Video: Are These Six Of The Greatest Inline Six Cylinder Engines?

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by ozpacman

The 240 and 300 always seemed to be routinely referred to as the 'Canadian motor' in Australia. Don't know if that's correct or not but that seemed to be that label they got.

That's a good question. I had to do some research on that, as the ones we get here are built at the Cleveland plant. That doesn't discount the possibility that maybe a foundry in Canada was used for some of the key casting components.

For example when Nascar allowed the use of alloy heads back in the early 80s, a favorite head of the Chevy teams was called a Winter Head because of the Canadian foundry it came from and a snow flake that was cast into it within the valve train area.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by smoo

Solarite guy I think you are right regarding the gullwing - I had thought that engine was derived from new post WW2 developments for their luxury 300. I guess it’s the authors way of adding some drama to or trying to justify their list. Either way their downplay of the gullwing engine is probably not justified - in typical MB style they re wrote the rule book for the mid ‘50s and had a 150mph production car closer to reaching 100hp//litre instead of 1hp/cui which is something the yanks couldn’t achieve at the time (1957 283/283hp?).

I have two MB inline sixes which were far ahead of their time, not worthy of that list as it is performance focused - M110 from 1972 in w116 280se, injected twin cam 135kw with 6500rpmredline, and M104 24v 170kw from 1991 which will spin out to nearly 7000rpm.

Right, I agree, the Gullwing engine was derived from one of their own high end passenger car engines and yes, these days drama can be more important than the facts.

The Gullwing was one of those cars that sparked my interest when i was young. I was more used to that 283/283 with doghouse fuel injection as my uncle had one of those very cars. The year 1957 is correct. To this day, one of the prettiest Corvettes. Then I found out about this space age looking sports car with an engine 100 cid smaller with a faster top end by quite a bit.

I am sure those engines you have are very happy to rev. The German engines tend to rev effortlessly. Never a sense that things are ready to let go.

Cheers.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Swanny

Solarite_dude, have you any experience with the 2.3l 4cyl Lima engine?

A long time ago I changed cams on a couple engines and installed an Esslinger adjustable cam sprocket. This is going back to around ~1980. New a couple people with the turbo charged SVO Mustangs and a T'bird. But I didn't do anything with them.

What question do you have?

Cheers.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Roostercam

BMWs M88 inline Six was a fantastic motor and I also like the 245 Hemi from the 1970's. Both of these motors can produce serious power and who doesn't love the sound of triple carbed straight six at full song?

IMO 6 cylinders are touchy when is comes to exhaust note. Done wrong, they make a sorrowful sound. Done right, it is music to your ears.

[Captain Stubing]

Originally Posted by solarite_guy

A long time ago I changed cams on a couple engines and installed an Esslinger adjustable cam sprocket. This is going back to around ~1980. New a couple people with the turbo charged SVO Mustangs and a T'bird. But I didn't do anything with them.



What question do you have?



Cheers.

I have an XR4ti, and have read about converting to a roller cam set up, with parts sourced from a Ranger. I should hit up the Merkur forums, as I have no idea on which Ranger had a similar engine to source the bits from.

[solarite_guy]

Is it a single spark plug or twin spark plug set up?

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Swanny

I have an XR4ti, and have read about converting to a roller cam set up, with parts sourced from a Ranger. I should hit up the Merkur forums, as I have no idea on which Ranger had a similar engine to source the bits from.

This link may help with some basics. A fella named shadetree gave some good fundamentals. I am just not sure if the years will correlate directly for you.

http://www.therangerstation.com/foru...ad.php?t=36256

[Bill M]

BMW M3 E36 engine on test,
enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALxWm7ArpCw

[Captain Stubing]

Originally Posted by solarite_guy

This link may help with some basics. A fella named shadetree gave some good fundamentals. I am just not sure if the years will correlate directly for you.

http://www.therangerstation.com/foru...ad.php?t=36256

Thanks for that! Now back to 6 cylinder donks.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Bill M

BMW M3 E36 engine on test,
enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALxWm7ArpCw

That is a wonderful vid.

BTW those are great dynos. Traco engineering used to use them. Probably most no longer Traco engineering. They were the folks who used to build engines for the old Penske, Donahue cars sponsored by Sunoco.

Cheers

[jpd80]

A couple of other noteworthy I-6s would be the Jaguar DOHC I-6, a brilliant smooth
engine of the time with ample power for most situations....


The other is the Toyota Crown I-6 that was a dead set knock off of the MB I-6 of the time,
pretty bad when the rocker cover gasket fits both motors....

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by solarite_guy

Speaking of GM, when I was younger my father had a '62 GMC pickup with the 262 "truck" motor. There was also a 292(?) version of it. Like the Ford 300 they were good torque motors.

My old man bought a Chev C60 pantec truck new back in 76' with a 292 Chev 6, looked like a big version of the Holden 202 straight six I had.

[au350hp]

Originally Posted by solarite_guy

IMO 6 cylinders are touchy when is comes to exhaust note. Done wrong, they make a sorrowful sound. Done right, it is music to your ears.

Your spot on about that. A few people tried twin systems on hot sixes but imo, they sounded very ordinary. There was some lovely carb inlet manifolds & long runner systems for the Hemi sixes which always sounded more brutal than the Holden red six imo. It's no Ford, but I had an EH Premier sedan,5 speed, disc brakes, LSD, 192 red motor with triple webers, Cain inlet manifold for triples, the extractors were 2 sets of 3 which allowed a dual system into a muffler then into a 2.25'' single. It was a great sounding car, the induction noise & the exhaust noise on overrun was addictive. Petrol was 38c per litre for Super back then and I was spending way over $100 a week.

[Work Horse]

Holden Red motors where not a performance engine, ask me how I know

I blew up eight or more trying to keep up with Hemi's and Ford 6's, misspent youth!

I got my EH running 14's over the quarter in the 1980's, I was King of the kids while it held together.

7000Rpm straight out the extractors sounded awesome!

[au350hp]

Great looking engine/car. 14's are impressive even today. Mine was the same colour with a white roof. There was also a fella with a worked 161 in small speedboat we used to see at Eildon, which made a sweet sound & went well.

[LoBelly]

I had a VH Charger with a nice 265 that was such a willing motor

Often overlooked in these sorts of lists is the 50's & 60's Maserati sixes

The 2.5lt in the f250 grew to a 4.0lt dohc for its final iteration in 1967, all ally, big sump, twin ignition, fuel injected through 6 'stacks on the side...



also..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkO8y3AxRps&t=77s

LoBelly

[Maka]

Hi guys, a engine that deserves a honorable mention imo is the Lampredi i6 from the 1955 Ferrari 735 LM.

http://auto.ferrari.com/en_EN/sports...models/735-lm/

Its 4.4 litre i6 2v dohc engine with triple 50mm Webers made up to 261kw with twin spark plugs per cylinder etc, enough for the 735 LM to reach speeds up to 175 mph on the Mullsane straight.

Damn impressive for a racing 6 cylinder from the 50's hey lol!

cheers, Maka

[Raptor]

Thread needs more pics, and who doesn't love glowing exhausts
Here's two of my favourites;

Chrysler Charger E49 Hemi 6 (print ad from back in the day)



Nizpro (1000HP) Barra turbo

[DJR-351]

E-Type Jag 4.2s......



Afternoon officer, try doing this here and have the cops just drive on by lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GFxtIhNrdU

Sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMdfqayIA8U

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by jpd80

A couple of other noteworthy I-6s would be the Jaguar DOHC I-6, a brilliant smooth
engine of the time with ample power for most situations....


The other is the Toyota Crown I-6 that was a dead set knock off of the MB I-6 of the time,
pretty bad when the rocker cover gasket fits both motors....

That has been a long time favourite of mine. We were talking about that a few posts up. You could flip the front end open and actually see the entire engine. No plastic covers. Only a work of automotive art.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

My old man bought a Chev C60 pantec truck new back in 76' with a 292 Chev 6, looked like a big version of the Holden 202 straight six I had.

How did it do in that C60? I new a fella back in the 70s with a C60 powered by a 366 BBC. The dimension of that crank was used in the 430cid BBC Mclaren CanAm engines of the late 60s.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Roostercam

Your spot on about that. A few people tried twin systems on hot sixes but imo, they sounded very ordinary. There was some lovely carb inlet manifolds & long runner systems for the Hemi sixes which always sounded more brutal than the Holden red six imo. It's no Ford, but I had an EH Premier sedan,5 speed, disc brakes, LSD, 192 red motor with triple webers, Cain inlet manifold for triples, the extractors were 2 sets of 3 which allowed a dual system into a muffler then into a 2.25'' single. It was a great sounding car, the induction noise & the exhaust noise on overrun was addictive. Petrol was 38c per litre for Super back then and I was spending way over $100 a week.

Hot rodding the older straight 6s in Australia is a lot more mainstream than here. When I was young (and single) I bought used Austin Healey 3000 MK II. 100% pure "babe" magnet. Twin SU carbs, a "split" exhaust of 6 into 2. The 2 pipes ran parallel to a single muffler and existed again parallel. No idea what the muffler looked like inside. Not a harsh sound but sounded really nice, especially with the top down.

Pulled the head once to to give it a valve job. A few months later I pulled the head of a Datsun 240Z (not ZX). It also had a nice sounding straight 6. When I saw the chambers, they looked like clones of my Healeys.

Two not very sophisticated but good running engines from what I could tell.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Work Horse

Holden Red motors where not a performance engine, ask me how I know

I blew up eight or more trying to keep up with Hemi's and Ford 6's, misspent youth!

I got my EH running 14's over the quarter in the 1980's, I was King of the kids while it held together.

7000Rpm straight out the extractors sounded awesome!
image

That's some nice looking iron. That time seems very respectable.

What would you say the hp output was?

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by LoBelly

I had a VH Charger with a nice 265 that was such a willing motor

Often overlooked in these sorts of lists is the 50's & 60's Maserati sixes

The 2.5lt in the f250 grew to a 4.0lt dohc for its final iteration in 1967, all ally, big sump, twin ignition, fuel injected through 6 'stacks on the side...

image

also..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkO8y3AxRps&t=77s

LoBelly

Another work of art. Same could be said of the Lucas FI as well. I priced a Lucas system out not too long ago. Pricey.

Beautiful.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Maka

Hi guys, a engine that deserves a honorable mention imo is the Lampredi i6 from the 1955 Ferrari 735 LM.

http://auto.ferrari.com/en_EN/sports...models/735-lm/

Its 4.4 litre i6 2v dohc engine with triple 50mm Webers made up to 261kw with twin spark plugs per cylinder etc, enough for the 735 LM to reach speeds up to 175 mph on the Mullsane straight.

Damn impressive for a racing 6 cylinder from the 50's hey lol!

cheers, Maka

That would have been the era when my Uncle took a few runs down the Mulsanne. Those are big cylinders on a Ferrari, especially when you consider 275 was typical Ferrari cylinder displacement 10 years later.

Ferrari often delivers the more sexy exhaust notes.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by Raptor

Thread needs more pics, and who doesn't love glowing exhausts
Here's two of my favourites;

Chrysler Charger E49 Hemi 6 (print ad from back in the day)

image

Nizpro (1000HP) Barra turbo

image

Thank you.

I would say the 2 favourite engines in the thread.

[solarite_guy]

Originally Posted by DJR-351

E-Type Jag 4.2s......

image

Afternoon officer, try doing this here and have the cops just drive on by lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GFxtIhNrdU

Sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMdfqayIA8U

You have to look far and wide to find a prettier engine.

Forgot to mention, some of the earlier models allowed into the US had advertised top speeds of 160mph. Not too shabby.

[GASWAGON]

Only V8 i've ever owned was Holden VL Wagon with Blue 308 on LPG and it was pretty gutless and disappointing.

First car was HJ Kingswood 202 but i was spending half my apprenticeship wages on petrol. (Wrote it off on way home from work on a wet afternoon around a very slippery corner).

Then i bought an XF Spack 4 speed manual on LPG and never looked back.

LPG back then was 18cents per litre........Drove to QLD to visit relatives and back for about $200 back then.

From then onwards i've driven and owned quite a few 4.0 straight 6 EF Fairmonts and even an EF XR6 wagon which i loooooved but it was falling apart.

Missed the all the legendary AU's and went straight for my BF3 Barra powered Wagon lowered on Pedders suspension and 19inch CSA wheels.

Love the DOHC Barra engine and 4.0 litres is not too small and not too big like a V8.

I can tow a trailer easily if i need to..........Load up the back of the Wagon with rubbish (have done a few times) or toolboxes or mountainbike for weekend family rides.

Very handy, reliable, comfortable car and pretty easy to service and maintain myself especially with the help of these forums.

Thanks fella's!!!

[lovford]

The VL had some stupid pollution thing on it that robbed it of power.

[The Yeti]

I gotta say I like the old chev blue flame 6's