The Ford Falcon inline six was known for durability and decent torque for its displacement. Available in 4 displacements during its 24 year production run: 144, 170, 200, and 250, this series of engines was in literally millions of vehicles including Mustangs, Comets, Mavericks, Granadas, Fairmonts and many others.
This 170 came out of the factory making 105 gross HP in 1965. After a badly done rebuild sometime in the late 90’s, the p.o. couldn’t make it run and this one was put in a barn and forgotten for 8 years.
We bought the car with the motor not running for $1400 and did a complete tear down and rebuild.
The block was in good shape, but it needed a new crank.
Bored .030 and deck planed.
We got the original small log head rebuilt with new hardened valve seats for unleaded gas and new valves and springs.
Block all fresh and pretty!
After getting the small log head rebuilt, painted and installed, we scored a big log head from a late model 250, the small log came back off…big log head to the machine shop and then paint.
The big log head was developed later in the production run and had a larger carburetor bore and significantly improved flow. We got this one rebuilt by Fred at National Cylinder Head in Orlando with all new springs and valves and milled to match the deck height of the small log head to keep the compression up .
We topped it off with a Performance Distributors DUI dizzy, Clifford Performance 2 bbl adapter and a Weber 2 bbl carburetor. 
We estimated final power output to be between 125 and 130 gross HP based on dyno testing of individual components we used on the Falcon six by Classic Inlines. Net HP (or brake horse power) was originally around 75-78 HP and we estimated that after the build and the head upgrade this one was probably close to 100-105 net hp The DUI dizzy made starts easy and reliable. The motor was great, but car performance was not as good as it could have been because of the non-overdrive C4 and the lethargic 2.79:1 open diff rear end. After this motor build, this car really needed a T5 and swap out those rear gears for a 3.50:1 or 3.80:1 posi.
Have a unique build you want to showcase? Contact us, we’d love to do an article on your custom ride.
Keep building!
See you on the road!
Dave
All photos by David Wilhite.
Rides-and-drives 