Ford 4.6 in an Avanti.

[rqb4000]

I think that is great, putting a 4.6 DOCH motor in an Avanti. If I had a Bricklyn with a 351w, I'd seriously think of going to a modern Ford engine. A buddy of mine has a Cobra that he considerd swapping the 302 for a 5.4. But a tape measure told him a swap would mean more than a little bit of work. Good luck ! I'd like to know how it goes

[SBCA96]

Are you asking a question? There are better engines out there that will fit a lot

easier. The LS1 or LS2 comes to mind. Even an LT1 would be a better choice.

The Ford 4.6 was a dog in the mid 90's, and didnt "wake up" until the early 00's.

Its a large engine, quite massive, and has a weak lower end, & up til a redesign

to the heads in the early 00's, was prone to spark plugs flying out of the heads.

Unless you plan on spending premium money for a Cobra engine, I would stick

to the better GM engines that are an easy bolt in. Or in the Studebaker Avanti,

keep the Studebaker engine.

Tom

[rqb4000]

Are you asking a question? There are better engines out there that will fit a lot

easier. The LS1 or LS2 comes to mind. Even an LT1 would be a better choice.

The Ford 4.6 was a dog in the mid 90's, and didnt "wake up" until the early 00's.

Its a large engine, quite massive, and has a weak lower end, & up til a redesign

to the heads in the early 00's, was prone to spark plugs flying out of the heads.

Unless you plan on spending premium money for a Cobra engine, I would stick

to the better GM engines that are an easy bolt in. Or in the Studebaker Avanti,

keep the Studebaker engine.

Tom

[rqb4000]

Sorry about replying with your reply. I hit the wrong button. Good thing I didn't become a commercial pilot.

Tom, you make a good point about conveniance of instalation: swapping a sbc for a sbc. Still, I look forward to the fellows installing a Triton in an avanti. I agree with you 110 % about keeping a '63 or '64 Avanti, Stud. under the hood. Since I've got your attention, what do you think about a Buick 3.8 in an avanti ?

Keep the faith

John

[SBCA96]

You mean the amazing turbo Buick Regal Grand National V6? I think that the

"wow" factor is pretty high with seeing one of those under the hood, and they

certainly make a lot of power, but the cost vs the final result makes the swap

not worth the investment. For the money, an LS1 making 335-350 hp could

be put in. The aluminum block and heads will make up for the lack of a turbo,

and drop the front end weight of the Avanti. I wouldnt waste the time to put a

run of the mill non-turbo 3.8 V6 in. If you really wanted pucker-factor fun, an

LS2, LS6 or LS7 (500 hp?) could be used. All of the LSx family would be easier

to install then the MOD 4.6 Ford. Considering the performance of the CTS-V,

the GTO, the Camaro/Firebird and the new Corvette, it would make for some

tire smokin rear axle blowin fun!

Tom

[rqb4000]

Tom, I agree. The the wow-factor of a supercharged 3.8 would be sensational, and I believe economical to drive. But, like Mel Brooks said in the movie Blazzing Saddles when Harvey Korman said the state would build an institution for Insane Gamblers... What'll it cost man ? .... What'll it cost ?

The modern LS engines are probably the way to go.

Keep the faith

john

[Gunslinger]

My '02 has an LS1 in it and it is a fabulous engine. In my '70 I just had a GM Performance 350 HO/330 hp engine installed with Edelbrock fuel injection...now the body should dropped back on soon.

I considered installing an LS engine in the car, but the additional costs would likely have spiraled out of reasonable control (it's expensive enough as it is). The installation of an aluminum engine would have been nice, though. I figure that the new 350 is somewhat lighter than the original engine, along with the much lighter induction system, the aluminum case 700-R4 transmission in place of the cast iron case Borg Warner, and an aluminum driveshaft is taking some needed weight off the car as well as reduced rotating mass the car should make the car a real runner.

Avanti's have been set up for the small block Chevy for so many years, it seems to go with a Ford or other make engine would require too many engineering changes to make it worthwhile. Not that I'm bad mouthing Ford engines...I'm not. Chevy engines are so easy to get parts for, the car is set up for them already, aftermarket performance manufactureres make items for the small block Chevy before they do any other engine, and the cost is generally less as well. To me it's a no brainer.

[jmenacker]

We had a local race engine builder put together a 300 Hp 350 SBC. We are in an area with winter weather. Slow time for the race industry. They were happy to make us a nice engine at a great price.

Bruce:

Have you made any decisions about running exhaust on your Avanti II? We ran full dual from the IROC manifolds back. The oil filter had to be remote mounted to allow the driver's side downpipe to sweep back.

Joe M in WV

Edited October 19, 2006 by jmenacker

[Gunslinger]

Joe...

The car's been given a full dual exhaust...Sanderson headers and Magnaflow mufflers and 2 1/2" aluminized pipe. It's on only as far as the mufflers. The speed shop wants to wait until the body is back on before they add tailpipes so there's no interference problem with the body. Since the car is a '70, there's no issue with catalytic converters.

The shop owner gave me several options regarding mufflers. I didn't want a really loud system so he recommended Magnaflow as opposed to Flowmaster. I wanted a lower tone and quieter system, not a loud and raucous one.

They did need to add an oil filter adapter for better servicing access.

[IndyJimW]

Check out this web site about muffler loudness.

http://www.torquetechexh.com/mufflers.htm

I used it when I purchased my cat-back system from them, I'm very pleased with the sound of my system, wanted a healthy sound but not loud.

Jim