Really need LPP's Anybody been watching the availability ?

[Rick H]

My son's father in law is a retired engineer who worked for Ford in the engine department. (he also is the drag racer who has a 9 second 300-6 T-bucket). The death of Ford's straight 6 was pressure to meet fuel economy standards. They tried everything including cross flow heads (a few of which have been used on said 9-second T-bucket). But couldn't wrangle the "needed" fuel economy. They ended up using the modular block as a V-6. The V configuration got 9% better fuel economy with similar performance.

The modular engine line is unique. The same block was either extended or shortened to make the V-6, V-8, and V-10.

 

[RBHarter]

89' the last production yr of the L6 4.9 liter fuel injected gem is a train wreck when the mystery switch let's go and the speedo and tach can't talk to the ECM and generates a slow death that generates misfires , out of sync ignition , 2-3 mpg and the piggy back switch is unobtainable , not included in the later switch assy . Additionally the the block and heads were altered to such a degree that retro fits aren't possible . I'm sure there's a work around but I never found a tech , wrench bender , racer or off roader that knew what or where to look for it .

 

[RicinYakima]

The 1996 300-6 was the only one with the serpentine drive belt, and it ate tension pulleys, always kept a spare. I towed my ultra-lie Coachman 5th wheel about 78,000 miles and only left me once with a blown water pump. Had close to 200,000 when I sold it to get a new truck in 2006. Of course I serviced it on the "severe" schedule and so never had any problems with engine or transmission.

The big issue is heat loss (thermal inefficiency) with the long block. The other one we had was the Toyoda Cressida (1982?) with the Japanese version of the Mercedes I-6, 18 MPG on a good day. All the electrical ran thru circuit breakers, over 15 of them, but we called it the "baby Lincoln" as a great around town ride.

 

[JonB]

I'm lov'n the direction of this drift...

I inherited the horse trad'n gene from my Dad, so I've owned 40+ different cars since I started driving in 1981...and probably 10+ different motorcycles. It seems I owned most all of them...V8's and 6er's and 4bangers. BUT, Never owned a diesel or a wankel though.
I almost bought a 3 banger 2 cycle (mid 1960s Saab model 96) during my Saab collecting days.
images stolen from interwebs. The first one looks the like one I was considering, the other two of the engine is just to share the Swede's unique design.





A pretty good concise article.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/saab-two-stroke-triple

 

[Jeff H]

Dang! I pushed THAT button!

I've had Ford 223s ,300s, AMC 258s/4.0L HOs, Dodge 225 "Slant Sixes" and loved them all. I owned some of those as a kid and they took a serious beating and kept chugging.

I worked "for" Ford, as a machine-builder through the modular V6/V8 start-up and installed/commissioned a fair bit of equipment for their production. I don't miss working for the auto industry, but it was interesting. Did the same for GM and Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Nissan,...

My brother had a 260(6) Z with a straight six I almost bought. He used to run 351 Windors hard (been in that plant too) and said that six in the two-seater was "FAYAAAAST!" He still loves in the South and makes monosyllabic words polysyllabic for emphasis.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I love thread drift.

My hot rod days are long behind me and while I had a lot of fun, I squandered a small fortune (maybe not a fortune but more than I should have).

Despite my former quests for performance, I always had great respect for the workhorses. The engines that gave economical and yeoman like service for decades. The inline sixes were often included in the lists of workhorses that I admired.

The only Chrysler slant six I ever saw throw a rod was a 225 that a guy drove with only 2 quarts of oil in it and said the oil light would come on when he went around corners too fast…..

The Ford 300 was ubiquitous and was used in trucks, vans, generators, pumps and even aircraft tugs.

The Chevrolet straight six was such a good design that Toyota practically cloned it for their FJ40 engines.

The AMC 258 was used for years in Jeeps and other AMC products. It went on to inspire the 4.0L Jeep straight six. Chrysler was forced to drop the 4.0L when the tooling to make that engine finally wore out and they needed a more compact engine to replace it. As pointed out earlier, fuel mileage & emissions standards became a problem, and the thermal inefficiency of those long blocks didn’t help matters.

I had a Cummins 12 valve 6BT for many years and that turbo diesel was indestructible and reliable. (The rest of the truck sucked but that’s another issue).

Leaving the sixes for a moment, JonB, thanks for the SAAB reference!

I’ve always said that SAAB’s were made as if the engineers knew they wanted to make a car but had never seen a car before. Quirky is the one-word definition that gets applied to SAAB more than anything else. If you’ve ever opened the hood on a SAAB 900 you would think that 2 NASA engineers lost a bet with 2 M.I.T. students as to who could make the most complicated hood hinge that would still work perfectly.

 

[Jeff H]

I love thread drift.

....................

Been in the Kenosha plant too! Saw racks and racks of 4.0s!

Only three-cylinder I ever had was one Uncle Sam loaned me for a while - a "Gamma-Goat!"

 

[RicinYakima]

SAAB! When I went to University in 1966, I wanted a SAAB Monte Carlo that the Oldsmobile dealer had on the used car lot for $150. My Dad and I drove it to school and it broke the rotor in the distributor on the way there. Needless to say, I didn't get it. He bought me a Pontiac Tempest with the 4 banger and transmission in the rear and drive shaft was a speedometer cable from front to back. First rainy night driving it hard I wrapped it around a guard rail when the rear tires lifted off the pavement.

 

[Tom]

I had a 64 scout that a kid put a 300 ford in. Great little machine, wish I still had it. Lifted up and 31.5" tires, it went through the tank trap trenches the usfs used to close "their roads" with ease. Come to think of it, it sometimes had a case of primers in it, too.

 

[JonB]

Leaving the sixes for a moment, JonB, thanks for the SAAB reference!

I’ve always said that SAAB’s were made as if the engineers knew they wanted to make a car but had never seen a car before. Quirky is the one-word definition that gets applied to SAAB more than anything else. If you’ve ever opened the hood on a SAAB 900 you would think that 2 NASA engineers lost a bet with 2 M.I.T. students as to who could make the most complicated hood hinge that would still work perfectly.

In the early 80s, I owned 3 Saabs. a couple model 99 and one 900 turbo (my '81 turbo was a turd and cured me of owning another Saab).
My fav was a '73 model 99. It had a lot of power for a 4 cylinder...maybe it had to do with the 3/4" pipe that fed gasoline to the fuel injectors? Yeah, it didn't get good fuel mileage, but it would bark the tires when shifting gears...as long as the tires were bald, LOL. I think the best mileage I got was 14 or 15, but when cruizin' the downtown strip, it was 10. Also, the 99 was a great design for snow, 15" wheels for high clearance and front wheel drive with engine weight for great traction. The only time I got stuck, was while doing some high speed shittys on a frozen lake and slid upon a tall snow drift and all four wheels were off the ground/ice, LOL.

Since, Saab was a Aircraft manufacturer, that nearly went out of business after WWII and made the switch to cars, I suspect it was aircraft engineer's that came up with the unique designs

 

[Petrol & Powder]

"....Since, Saab was a Aircraft manufacturer, that nearly went out of business after WWII and made the switch to cars, I suspect it was aircraft engineer's that came up with the unique designs..."

Unique is one way of putting it. Weird is probably more common. Not bad, just weird.

I know that SAAB engineers were aircraft engineers before they were car guys, but if you told me they were extraterrestrials that came to earth and designed cars, I would believe that too.

Have you ever seen the seatbelt on an old SAAB? There’s no buckle. It had a piece of webbing that you put into a gate and closed the gate to secure the belt. It worked but like everything about SAAB, it was weird!

 

[JonB]

I am very familiar with Saab seat belts.
also, they put the key ignition switch down on the floor near the shifter. One time, during a snow ball fight, while I thought I was smart, trying to hide in my warm car, a chunk of snow flew in before I could close the door and landed right on the key switch, melted, then froze ...frozen locks suck

ALSO ALSO, they put the relays and fuse bank near the battery in the engine compartment. It had a pretty good weather proof case, so I thought that was smart.