitely tunable. Folks are talking about the ZL-1, one person mentioned it is the most powerful factory Chevy motor. Not any more, the new LS7, all aluminum 427 at 505 hp will out do it. And it is a real production motor, not a COPO. Back in the day I had a couple different 427/425 L72s. They were awesome, but finally 40 years later they have been surpassed. I love my LS1 and if I was going to build another car, it would have some variant of the LS2 for power.

Pat