Ford V6 race motor

[Rick]

Has anyone ever seen or heard of the Ford V-6 which I believe was actually a 351 minus 2 cylinders?? I saw one at a BITD race in an Explorer and it really freaked me out. I looked under his hood to see a tunnel ram with a carb on top.


I'm interested in the history of the motor.

 

[spindlecone]

Cosworth made some ford V6s up to 440 HP, a few have sold via ebay in the past 4 yrs
Pricey

 

[Rick]

Nope, I don't think this was a Cosworth. Didn't those have OHC?

 

[spindlecone]

Don't know Rick
Were ford V6s, not a clue to the configuration

 

[james t]

Ive heard of a V6 that was a Cleveland with 2 cylinders cut off. Rumor has it this is what gave GM the idea of the 4.3 (4.3 V6 is just a cut down 350 V8 for those of you that dont know ). Anyway, ive heard of one from some old man but ive never seen one or even seen pics. I really dont know if it was a Cleveland or if he was just BSing.

 

[Creager]

I dont know... but i tried researching the topic for you guys... this is what i got from Wikipedia

The Canadian Essex (90 Degree V) engine was a V6 engine family built by Ford Motor Company in Windsor, Ontario. Unlike the British Essex V6, the Canadian Essex was a 90° design, being derived from the Windsor V8.

It doesnt flat out say it was a 351 with two cylinders cut off, but it might be what your talking about...

That was all i could find for a 90 degree v6.

take a look here if ya want, they have the history for all the ford engines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ford_engines#6_Cylinder

 

[Longjohn119]

Some ASA Stock Cars used to run a 4.5L V6 block and it put out over 500HP ...

If anything came from a Cleveland block I'd say this was it and it was a racing only motor (non-production)

 

[Rick]

I found pics. I took these at the 2004 Vegas to Reno race. Unfortunately, I don't have a shot with the cars number or drivers name.

 

[410Fortune]

The Ford 3.8L V6 is basically a small block without the two cyl.
This has been used in Rangers before, espeically the SC version from the SC thunderbirds.

Cosworth built 2.8L, 2.9L's and 4.0L's of course.

That may very well be a 3.8L, short block anyways

 

[Rhett]

Going a little off-topic, I would have liked to have seen that Explorer. Looks like it has had the fuel tank removed or relocated (fuel cell?) and the frame rails on that thing look weird. I guess all the mods are not too surprising considering what it's been built for...

 

[Rick]

What you see running parallel to the frame is the leaf spring supporting the truck. It's a 1/4 elliptic spring pack. I think that's what you were reffering to.

All of the race trucks have fuel cells.

 

[Creager]

What you see running parallel to the frame is the leaf spring supporting the truck. It's a 1/4 elliptic spring pack. I think that's what you were reffering to.

Yeah i was wondering if those were springs.

a lot of springs isnt it? i guess if its a quarter of a spring pack, it needs to make up for it by having 4 times as many leafs stacked up?

 

[410Fortune]

Thats a 3 link rear using elliptical leafs as the spring, this setup hasd been used by desert guys for years, works well when done properly. (there are 4 links but I believe when both uppers are mounted to the center of the top of the diff, its still called a 3 link. Also with the leafs it might actually be called something else, 5 link? hahaha)


More leafs = good thing usually.

You could probabvly ditch them and run coilovers fairly easily
I still think thats a 3.8L.

 

[Creager]

the 3.8 was the only thing i could find that was considered to be 'derived from a v8' so your probably right 410. Although, JamesT was talking about the Cleveland 351 was the model, only thing i found was derived from the Windsor. So their might be differnent models out there.


Off topic but.
I got in a buddies boat this weekend that had a 3.5 liter 4 cylinder! He said it was the only motor Mercrusier made themselves, that thing pulled ripped us around. I thought it was like the 4.3 i have in my searay the whole time.

 

[TheFox88]

Back on topic, but isn't the stock 4.0L/245ci engine in our explorers just a 327 with 2 cylinders cut off? I did the math and that is what i based this off. Is the 4.0L a 90 degree engine?

 

[Creager]

The 4.0's in our trucks are apart of a 60 degree v6 family.

 

[jimbo74]

if it were a 6cyl 351, it would be about a 263 or 264 ci

 

[TheFox88]

if it were a 6cyl 351, it would be about a 263 or 264 ci

It seems to be a 327 6cyl, not a 351. Does anyone know whether or not the 327's Ford makes are 90 or 60 degree?

 

[410Fortune]

The only engines that are 60 degree are the metric Cologne V6's.
Most engines are 90, including all Ford small block V8's.

Just because it started life as a 3.8L doesnt mean the short block is stiock in that truck, the 3.8L shares everything witht he 5.0L, minus 2 cyl, so there is nothing stopping you from using performance 5.0L parts, larger bore pistons, etc...