Apr 22, 2004 at 5:44 PM
Hello, folks. I'm a new member, and a new mechanic. I have an '89 E-150 van, and I love the inline six. I also have a '51 Custom sedan. After having the original flattie checked out, it appears to have serious issues. Additionally, I'm a bit of a weirdo, and I love the idea of running the straight six in my streetrod. Is it really worth the trouble? I know that inline six engines are tough as hell, and torquey, but are they doomed to be slow? Does anyone offer aftermarket performance upgrades? I already know about Crane cams and Hedman headers, but how about new heads, or a better intake? And, probably most important of all, how much horsepower am I likely to get anyway? Should I just cave in and get a small block V-8? I like marching to a different drummer, and I've seen inline sixes race before, though not Fords. Thanks in advance.
, however I don't think I'd put it in a street rod. The top end, which is the most important part of the powerband in a street / strip car, is absolutely terrible in the 300-6. There have been people who have used their 300's for drag racing, but it seems to me like it's way more expensive than running 10's should be, and a hell of a lot more work. Cliffordperformance.com has an amazingly good priced dual quad setup for the 300 for about 290 bucks. The problem there is that you'll need to buy the quads (duh), upgrade the fuel delivery system, pistons, rods, etc. It ends up as a huge money pit that would end up making a 10-second car theoretically, when you could have made a 10-second car with a V8 and spent way less money. If you do decide to do it, however, keep us all posted on how it goes. It could be awesome.