For those who think the old Pony is not road worthy, I just finished a 2,275.5 mile trip in my 1965 modified SIX cylinder coupe. A .060" over bored, 2-barrel, exhaust work, hot ignition with modified suspension, front disc brakes, air conditioning and 15" radials. The SIX will not out run a V8 but it has a place in the Pony corral. I had no trouble staying with guys in the NASCAR lane doing 75+ and passing was not a problem either. I have always been a big V8 fan and I still am, but do not sell the Inline 6 with 7 main bearings short. It now has about 35 more HP than when new with taller rear tires, which help it get 24.5 MPG without Overdrive...and the AC was on all the way.
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- Thread starter Charlie Cheap
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WORTH
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
No news to me, I was driving these things when they were still everywhere. I even had a '60 4dr falcon with a 144 and a 3 on the tree. Although that one was a bit wanting for a 4th gear. The 170's and 200's had more than enough power and got pretty decent mileage.
WORTH, I am a newbee here but have been a car guy since the late 50's. At 74 (almost 75) I spent 50 years building Street Rods with V8's and got hooked on small engines a few years ago. I know of no place where there is a posted 100 mph speed-limit except way out west, and there it says resume a safe speed. I will admit, above the century mark the little Mustang gets very light...even with much suspension work. Now I am building a 67 Sunbeam Alpine with a Ford 2.3 four and OverDrive automatic...just for fun.
WORTH
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Funny how age changes your FUN FACTOR. I'm starting my '66 F-100 resto now,I took it off the road about 5 years ago when the rot got so bad I couldn't open the drivers door anymore. It is a 390 4spd 4x4 now and I am seriously thinking about using a 300 I have for the new build. Looking at the Clifford mods for it, Also going to do a 4 wheel air ride system with a 4 link, Just because it'll be a fun project.
PS; I like the gauges under the hood there, nice touch.
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The gauges under the hood is an old race trick for easy tuning. One should be a vacuum gauge, but mine is oil-volts-temp to check while on the road. For years I had a Ford pickup with the 300 inline and it worked great. Down low it makes more torque than the V8, and pulling loads was never a problem. A buddy raced a 240 inline with 3 two's, big cam, serious internal work...which I did not understand at the time, and it NEVER broke. This was a front engine dragster that ran strong. He started with a 1940 Studebaker coupe running a 240 SIX called, "The Elongated Hole"! At the track the announcer said he would not touch that name with a 10 ft. fiberglass pole. What happened was, when they removed the body thy did not put enough bracing inside the body, plus they did a lot of welding on the frame causing things to twist and warp. When they tried to fit the body back on...every hole had to be "elongated" to fit. If memory serves, it ran strong 13's in the full quarter mile back in the late 60's. I am sure you know the 240 is a de-stroked 300 and with a 4 barrel, cam, header, head work, hot ignition and B&M Hydro it was close to the 12 sec. mark, even hitting high 12's on occasion. The V8 gassers had to spot him and few could beat him.
Funny how age changes your FUN FACTOR. I'm starting my '66 F-100 resto now,I took it off the road about 5 years ago when the rot got so bad I couldn't open the drivers door anymore. It is a 390 4spd 4x4 now and I am seriously thinking about using a 300 I have for the new build. Looking at the Clifford mods for it, Also going to do a 4 wheel air ride system with a 4 link, Just because it'll be a fun project.
I have an article somewhere in my archives of using a Boss 302 head cut up and using that technology on a 300 inline and setting some fast times and records. Definitely wasn't stock but scared a lot of V8 boys. Only complaint we had in Ford dealerships was noisy timing gears but it never hurt anything. Been doing this for over 60 years and still restore Mustangs and AMC Eagles since I now live in WI. Worked for Ford dealers as partsman and Manager plus set up 3 parts dealerships for FORD until I started FORD Man Mustang and Auto out of Houston for over 30 years.
WORTH
Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Barry, my 240 drag friend said the 300 is way too long a stroke to really wind with the 240. He used chevy (lower case c) pistons, 3 twos on a custom intake, custom headers and a lot of math to get the right parts all together. Barry was WAY into the TECH end of drag racing and he made the 240 sing on the far end. Just as the other guy thought they caught him, his tech work kept them behind. FUN TO WATCH...and hear! A SIX getting up on the cam at 7 grand+ is a sound to behold!
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