[Tigers] engine options

[William Lau]

If you have to have the best out there, I think that buying one of Fords
engines is the best way to go.  The blocks are new which means that the bore
should be in line with the crank.  Any rebuild winds up with the bore
slightly off center or out of line with the crank.  How much off center can
be argued but I have great confidence in the new Ford blocks being right and
a rebore not being as good.  I also feel that there is nothing like a new
crank.  Their journals never have a sharp edge and often reground cranks do.
If they were done right they wouldn't but it is common.  This brings up the
possibility of a broken crank if you treat it rough because these engines
have cast cranks.  This said all of this is only important if you are going
to get on your loud peddle often and hard.  Tigers have little tires and too
much horse power can't be used completely anyway except at much higher
speeds.  If you feel that this is a reason,go for the big horsepower engine
A person has to figure though, just how many miles he will put on a car
after it is restored and exactly how many times he will "race" it on the
street and how many RPM will you typically take it to.  If you find a
reputable engine builder so your bore is as good as it can be done and your
crank is right and you pick out sensible parts with heads and cam not so big
that you have no low RPM torque I think you will be happy.  I had a 289 in a
65 mustang with a crane torquer cam, 030 over, stock heads but gasket match
ported, 10-1 forged pistons, and a 600 double pumper.  I drove it about
50,000 miles and came upon a stock 87 mustang engine with the new at the
time roller cam set up and very few miles.  The other engine was fine but I
wanted to try it and use the serpentine belt system which had an air
conditioner pump on it that worked.  I put it in with the same double pumper
and I was shocked at how much less power it had.  It ran great and the very
low end torque was OK but it died at 4800 RPM.  I never did change it back
and gave the car to my son and it still has the same engine in it.  My son
is satisfied with the power so doesn't want to go through the trouble to
change it.  My point is that the old engines can do real well and possibly a
lot of the "new" engines that claim all kinds of HP won't be that
streetable.  If you don't care about power at 70mph and up, keep your engine
simple, and that means a whole lot cheaper.  Spend the extra money on a 5
speed and some gears.  That will make your Tiger faster than more HP. --
Bill --
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