Burla right up your alley,an old 300 Ford,lol

[Wild one]

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/300-ford-inline-straight-six-with-ls-head-engine-build-part-2/?eml=organic:eml:brz:20240609:300-ford-i:article:regstrd:owcst:mt&utm_source=braze&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=registered

 

[Wild one]

Freaky Ford Inline-Six Engine Topped With Sliced-and-Diced Chevy LS Head—Now With Turbo!​

In part two of this LS-headed straight-six Ford 300ci engine build, we stitch it all together and slap on a turbo!
Steven RuppWriterJun 05, 2024


SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
Over here at HOT ROD we love a crazy idea, so when we saw a guy, Ken Hutchison, on social media starting to figure out how to slice and dice an LS head to work on a 300-inch straight-six Ford engine we were all over it. As Hutchison recalled, “July 6, 2022—almost two years ago—was a very big day for me. HOT ROD posted an article about the engine project I was working on, and my YouTube channel exploded with new views.” Yeah, that was two years ago, but Hutchison is just a guy screwing around in his garage for fun in his spare time, and parts cost money. Given how cool the project was, HOT ROD decided to step up with some of our advertisers and get him a few parts to move things along faster. Turns out they like weird ideas as much as we do. So, with that, let’s take a look at part two of putting a GM LS head onto a Ford inline-six engine!




SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
You can catch part one of this build on our site, but the overall plan was to cut up two four-cylinder LS heads (lopping off one chamber from each) and weld them together, creating a six-cylinder LS head. Yeah, it sounded easier than it actually was to us as well. Why LS heads? Simple: Boss 302 heads are expensive, while LS heads are dirt cheap. Besides, Hutchison loves a good challenge.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
After doing a bunch of research, Hutchison found out the bolt holes on the 300 were only 0.050-inch or so from allowing an LS head to directly bolt on! One of Hutchison’s friends filled all the factory holes and then redrilled them to the correct pattern. We recently did a story on someone modifying LS heads to fit a Ford 302 V-8 and it’s almost like all the Ford and GM engineers hung out at the same bar.


SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
Part one of this project ended up at the mockup phase, but now it was time to start stitching everything together. First up were the heads. “After a few test passes, I knew my skills with a TIG weren’t up to the task I had before me. After having the heads cleaned at H&S Auto and Machine in Angola, Indiana, I enlisted the help of their neighbor, **** Markle, owner of Rapid Race Car, to help with the welding. When I first walked in, he thought I was nuts, but something about the idea stuck with him, and he took the job of TIG-welding the heads. He doesn't do too much race car stuff anymore and mostly CNCs parts for cameras, but after years of racing everything with wheels, and some without, he had learned the skills needed to make this happen,” recalled Hutchison.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS

Markle machined a 3/4-inch piece of steel flat, bolted the head to it, and got to welding, making short work of it. Sealing the head watertight at the cut was another process. There are many ways to do this, but which one works best? Hutchison learned more about how not to put LS heads on a Ford in this process than how to do it right. Plugging the holes and welding them top and bottom then drilling new holes afterwards seemed to do the trick. After some touch-up welding, it was time to machine the deck on the head. Even with the steel plate, the head was determined to become a banana. In hindsight, putting the head in a large press could have taken out some of the bow-over before machining. It took 0.080-inch to make it flat again—more than Hutchison would have liked, but with what he learned, his second head will be better.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
With the head done it was time to figure out an intake. Hutchison explained, “I wanted to use a cheap fabbed aluminum intake, and that's what I did. Mocking it up, I had Burnin' Wire Fab of Montpelier, Ohio, take what I had and finish it into an intake, an impressive piece for sure, as the work done was top-notch. I couldn't have done it myself.”


SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
A custom-length fuel log was purchased, and fittings were welded to the ends. Hutchison welded on the ends himself and he was happy to see that his TIG practice had paid off!

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS

With the help of a very expensive cutting bit, the injector bungs were machined into the fuel rail using the intake for spacing and a Bridgeport from Hutchison’s friend Shad. Without his skills, this project would have been impossible for Hutchison to do alone. Having gearhead friends with specialized skillsets always helps projects like this move forward.
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/3...-six-with-ls-head-engine-build-part-2/photos/

 

[Wild one]

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
The block was notched for pushrod clearance, then it was cleaned and reassembled. With a fresh ball hone, rings gapped, and bolts torqued, it went together as easily as it had come apart. With the block together and the machine work on the head finished, Hutchison was finally able to bolt on the head with a stock 300 Ford gasket, and measured for pushrod length using the 300’s lifters and stock cam. He came up with some 5/16-inch diameter, 0.080-inch-wall, 8.950-inch pushrods, which were provided by Summit Racing.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
It may shock you, but the aftermarket doesn’t support inline-six LS heads, so valve covers had to be fabricated as well. Hutchison ordered some tall LS valve covers from eBay and cut them to length to be welded together at another date. “The stock LS rockers were installed without the new pushrods. After what seemed like forever, that engine spun over by hand, and all of the valves opened and closed. It was at that time that it really hit home: this engine was going to run! But first, we had a few loose ends,” remarked Hutchison.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
The pushrod side-cover was turning out to be a large problem, but with the help of his friend Adam, he was able to design the parts in CAD, and the folks at Send Cut Send were able to cut out their designs right away! Hutchison explained, “Originally, I wanted the cover to be aluminum and finned, but since I wasn't able to TIG the aluminum as well as I hoped, it ended up being steel. The files for the side cover are free to the public and can be found on the Tall Garage Facebook group.”

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
Just like the valve covers, nobody makes exhaust manifolds for something like this. Originally Hutchison was going to cobble together cheapo headers and go NA, but we agreed with his idea of tossing on a turbo and hooked him up with Holley who provided a pair of their ****** manifolds, which were cut and mated to a T4 flange.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
“The manifold welded easily and was some type of steel alloy; we’ll have to see if it cracks or fails with some heat cycles, but it seems strong. My brother was a huge part of getting this manifold together,” recalled Hutchison.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
All the big pieces are finally done. It mechanically works; the valves open and close, the pistons go up and down, and the $250 eBay turbo is in place. The Holley EFI setup was the idea from the start, with the 36-1 trigger wheel, another hot rod gift from Holley. Thanks to a custom hub adapter from his friend Shad, all bolted to the front pulley.

SEE ALL 32 PHOTOS
All that's left is to wire and fire that engine ... well, and make a run stand, get an ECU, and wire it, and … you get the idea. Hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we promise this Franken-Ford 300 LS-headed straight-six mill will run in part three, and it won’t take two years to happen, so keep your eyes on the HOT ROD website for updates. You can also follow Hutchison’s progress on his YouTube channel, Tall Garage.