I've heard that they aren't the greatest engines, but I've always thought the 3500 and 3700 were interesting solely for being American inline-fives.
The General Motors Vortec 4200 (also known as the LL8) is part of the manufacture’s Atlas line of engines that include inline-four-, five- and six-cylinder applications. Specifically, the 4200 is a straight-six, 4.2-liter powerplant that, depending on the vehicle it was placed in, produced anywhere from 270-290 horsepower.
Of course, the 4200 is capable of much more: Check out the 1963 Studebaker Lark $2000 Challenge car built by longtime forum member TheV8Kid. After noticing that “a lot of people on here have been following our escapades with the Vortec 4200,” TheV8Kid assembled an entire wiki that discusses how to modify the engine, as well as its history and general information like dimensions and composition.
Check out the Vortec 4200 Wiki, and check out TheV8Kid’s handiwork over on the Builds and Project Cars Forum.
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I've heard that they aren't the greatest engines, but I've always thought the 3500 and 3700 were interesting solely for being American inline-fives.
Its really upsetting that Ford never brought the Barra into the US in any platforms. A turbo inline 6 Mustang could have been really cool.
In reply to Colin Wood :
The engine is capable of making 500+ horsepower and pretty darn durable. ( a lot stronger than the transmission it's hooked up to). All aluminum 4 valve per cylinder.
Plus hooking up a manual transmission isn't rocket science.
In reply to ChrisTropea :
Vortec 4200s fit great in mustangs. Just saying. Lol
In reply to Colin Wood :
They get a bad rap because GM put them in kind of a garbage chassis. It is an absolute nightmare to service in the original chassis so auto mechanics everywhere make it there life goal to tell you how much they suck. Once you remove it from the trailblazer, they're awesome. Great capability with stock parts. Still haven't found the limit for a stock engine.
Calvin ran 10.92 with a SBE 4.2 in the Stude and we have the first SBE 9 second pass known for these engines with a junk yard fresh 175K mileage engine in our Fairmont.
Wasn't just me that made the wiki. Most of it was, but all of the Manual transmission stuff was provided by a friend on the Vortec 4200 facebook page. Appreciate the share guys.
Is there a big community behind these that I'm not aware of? What do people usually swap them into?
In reply to 350z247 :
No there's not, but it's a pretty cool motor that never got its due. As it happens, DIY autotune - the Megasquirt people, have been a proponent of the motor, helping out big time. As for swaps - mainly what I've seen is them going into is vintage cars with engine bays big enough to swallow a long, tall motor.
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
Gotcha. Thanks
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