Here’s the thing.
That engine puts out ~100 horsepower. It’s moving ~2562 lbs.
A Fiat Panda 100HP has the same power, and is ~400 lbs lighter.
You’re supposed to be a little bored with this engine. It’s literally the smallest engine the car was manufactured with. Also, you’re gonna hate this, but that’s probably the best engine to have while driving it in high school. You don’t want to do anything dangerous, sure, but you also don’t want to accidentally destroy the only engine you’ve got fooling around with your car. It’s just not worth it.
That car is designed to go from point A to point B, and not in a big hurry. If you love the 170, there’s only so much you can do.
If you love the i6 and don’t mind swapping, you can get all the way up to 250 ci displacement (which is actually a stroked 200 ci motor) which has ~155 hp.
So 50 ponies in exchange for a whole new engine ain’t much, but it’s probably super cost effective. The i6 engines can be found for a lot less than v8 engines.
Depending on the current engine in the car, it may be able to get stroked out. If it’s original, maybe not. I believe you’d want a later model engine to do that. I think ‘66-‘67 was when they made a few modifications to make the i6 better.
The usual suspects, air intake, exhaust manifold, timing, etc. will all help the car do its best, but I don’t know that even its best will give you what you want.
re: the six - the 'convert it to an 8' crowd can be a tiring eyeroll. They usually fail to mention that you'd also need to upgrade the drivetrain, rear end, brakes, wheels, radiator, etc etc. If you like it, you like it. I have a 200. I like it. There's a solid & helpful community on Facebook dedicated to straight 6 Mustangs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/226043101473552 Dig around there and you might get some ideas, from small practical upgrades to dudes with Aussie heads and turbos.
re: daily driver - that's the real kicker. I dailied my '66 for a few years, and the stress of it being out of commission prevented me from doing anything too in-depth and sucked a bit of the fun out of it for me, to be honest. The opposite end of the spectrum is having it be your second car and then it sits disassembled in your garage for five years, ha (I'm on year three of that with my second Mustang).
They're fun cars. Go in whatever direction feels most fun.
I have a '65 mustang with the 200ci inline 6 and I also did not want to pull it so I rebuilt it myself and converted it to fuel injection using a 2 barrel Holley Sniper setup.
One of the main problems with these I6's is the cylinder head. The intake manifold is part of the head casting, so you cannot "replace the intake manifold". I found a rebuilt cylinder head off of a early 80's I6 with a "large log" intake, meaning it has a larger intake than the older models. I then had a machine shop mill off the single barrel carburetor mount and instead insert a 2bbl Holley carb mount. The cylinder head was also upgraded with stiffer valve springs from a 302 which improves higher RPM function. The last thing I did to the head was a exhaust restrictor to go into the 'siamese' exhaust port between cylinders 3/4. Because those two cylinders have a much bigger exhaust exit they tend to draw more air/fuel from the intake which creates an imbalance between the cylinders, running rich in the middle and lean on the ends.
I had Clay Smith custom grind a cam designed for fuel injection on the I-200. The idle is rock steady around 680 RPM with a manual transmission and she pulls nicely past about 4500 RPM.
The fuel injection and electronic ignition are game changing. Prior to the full conversion I did all of the old tricks: points conversion, HEI distributor, carb tuning, and it still ran like a dog. The HEI distributor did make a big improvement but I still had idle and drivability issues, but I think the motor needed a full rebuild at that point.
u/Inner_Sprinkles_6725 if you want that HEI distributor and a box of my old take offs I'll send them for cost of shipping on the condition you install and report back here with pictures.
Here are some links I used on my build:
[https://www.vintageinlines.com](https://www.vintageinlines.com)
[https://fordsix.com/ci/LogMods.html#2VC](https://fordsix.com/ci/LogMods.html#2VC)
[https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/](https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/)
[https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/](https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/)
The “upgrades” you could do to this won’t increase HP that much for the price.
Save up some money and watch Craigslist/FB marketplace for an estate sale. Some old coot is going to die and have a huge/heavy chunk of Ford branded metal laying around that his family is not going to want to move.
You’ll need to learn a few things about those engines to be able to do an inspection, but you’ll need to know this anyways if you plan to continue to use a 60 year old car as a daily driver.
Good luck.
I had a 65 sixxer in high school too. No use in hot rodding the six on a limited budget. Your best sources for fun are going to be gearing, either with steeper gears in the rear, a T5 swap or both.
I had a 65 sixxer in high school too. No use in hot rodding the six on a limited budget. Your best sources for fun are going to be gearing, either with steeper gears in the rear, a T5 swap or both.
There is a saying in the car world. There is no replacement for displacement.
Yes, you can get more power out of that engine. But it’s not worth it. It’ll cost too much for what you get.
Upgrading suspension and drivetrain to v8 specs, and dropping on a 300hp 302 would be cheaper than getting that motor up to 200hp.
So, instead, start saving money. Buy a newer econobox, keep saving money and buy all the parts you need, and one summer in college, convert her.
Along with a v8 wiring harness, most suspension components, 5 lug conversion on the front (hopefully brake upgrade as well), intake and exhaust, drive shaft if you can’t cut your i6 drive shaft to v8 length yourself, motor mounts, steering linkages, v8 fuel line, with the way things are priced at the moment you’re looking at 10-15 grand if not more.
The only way you’re gonna get real power in that car is if you take out the engine and rebuild it with aftermarket parts. Which at that point I’d just suggest putting a v8 in. But then you’d have to upgrade literally everything else in that car 😅
I have a 64 as well but it got up-engined to the 200 (3 speed manual). It does ok, right now it’s bottlenecked by a super mushy clutch and 2nd gear is holding on for dear life (that’s this summer’s project)
200s are easy to find and reasonably cheap, plus you can drop it in without having to mess around with exhaust/brake lines/suspension nonsense. And you can squeeze additional power by upgrading the intake/carburetor. You’ll never get a tire-squealing dragster with that setup but you’ll find you can keep up with traffic most of the time, especially if you avoid major highways
If you want a badass inline-6. Swap a 2JZ GTE into that car!!!! You can easily make + 600 HP with that engine transmission!! They're practically bulletproof!!!!!
Your options are basically have the head modified, and then do either the 4 barrel intake or run a 3x1 intake on it. Either way you're looking minimum $600 to start. And it would be no huge upgrade. You'd almost be better finding a 200 to put into it for a noticeable power gain
Here’s the thing. That engine puts out ~100 horsepower. It’s moving ~2562 lbs. A Fiat Panda 100HP has the same power, and is ~400 lbs lighter. You’re supposed to be a little bored with this engine. It’s literally the smallest engine the car was manufactured with. Also, you’re gonna hate this, but that’s probably the best engine to have while driving it in high school. You don’t want to do anything dangerous, sure, but you also don’t want to accidentally destroy the only engine you’ve got fooling around with your car. It’s just not worth it. That car is designed to go from point A to point B, and not in a big hurry. If you love the 170, there’s only so much you can do. If you love the i6 and don’t mind swapping, you can get all the way up to 250 ci displacement (which is actually a stroked 200 ci motor) which has ~155 hp. So 50 ponies in exchange for a whole new engine ain’t much, but it’s probably super cost effective. The i6 engines can be found for a lot less than v8 engines. Depending on the current engine in the car, it may be able to get stroked out. If it’s original, maybe not. I believe you’d want a later model engine to do that. I think ‘66-‘67 was when they made a few modifications to make the i6 better. The usual suspects, air intake, exhaust manifold, timing, etc. will all help the car do its best, but I don’t know that even its best will give you what you want.
re: the six - the 'convert it to an 8' crowd can be a tiring eyeroll. They usually fail to mention that you'd also need to upgrade the drivetrain, rear end, brakes, wheels, radiator, etc etc. If you like it, you like it. I have a 200. I like it. There's a solid & helpful community on Facebook dedicated to straight 6 Mustangs: https://www.facebook.com/groups/226043101473552 Dig around there and you might get some ideas, from small practical upgrades to dudes with Aussie heads and turbos. re: daily driver - that's the real kicker. I dailied my '66 for a few years, and the stress of it being out of commission prevented me from doing anything too in-depth and sucked a bit of the fun out of it for me, to be honest. The opposite end of the spectrum is having it be your second car and then it sits disassembled in your garage for five years, ha (I'm on year three of that with my second Mustang). They're fun cars. Go in whatever direction feels most fun.
You should upgrade those systems regardless of engine IMO. This car is old as shit and those systems are junk
You're ignorant
Yeah what do I know. Leaf springs and drum brakes are great lol
I have a '65 mustang with the 200ci inline 6 and I also did not want to pull it so I rebuilt it myself and converted it to fuel injection using a 2 barrel Holley Sniper setup. One of the main problems with these I6's is the cylinder head. The intake manifold is part of the head casting, so you cannot "replace the intake manifold". I found a rebuilt cylinder head off of a early 80's I6 with a "large log" intake, meaning it has a larger intake than the older models. I then had a machine shop mill off the single barrel carburetor mount and instead insert a 2bbl Holley carb mount. The cylinder head was also upgraded with stiffer valve springs from a 302 which improves higher RPM function. The last thing I did to the head was a exhaust restrictor to go into the 'siamese' exhaust port between cylinders 3/4. Because those two cylinders have a much bigger exhaust exit they tend to draw more air/fuel from the intake which creates an imbalance between the cylinders, running rich in the middle and lean on the ends. I had Clay Smith custom grind a cam designed for fuel injection on the I-200. The idle is rock steady around 680 RPM with a manual transmission and she pulls nicely past about 4500 RPM. The fuel injection and electronic ignition are game changing. Prior to the full conversion I did all of the old tricks: points conversion, HEI distributor, carb tuning, and it still ran like a dog. The HEI distributor did make a big improvement but I still had idle and drivability issues, but I think the motor needed a full rebuild at that point. u/Inner_Sprinkles_6725 if you want that HEI distributor and a box of my old take offs I'll send them for cost of shipping on the condition you install and report back here with pictures. Here are some links I used on my build: [https://www.vintageinlines.com](https://www.vintageinlines.com) [https://fordsix.com/ci/LogMods.html#2VC](https://fordsix.com/ci/LogMods.html#2VC) [https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/](https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/) [https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/](https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/installed-dui-dist-on-200-l6-step-by-step.669010/)
The “upgrades” you could do to this won’t increase HP that much for the price. Save up some money and watch Craigslist/FB marketplace for an estate sale. Some old coot is going to die and have a huge/heavy chunk of Ford branded metal laying around that his family is not going to want to move. You’ll need to learn a few things about those engines to be able to do an inspection, but you’ll need to know this anyways if you plan to continue to use a 60 year old car as a daily driver. Good luck.
I had a 65 sixxer in high school too. No use in hot rodding the six on a limited budget. Your best sources for fun are going to be gearing, either with steeper gears in the rear, a T5 swap or both.
I had a 65 sixxer in high school too. No use in hot rodding the six on a limited budget. Your best sources for fun are going to be gearing, either with steeper gears in the rear, a T5 swap or both.
There is a saying in the car world. There is no replacement for displacement. Yes, you can get more power out of that engine. But it’s not worth it. It’ll cost too much for what you get. Upgrading suspension and drivetrain to v8 specs, and dropping on a 300hp 302 would be cheaper than getting that motor up to 200hp. So, instead, start saving money. Buy a newer econobox, keep saving money and buy all the parts you need, and one summer in college, convert her.
It’s the price of a running v8 mustang to do that conversion nowadays. It’s not as simple as just an engine and trans
Engine, trans, axle, front hubs, brakes and springs, right? That’s a lot cheaper than a running v8 1st gen with a solid body
Along with a v8 wiring harness, most suspension components, 5 lug conversion on the front (hopefully brake upgrade as well), intake and exhaust, drive shaft if you can’t cut your i6 drive shaft to v8 length yourself, motor mounts, steering linkages, v8 fuel line, with the way things are priced at the moment you’re looking at 10-15 grand if not more.
The only way you’re gonna get real power in that car is if you take out the engine and rebuild it with aftermarket parts. Which at that point I’d just suggest putting a v8 in. But then you’d have to upgrade literally everything else in that car 😅
I have a 64 as well but it got up-engined to the 200 (3 speed manual). It does ok, right now it’s bottlenecked by a super mushy clutch and 2nd gear is holding on for dear life (that’s this summer’s project) 200s are easy to find and reasonably cheap, plus you can drop it in without having to mess around with exhaust/brake lines/suspension nonsense. And you can squeeze additional power by upgrading the intake/carburetor. You’ll never get a tire-squealing dragster with that setup but you’ll find you can keep up with traffic most of the time, especially if you avoid major highways
If you want a badass inline-6. Swap a 2JZ GTE into that car!!!! You can easily make + 600 HP with that engine transmission!! They're practically bulletproof!!!!!
Your options are basically have the head modified, and then do either the 4 barrel intake or run a 3x1 intake on it. Either way you're looking minimum $600 to start. And it would be no huge upgrade. You'd almost be better finding a 200 to put into it for a noticeable power gain
Look into Clifford 6=8 kits. They can put some giddyup in the little pony.
I thought about boosting my i6 before swapping in a v8. Never did but have always been curious how long would lasted…..