why should i upgrade my 1958 ford inline 6 to a v8?

Question

i'm about to purchase a v8 engine off of ebay for around 400 bucks, and i have a 1958 ford fairlane rat rod, and i have the inline 6 in it, and its sort of loud with the glasspack, and the v8 will make it extremley loud. but are there any really benifits from having a v8 over an inline 6 besides sound??? i'm just courious, or are all motors the same

i'm about to purchase a v8 engine off of ebay for around 400 bucks, and i have a 1958 ford fairlane rat rod, and i have the inline 6 in it, and its sort of loud with the glasspack, and the v8 will make it extremley loud. but are there any really benifits from having a v8 over an inline 6 besides sound??? i'm just courious, or are all motors the same



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all i use my car for is simple transportation, to get me places... but maybe when im at school and wanna show off i'll rev it and take off down the road lol

Answer 1

If you're building a true rat rod why even go to swapping the 6 for the V8?

A 6 has 25-30% more torque than a V8 from idle to 2500 RPMs in fact a little known fact is a strongly built six will even give decent built V8's a run for the Money...

To enhance the coolness of a six as far as sound that was also a lesser seen developement from that era...

hotrodders got 2 exhaust manifold a like off a six and then took them to a machine shop cut both in half... between the 3rd and 4th cylinders...

a blocker plate of metal was welded in side the area between the 3rd & 4th cylinder

then the 2 halves were welded back together... next the outlet from the spare manifold was cut off....

a hole was cut in the half of the altered manifold for the outlet and the salvage out let was welded into place...

this made a custom dual exhaust with a very wild and distinctive sound from the V8's adding a rumpity cam only made the effect eeven better..

adding a set of the newer harly davidson 2 1/4" exhuast pipes with the built in mufflers will quite the engine a little but still let it bark when you mash the throttle...

think about it 3 cylinders noise on each side with nice Chrome side pipes.

another beneifit you kept more money in your pocket and got more done on the pride n joy faster...

by the way did you see the cost of shipping that V8?? they weigh a lot ... thats why most car nuts do not buy engines off ebay unless they're something really rare etc.

Walt...

Answer 2

I upgraded my 223 six 1959 Edsel (almost the same as a Ford) to a 427 (Ford) V-8. The performance increase was outstanding. It was an expensive proposition but it was my idea of fun. If working on cars is not your cup of tea, then don't try it. It is a lot of work. The result is a quieter car (that six sounded like a broken sewing machine when it was r e v v e d); it was never mistaken for a race engine. The 427 had the ruppita-ruppita at idle that hinted of the power, but the outside view of the car was the same. The exhaust roar was not as important as the squall of the tires to me. The FE series engines will bolt right in with the correct transmission.and correct exhaust headers. (the steering box gets in the way.) The small blocks will also fit with room to spare. Getting the Z-bar for the clutch is next to impossible, the easiest way to go is a hydraulic clutch, there is plenty of room.
The driveshaft will need to be made to order and the whole rear end may need to be up-graded if you add too much torque.
The most important change will be the brakes. You can upgrade to the station wagon drums on front and rear for a tremendous increase in braking power to match the power.
Good luck, I hope you have a lot of friends to help.

Answer 3

Number one if the car came from the factory as a 6,LV as is !! You swap mills and the cars value is in the loo, Besides gas @ damn near $ 3.00 a gal, WHY would you want to swap ? If you need a Hot Rod look into an'82 Mustang on up. Fast and pretty good on gas.The 1958 Ford had either a 312 c i or a 390 ci mill. 8 to to mpg !!!Some of the test cars also had 352 ci eng. Back then gas was around 22 to 25 cents a gal.(hi test) As to benefits ,Of course , a v -8 of that era would run the damn pants of a 240 or 260ci inline 6 !! If you r lucky the car MAY have a 300 ci inline 6.They were a truck engine that had enough torque to pull a house off its foundation !!

Answer 4

Ford Inline 6

Answer 5

If you really have to ask that question, you are probably wasting your money, just dress up the six and enjoy the great gas mileage!

If you want more power and speed, you might consider the 300 in six. it can be made from the 240 six with a new crank and pistons. and would be much cheaper than a v8. but with the same cubic inches and power. you will never get much power out of that original 223 ci. it's a weak engine :(

Answer 6

First of all never take advice from mustang owners especially the newer ones, your car is old school, You can rebuild the six and get as much torque from it as the new stuff ,most important keep the numbers matching, if you remove the six keep it so when you decide to sell it can go with the car, next go to AUTOKRAFTERS.COM they specialize in parts for the old fords , have 62 Fairlane myself (can be seen at carcrazy.com) it does not have original motor because former idiot owner removed it, but it does now have a 89 5.0 that's stroked to 412.
Anyway you can get all sorts of hi performance parts for the six check ford motor sports for exec. good luck

Answer 7

Personally, I think if the car is not a concourse level car and is a car you intend to keep, Go with a fuel injected 5.0L engine.
if the car's trans is manual, go with a T5 manual trans....

You will have to make mods to the lower motor mounts and the transmission crossmember as well as the driveshaft.

But the results are; more power/torque, better mileage and reliability.

You can install some exhaust system that are actually quieter than you imagine....flowmaster deltaflows are quieter but will allow some growl.

Look at www.mustangsplus.com for wiring kits for these conversions, as they are popular with the mustang crowd.

Answer 8

A V8 is not louder than a 6-cyl. Just put a better muffler on it. Unless you're looking to start a chain reaction of spending a lot of money, keep the original motor

Answer 9

Keep the 6 and do what the others say about the exhaust. Use a split manifold or find some dual headers for it. You say rat rod. No need to change it unless you plan on drag races or car shows.

Answer 10

Well, for one you'll have alot more horsepower than the six banger. You'll probably get better speed out of the V8, but the V6 usually has better torque. It just depends what you're using it for. But, don't trash the six. You can sell it on ebay to someone who needs it for a replacement in their classic ride.