Engines not worth your time or money.....

Had some people ask me to elaborate on a previous post where I had said that certain engines aren't worth your time or money-that they'd be more useful as boat anchors. This is usually because their either obsolete-remember the Flathead Ford reference? Or even if their not obsolete-there is zero parts availability, or their too small to make serious power. And some of these can come from a family that has a highly desirable engine in it. Here's some that you should avoid.  # 1. 332-352-360 Ford. These are technically an "FE" engine-the same family that includes the 390, the 427 and the 428. You never see a 332-their too old. Unless your restoring a 1960 T-Bird or '65 Galaxie to the nth degree for concours shows I'd forget a 352. The reason is there big and heavy-like a 428-but their only 352 cubes. In any performance application you'd be much better off with the much lighter, and better power producing 351W and 351C engines. As for the 360-they were used in trucks and had the dual attributes of no power and crappy gas mileage. I'm not kidding-I don't know what Ford was thinking. Again their only 360 cubes and their a small-bore design. You'd be way better off with a 351W.  Any performance parts that fit a 390-i.e. intakes, headers etc will fit these-but why? Stock or modified they still don't make anywhere near the power and torque a 390 does. Honestly the only "FE" engines worth having are the 390,427 and 428 inchers.  # 2. 265-283-307 Chevy. Unless your restoring a '55 Chevy or a '57 Corvette to the nth degree, I have no idea why anyone would want a 265 or 283 inch Chevy. They run fine for a small engine, but that's the problem. A 327 or 350 costs no more to buy or build yet makes substantially more power. The 307 was created by putting a 327 crank in a 283 block, to make a torquey, "entry-level" V8 for Chevy trucks and station wagons back in the '60's. Again-especially since they had 2bbl carburation and single-exhaust and were usually in trucks or heavy cars-Chevelle wagons, etc-they weren't bad-they ran ok and got decent gas mileage. But their only 307 cubes. A 327 or 350 makes way more power and torque and costs no more to buy or build. The same goes for the 305 made from 1977-1995. The 307 had been dropped after 1973. Why they decided in '77 to cast another small-bore block and throw a 350 crank in it-is beyond me. Anyone who owned or drove any Chevy car or truck from the '80's or '90's hates 305s. They have no power,and don't really get any better gas mileage than the much more powerful 350!  # 3. 265-301 Pontiac. These were lightweight "economy" V8s, and nothing interchanges with the "traditional" 326-455 engines. If you have or want to buy an '80-81 301 Turbo Formula or Trans-Am, I hope your doing it with the intention of swapping in a 400 or 455, or changing the transmission as well and swapping in a small or big-block Chevy! I'm serious. There is zero aftermarket parts available for the 301.  # 4. 260-307 Olds . I don't know why GM thought it was cool to build small V8s that had no power and got crappy gas mileage in the late '70's and '80's, but they did. These wheezed out 120-140 hp, and made the Cutlasses and other cars they were in complete slugs. Some things like heads and intakes will interchange with a 350, but why? A hotted-up 307 won't really run noticably better than a stock 350! And probably won't have as much torque. If you have or want to buy a Cutlass or Buick Regal that has one of these engines, the easy path to power is swap in a 350 / 403. It's a bolt-in.  # 5. 300-327-340 Buick. These small V8s were used in a lot of Buick Skylarks in the '60's. The 327 was used in a lot of Jeep Wagonneers. The problem is there is zero aftermarket replacement parts for these engines, and they don't make anywhere near the power of the more modern '68-77 350 V8. I had a friend who bought a '64 Skylark Convertible that had the 300 / ST300 powertrain. He swapped in a 350 / TH350 combo-a bolt-in by the way-and was astounded at the improvement in performance and drivability. It had way more power and was much nicer to drive, and got better gas mileage!  # 6. 361 Chrysler. These are a "B" engine, which means their a big-block. However-their only 361 cubes. In any performance application-an "LA" 360 or a 360 Magnum is much lighter and will make more power. Or just get a 383 or 400. Or a 440-the intake manifolds don't interchange with "B" and "RB" engines, but everything else does. A 361 is pretty much a waste of time and money. # 7. 351M /400C / M  Ford. These are kind of a pariah. The 400 was used in a lot of Ford cars and trucks and vans from 1971-82. The 351M was used from 1975-82. Although they use "Cleveland" style heads, nothing interchanges with the 351C engines used from 1970-74. The problem is twofold. One-they were saddled with 8:1 compression, a lazy cam, 2bbl carburation and single exhaust, and they were put in heavy cars,trucks and vans with salt-flats gearing like 2.75:1. Two, their big and heavy-almost exactly the same size and weight as a 429 / 460-and share the 429 / 460 bellhousing bolt-pattern. The smart hot-rodder or engine swapper would just get a 460 and reap the reward of the 460's mountainous torque. On the upside-if you have one of these already in the car or truck-they do respond well to basic hot rod tricks. A 4bbl carb and intake and headers and dual exhausts will make a spectacular improvement in hp and torque. Edelbrock and Trick Flow sell high performance heads for these engines, and Edelbrock,Crane, Lunati and Comp Cams offer cams and valvetrain accessories. Just about every year someone enters one of these in the engine masters challenge and pegs the dyno over 450-500 hp. They can make some good power with the right combination of parts. Like I said-if you have one already in the car-by all means hop it up. But I wouldn't go searching for one or try to swap a 351W or a 390 for one. If I was going to the trouble of a Ford engine swap-we all know their not as interchangeable as GM and Chrysler stuff-then I'd go for the big dog 429 / 460.  # 8. 290 / 304 AMC.  Back in the late '60's and early '70's Trans-Am racing was popular and the displacement limit was 5.0 liters ( 305 cid ). All the manufacturers played-in '65 and '66 the 289 Ford and 273 Mopar did nicely. In 1967 Chevrolet jumped into the fray by putting a 283 crank into a 327 block and creating the mighty Z/28 302, which won the championship in '68.  Ford countered in 1969 with the legendary Boss 302.  Pontiac and Chrysler dabbled in it with de-stroked 400s and 340s, but weren't really competitive. While this was going on, AMC was playing with their little 290 inch V8 which was later bumped up to 304. When they wooed Roger Penske and Mark Donohue away from Chevrolet in 1970-it was a bold move and Donohue won the title in '71. Although AMC advertised this hugely on TV and in the buff magazines-it was kind of a hollow victory. Ford pulled out after 1970 which was why there wasn't a '71 Boss 302. Pontiac and Chrysler gave up completely, and Chevrolet gave some back-door support to some racers, but there wasn't a real factory effort. So AMC's Penske-led factory team trouncing a bunch of low-budget privateers isn't the upset of the ages they were making it out to be. Anyway-a 290 / 304 is too small for real performance work. I've said it before-AMC's are like Pontiacs-their all externally identical so swapping is easy. And there's millions of 360s in junkyards in Jeep Grand Wagonneers and pickups. If you have a Javelin or Rebel Machine or Matador with a 343, 390 or 401-by all means use it. I'm just saying if you have a Javelin with a 304-or a Gremlin or Hornet for that matter-a 360 is a bolt-in power infusion, and if their modified the 56 extra cubes makes a huge difference. Mastermind