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

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I guess my favorite motor would be the little 340wedge that came in my first new car in 71. It had good power as long as the tranny held(about a week at the time) and it would eat alternators but when it ran it ran hard. This was a Plymouth Duster and it was just great to drive. I sure do miss that little car. The only thing that came close to outrunning it was a (you gussed it 68 camaro with a 302.) It outran everything else around. The local Plymouth dealer threatened to do everything but shoot me and probably would have if there had,nt been so many witnesses. JUST THINKING ABOUT IT MAKES ME WANT TO BUILD ONE LIKE IT!

Originally Posted by erik erikson

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.

Exactly! I did the same thing with mine. This thing also had the the toughest transmission I ever saw. I lost count of how many full throttle, valve floating nuetral drops I did with that old Buick over the two years I drove it and it refused to break.

Although I will always stay on Pats team with Bb chevrolets cause you just cant build power cheaper...Ive always been quite partial for Ponitacs 389 and 421 with the 3x2 sets up. Just always liked the way they looked and that 389 sounds so damn good at all RPMs

I'm partial to BB Chevys, but I must like Pontiacs as I drsigned and manufactured aftermarket Pontiac blocks.

Tried to include block pictures, buy wouldn't take them.

One more try

And one more try

I guess for those of you that were there it is the equivalent of now running out and buying a Dodge pickup "cause it's got a Hemi". You of course know what a "real Hemi" is, but the youngsters figure if it's got the sticker it must be BAD!!!!!

I am one of them "youngsters" getting into cars at the age of 6, i am now 22, and i absolutely hate imports, my first car was a 1969 Camaro RS Z28 with a DZ302 engine and a Muncie M-22 4 speed with a 411 posi rear. Going through high school, my friends and i would make jokes about stickers, saying each sticker a rice burner put on its car added 5 horsepower, and the bigger the sticker, the more power! I am finishing my first hot rod from scratch, a 1923 T Bucket, and i know a lot about cars, so please don't ASSuME that being young makes us dumb in car knowledge. I dont mean to offend you, i just hate it when people think that "youngsters" are stupid and think a 1987 honda civic with a spoiler, APC stickers, and a trashcan muffler is cool.

That comment was meant to be pointed at myself and my friends. For believing the "hype" we were handed by our peers in the hobby, since we weren't old enough to have experienced it ourselves. As I got older I learned that a 302 Chevy would have to have it's guts rung out to keep up with the big blocks of the day. In my opinion nothing more fun than a screaming small-block. But common sense tells me more cubes at less r.p.m. is cheaper on the pockets down the road. But I would still rather have a 302 with a 4-speed and pay the bills along the way........so no offense meant. Have a good'un ya'll........Burt.

all i need to make me happy with my car is to dump a 4 speed into it, or go back a few years a hydro stick! :EEK:

Originally Posted by gassersrule_196

all i need to make me happy with my car is to dump a 4 speed into it, or go back a few years a hydro stick! :EEK:

What kind of car do you have that you would like to put that 4 speed in ? I have a 1965 Mustang with a 289 High Perf with a 4 speed . Its a bit hard to drive with the HD clutch thats in it . But I do like to dump the clutch at times .

For everyday use I like the 350 or the 454. Reliable and easy to maintain. One of my favorites is home im my garage, the Olds 371 J2. Very reliable, only rebuilt once in the past 50 years and still going strong. Getting a little difficult to get some parts for it.

I have had several flavors of Mopars over the years, everything from the 273 to the 426 Hemi. The most reliable of these was the 318. Reliable and durable, though not much of a go fast engine.

Although there have been several 4 cam versions of American engines and some very successful ones at that, when I think of cams and cammers, mostly I think of the Italians, like the 3, 4 and 5 liter 4 cam V-12's street cars or the F1 cars with 2.4 Liter V8's cranking out 780hp at a 19,000 rpm redline. Seeing those beauties running at WOT makes me really appreciate the marvels of engineering.

just an old nova, would love to get ahold of a t-10 !!

Originally Posted by tango

What kind of car do you have that you would like to put that 4 speed in ? I have a 1965 Mustang with a 289 High Perf with a 4 speed . Its a bit hard to drive with the HD clutch thats in it . But I do like to dump the clutch at times .

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

A tunnel port 427. They make gobs of torque and are probably one of the most rare FE engines ever built. Not sure on the production numbers, guy once told me there were fewer tunnel ports made then the 427 SOHC engines?????

Here's an old ad, sure do wish we could buy them for that. My local Ford parts guy won't honor the advertised price!!!!!

You Da man Dave!!! My favorite also.

Why? Cause I'm building one.

Favorite engine...

...to look at? Any nostalgic motor with a "rep". SOHC Ford is at the top, with early Hemis and 409s close behind.

...for a driver? Whatever goes down the street with minimal problems. I've had mostly SBCs, but my truck has a 460 that gives me no problems.

...for a performance street car? I'd go with a smallblock Chevy. Too many great running cars to consider anything else!

...If I wanted to widen my horizons? BBC!...the more inches the better!