Tell me about my engine

[Stewzer55]

Replace the integral head with a non-integral one, a 4 barrel intake and headers and enjoy it. My daily has a I6, dead smooth, torquey and being limited by the 4L65E behind it spins 6300 RPM.

 

[VAL]

"Tell me about my engine"

Well its an internal combustion engine with 6 sylenders and hopefully the matching pistons that go in the cylenders. And when a black semi-rectangle is pushed to the floor pan, it make the engine make a vroom-vroom sound.

Sorry.... I felt the need to say that...

Dude, your such a DICK!

 

[Christian Nelson]

All I know about those engines is, you used to be able to get them cheap, but they are getting hard to find now, and expensive. A lot of people pulled them, to install a 350 V8..

Nowhere near the HP of a 350, but enough to keep you moving. If you don't regularly drive 80+ mph, you should have zero issues, and better gasmileage.. I wouldn't worry about the integrated head unless it starts giving you issues. Maybe line up another one in case,but if it works fine, why mess with it?

 

[SgtSunbutt]

at least their supposedly reliable. I haven't had any trouble finding parts either

 

[marks86]

little fun fact for you, in the 70s the 250straight six came in alot of 1ton trucks, it was almost like it was the "before diesel" engine

 

[Stewzer55]

I'd think the 292 came in more 1 tons, oh well.

 

[marks86]

I'd think the 292 came in more 1 tons, oh well.

maybe it was the 292 whats the difference besides the C I

 

[Stewzer55]

It's taller and never got an integral head.

 

[HotRodPC]

Looks like you're getting good info here, with exception of the smartass. Sorry about that.

Hell yes, Keep the 250. True they are hard to kill. Damn things go forever and ever, hard to wear them out. And true, the Integral head sucks. It did give more performance because you got a 2bbl carb with it instead of single carb. The integral heads are very crack prone, so try to avoid overheat at all costs. The HEI distributor is a bit hard to find if and when you need it, so I've been told, so if you see a good spare somewhere for cheap, grab it and put it away in the garage. Yes, The 292 was a taller motor, so the side covers are taller, and the pushrods are longer and true, it never got the integral head. Keep that motor, but keep your eyes open for a 230, 250 or 292 NON integral head, and get the manifolds with it. 250 with Non Integral head, you may not be the first to cross the finish line, but you can count on finishing because you won't breaking down due to an internal motor failure. Timing stays accurate in those motors too since they are gear to gear timing and don't use a timing chain. Don't even use idler gears for timing, it's direct crank gear to cam gear. Another big advantage, if you ever get a bad lifter, it's a 15-20 minute swap job with the side cover and valve cover off, no need to remove manifolds. Simple, cheap, reliable, effective and easy to maintain. Just won't be winning any races. With the right gear ratio and transmission, you can even do a little towing with it and not hurt it.

If you decide you want a V8, I'd be willing to bet you might be able to find someone with a V8 core that will swap you too. We've got some I6/3 Tree fans here too.

 

[SgtSunbutt]

I was never going to swap the motors out. I just wanted to know what I was getting into. At the expense of sounding like an elitist hipster, you see Chevy pickups with 350 small block v8's everywhere, and not very many straight sixes, I'd just as soon keep the six and be a bit different than go through all of that work and money to drop a very thirsty v8 that I am not going to do anything different with into my truck.

 

[HotRodPC]

I was never going to swap the motors out. I just wanted to know what I was getting into. At the expense of sounding like an elitist hipster, you see Chevy pickups with 350 small block v8's everywhere, and not very many straight sixes, I'd just as soon keep the six and be a bit different than go through all of that work and money to drop a very thirsty v8 that I am not going to do anything different with into my truck.

I agree. I'd keep the 6, and keep my eyes open for a Non Integral head for a swap someday. Even if you had to buy a complete engine to get it, go for it. Some people throw those I6's away like trash, so you might get one for nothing. Just keep your eyes open, let everyone know you'd haul one off or pay a little just to have a core around and it might show up quicker than you think. Even a 230 from like a 65 would be good, maybe even better since it'll be less smog built into the head, and probably a smaller combustion chamber and bring the compression up .25 or so for a little umph to the 250.

 

[Stewzer55]

I think, and I could be wrong here, you can get a Pontiac OHC 6 head and use it too since they used the same block, but those use a special timing belt. With the right gears and transmission you can tow to your hearts content really. These engines were built for torque and ran out of breath quickly. Also due to their smaller displacement they won't beat most V8s.

 

[HotRodPC]

You want to put your 350 TBI R30 up against a 250 I6 Car??? I'll even let you have the move so we don't need a flashlight start. Oh wait, next you'll be saying but my truck is heavier. OK then, I'll give you a truck length out and the move. Five Hunnit Dollas and you want to do 1/8 mile or 1/4 mile??? Take your pic, he'll have you run down in the 60 foot and get that move and space back and then it's all she wrote.

 

[Stewzer55]

I should have clarified, that Nova would smoke my R30 its bone stock and no AIR pump. We could have some fun and run similarly displacement I6s against each other with my TB. Nah, that would lose too, less weight and geared better. I love I6s, part of why I got a TB. Stock for stock a 6 can run with an 8, modified, its easier to go faster with 8 but would be more fun with 6.

 

[HotRodPC]

That Nova is daily driven street car. It only does 13.20's in the 1/4 mile. It spanks OEM 4.6 Mustang GT's all day long and even those with a Flowmaster, K&N and chipped.