Straight Six

[Carlos D.]

Years ago I was forman on a job in british columia we were high up in the mountains ---I had two ford trucks on the job a 6 cylinder and an 8 cylinder .On one road There was a sharp switch back ---I could make it up with the six -But not the 8, the six would lug around the corner and keep going ---The eight would power out when I slowed down and would spin out when I changed to a lower gear

carl

 

[Saltydawg]

Inline engines tend to produce more torque than a V configuration because of geometry and to a lesser extent the manner in which air flows when it fills/leaves your cylinders.

They are generally built with smaller diameter bores and longer strokes because of "packaging".

A longer stroke is the same as using a longer lever to move something, you get more torque but you lose some "speed", or in this case the engine revs at a lower limit.

An inline 6 cylinder also has 7 main bearings vs 5 main bearings in a v-8, which leads to more stability and support for your crankshaft.
Each connecting rod has it's own crankshaft journal to ride on instead of having to share it with another cylinder. This allows a wider base and wider rod bearing for each connecting rod which again increases stability of the bottom end of the motor.

Airflow is also important to torque which is more complicated than can be explained on a messageboard.
Wide bore cylinders such as found on smaller v-8's running at higher rpm's fill better with large diamter valves and short intake/exhaust runner lengths.
Small bore cylinders running at low rpm like longer intake/exhaust runner length cause it means the air is moving at a higher velocity so it carries more inertia. This helps fill long and deep cylinders.

Anyhow it's with good reason that most large industrial engines found in semis and work environments are of the inline design. Tractors, Semis, large deisel ships, power plants all run inline engines.
It's a stable and durable design.

If you wanna race though you're better off designing a v configuration engine to take advantage of higher rpm's that are generally not reachable with inline motors.

 

[skyeagle]

Thats pertty good saltydawg.

 

[slim]

How easy is it to do an engine swap , replace a V8 with the 300 six in a F250?

 

[cfpinz]

How easy is it to do an engine swap , replace a V8 with the 300 six in a F250?

Never done one, prefer to leave things alone, less headache. Short list: motor mounts, bell housing, engine-driven components, linkages, radiator shroud, fan setup... Not to mention if the engines are EFI, that opens a whole new can of worms. And I would wonder about the crossmember?

cfpinz

 

[dun]

How easy is it to do an engine swap , replace a V8 with the 300 six in a F250?

Never done one, prefer to leave things alone, less headache. Short list: motor mounts, bell housing, engine-driven components, linkages, radiator shroud, fan setup... Not to mention if the engines are EFI, that opens a whole new can of worms. And I would wonder about the crossmember?

cfpinz

It seems like the computer on the newer ones would have to be swapped or at least changed around some also

 

[Saltydawg]

The bellhousing and trannies are the same if we are talking about a 302 or 351w swap with a 300 6.

If it's a 351m/400m/460/360/390 you will need to get a new tranny, the bellhousings are different.

If we are talking about pre-87 fords it's pretty simple doing the swap. the later model stuff with EFI however is a whole nother ball of wax. You really need to know what you're doing to expect any decent results.
There are a LOT of variables with regards to ignition and fuel injection in 87 and newer fords.

 

[MillIronQH]

The 300 is probably the best low mend torque engine built. I've had several and would buy another one in a heart beat. None of mine were good on gas tho.Z