What are your top five engines of all time and why. I have been thinking about this for the past several days and here are my choices and why. 1. 455 Buick. Good rod/stroke and bore/stroke ratio and also makes good power. Underrated by those who don't know this engine. 2. LS1 (includes LS6/LS2 series) I love the simplicity and areally love the sound. IMO there is a differnt tone emitted from the aluminum blocks vs the Iron and I prefer the aluminum. Also the engine really produces serious power with very little time invested. Lightweight. 3. 472/500 Caddy. Seriously underrated and makes big power. 4. 440 Great Bore /stroke ratio makes good power. 5. ZL1. All aluminum and made great power. On the other side of the scale 1. Chevy 307. A 283 bore and a 327 stroke that had a set of dismal cylinder heads it sucked. 2. Olds 455. Stroke was too long and bore was too small and cylinder heads could not make up the difference. 3. Dodge V-10. Sound horrible! 4. 403 Olds. Although this engine had a great B/S ratio and a good rod/stroke ratio the block was pure junk. Weak Casting 5. Caddy 4.1 Aluminum block and iron heads. Now power and had problems with the blocks. More of a throw away engine. Anyone else? Bart
OK, so I am a little predisposed to Buick. 1) Buick 350" - Lightweight, Strong, Durable and Simple. Also very underrated. 2) LS1 and variants - Great HP, Torque, Emissions and Lightweight. Hate: 426 HEMI - Heavy and Huge. Overrated engine. Sorry Mopar guys, I'd prefer the 440" Just my $.02
I would prefer a 440+6 myself, easier to keep in tune I *so* agree about the 307. I had one in my '78 Firebird Formula. prett darn good handling car. Accelerated like a tree sloth taking a nap
Even the Mopar guys prefer the 440.........but the 426 Hemi wins at the car shows everytime no matter what it's in. :bglasses:
1990 Olds 307cid V8 to haul a HUGE wagon, the thing constantly broke, even after we replaced the whole motor. New Hemi, another bad one, but sounds good. Old Hemi was better Toyota 1.8L 4cylinder, one of THE most reliable engines out there. :TU: Have two cars with them. Lexus LS 400 4.3L four-cam, 32-valve V8, 80,000 miles since 2002. Buick 455, what can i say. It was powerful and got 5mpg, passed emissions too :Brow:
Besides the beloved BBB ... Nobody has mentioned the 409? One of the neatest looking engines produced. I don't know how they performed.. but they sure look cool. :beer
Lots of good ones but heres a few quick ones ...... Mopar 318 and slant 6 . Chevy 283 and ford 289 and it's 300 -6 cylinder . Of course Buicks were always great ! :bglasses: Not big blocks buy these WERE all time great engines ! :Smarty: p
1984-88 Pontiac Fiero with 2.5L L4 engines. The factory that manufactured the Fiero engine was shipped faulty connecting rods which combined with the fact that the Fiero 2.5L engine ran a quart low on oil already, made for a fire starting recipe. The the 85's with the 2.8 V-6 had a problem with the exhaust manifold starting the insulation and the deck lid seal on fire. Recalls: PCV GROMMET OIL LEAKS, TRANSMISSION OIL COOLER LEAKS, PISTON CONNECTING ROD FAILURES BREAKING THROUGH ENGINE WALL CAUSING OIL SPILLAGE, FUEL RAIL LEAKS, COOLANT LEAKS, ROCKER COVER OIL LEAKS, AND MAINTENANCE OR SERVICE RELATED FACTORS, COULD CAUSE ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES. JUNK!!!
Best 1. - Ford 429. OK this was the Super Cobra Jet version, just loved that sweet sound of solid lifters, never lost a race, but, NEVER ran a Buick back then either, only remember one Stage 1 car around here. 2. - Ford 289 first car, always started right up no matter how cold A must up here!!! 3. - Ford 460 same reason as above. Needed dual exhaust to wake it up though. 4. - Buick 430 from my old Electra, more power than I ever figured, with an engine knock. 5. - Olds 394 smooth power through the Hydra-Matic trans, had to be careful with gear selector, reverse lived where 1st lives in every other trans!! Note: Just got into Buicks 3 years ago. Worst 1. - Chrysler 383 no power, scared of cool weather, never mind cold temps 2. - Chev 305 the b@$t@rd child. couldn't spin tires on gravel. Gutless POS. 3. - Ford 2.0 or whatever they put into 71 Pintos. My sister had one of these way back when. I was forever fixing it. Course I drove it a fair bit too LOL. 4. - First gen Honda Civic motors, NOT designed for Canadian prairie winters, could have made a mint boosting those things :ball: 5. - Olds diesel motors, if fuel pump ever went, expect a HUGE repair bill. Rick, I agree that the 409 is under-rated. Knew a guy years ago who had one in a 56 Chev 2 door hdtp. Awesome car all kinds of power, tried to buy it from him, he wouldn't sell, darn. They were rather heavy however, which is why they didn't hang around, looked great as well.
Mine would have to be personal engines, not makes. Favorite would be the 73 Rocket 350 in my mom's car. It never broke down even when something was wrong. That car also seemed to heal itself overnite. My least favorite would be a 3E engine in an 87 Toyota Tercel (with the variable venturi carb). My brother bought the car, we had to have the head rebuilt, and fix a lot of things. I could never get it running right, and after about a year it wouldn't even start.
I've got a few engines that were turds: 1)1964 318 "Polyblock"-has valve covers that have jagged edges on top of them and none of the parts would fit any of the other small block mopars. 2) Studebaker 327-any year of these engines made pathetically low power and were a real boat anchor-as a matter of fact,you could use it as a boat anchor and sink the boat you're on-these weighed close to 800 pounds with just the engine! 3)Vega 1.6 all aluminum engine-I need not say any more.(pure turd) 4)2.0 DOHC Mitsubishi engine-these have had more problems with cracked heads,bent valves,overheating and various other engine maladies.They get increasingly problematic with high mileage. (another time bomb) 5)2.6 Mitsubishi engine-another oil burner with a multitude of problems. 6)2.5 "Iron Duke"-cracked heads,weak rods,cracked exhaust manifolds.High mileage examples sound like they're ready to blow up. As for great engines: 1) 350,400,401,455 Buicks-they are the most underrated engines around and surprise quite a lot of people with their awesome power. 2)Buick V-6 Intercooled Turbo-unbelieveable performance and extremely quick. 3) 327 Chevrolet small blocks-these engines really ran great and were also awesome runners. 4)440 Mopars-great engines and very quick too.
favorites: 1) 265,283,327,350 chev engines - any in that series 2) 455,350 buick 3) 409 chevy 4) 426 hemi 5) 421 sd pontiac dislikes 1) 307 chevy 2) 267 olds 3) 4 cyl vega 4) 2.3 ford
In addition to what has already been stated. On the best list the Ford 5.0 used in the late 80's - early 90's Mustangs, I believe this engine kept the muscle cars alive through the dark ages. In 1990 it was the hottest thing in mass production. Very easy to upgrade. On the worst list was GM's answer to the 5.0, their 305, severley underpowered compared to Ford and difficult to upgrade. Another clunker the Buick 4.1 V6 - mostly for the fact that they put them in fullsize cars. My parents had an 1982 Park Ave that was literally dangereous that it was so slow. The engine could not handle the weight of the car and with the larger bore was prone to overheating. Nothing but problems. I know, hop it up or put a turbo on it and it's awesome, but its use in fullsize cars was irresponsible. Dave
I've always loved the look of a flathead ford,had one in a 49 Ford F-1 pick-up. Two water pumps up front and the fuel pump with a glass bowl is mounted on the rear of the intake.
Olds 350, 403 and diesel 350's. Quoting a Hot Rod(or one of those other mags for what they are worth).."this Olds small block, outside of the Chevy, is the only one worth rebuilding from scratch"...or something to that effect. Massive bore size.......and don't slam the 403---I recall that two of the 4 entries into the recent PHR Engine Masters Small block challenge were 403 based....these are not as weak as everyone says they are regardless of the windowed main webs. Plenty of ways to strengthen up the 403 bottom end if you are pushing one that hard. Diesel block is one of the ultimate building blocks for boring and stroking. Can you say "450 cubic inch small block with a huge bore for massive valves". Want 4 bolt mains in a non-Chevy small block?--no problem. Want a factory forged crank? --no problem--get 'em from a 330 cu in motor. Outside of Chevy no other GM brand has provided a factory made building block for performance like Olds with the diesel block. Cylinder heads---the aftermarket has taken care of that problem if you need that much flow. Fact of the matter is you have a bore size (with plenty of room to go bigger) that is hard to match.
I never knew how few motors (besides our beloved Nailhead) used a forged crank.........does anybody know exactly which motors had them? o No:
i've seen a few people mention the ls1(which i have and love), but it's predecessor was no slouch......the lt1 is still pretty stout, and now that the aftermarket has come up with solutions to the opti-crap problem, it's a pretty good performer you can get for pretty cheap.....i also really like chrysler's 3.5, and the old gm turbo 3.8s....of course the turbo had something to do with that.......
Great Engines: Was there EVER a bad Buick-designed engine? But 455 and 3.8 really stand out. :TU: :TU: F*rd 289, 460, any their "new" inline 6's (170, 200, 250, 300) Ch*vy 327, the best of a family of "OK" engines. Mopar Slant-Six, 440. Tough and powerful. Jaguar Twin-Cam Straight-6, the 4.2L version especially. Lots of HP, and sounds like nothing else!!! Crap Engines: ANY Ch*vy big block. 396, 402, 427, 454 - all cheap junk. Dad had a new '73 454, it used as much oil as gas. And he traded in a '68 Sportwagon for it... ou: What a pig of an engine. I've seen 454 blocks where the cylinder specs would change just from rotating the crank and moving a piston!!! MGB 1800 inline 4. Siamesed intakes, head flow like a knotted coffee straw, valves that won't stay adjusted, soft cast iron blocks that weigh as much as the rest of the car, etc, etc, etc...and we're not even talking about Lucas electrics! Most Overrated Engines: Ch*vy cast-iron smallblocks - not BAD engines, but definately not GREAT engines either. The best thing Ch*vy did was standardize them, so that "parts is parts is cheap" is why they're so popular. BUT - Cheap Popularity is NOT the same as Great! :rant:
