Projects Which engine to use

Swamp Rat, Garlits ran 354's no?

 

1946 pickup with a 1946 Flathead. What's cooler than that? I might be bias though since I have a 1946 Flathead in my Hot Rod.

 

Save the Hemis for future builds where the engine is exposed all the time. Same thing for the flathead. All of those engines will always command good money or trade bait if you never build an older coupe/ roadster/sedan.
The 289 is too small for your truck to provide any real performance or towing capacity. Sell it to someone wanting an engine for one those off topic Horse cars. Take the money and buy something else you like that has some power and can get an overdrive trans for. My suggestion is a 500 Caddy. Smooth driving and plenty of torque. A little searching will often provide a low mileage one that only needs minimal upgrades.

 

A 289 can haul whatever that truck is rated to handle.

 

In what world is this true?

 

I like those Chrysler options......

 

?

 

Another thing to consider is weight distribution. Fords (and pickups in general) are light in the rear. An early Chrysler hemi weighs 760 lbs (vs 525 for a flathead). Then you should add another 100 lbs for a reasonable transmission choice. All of a sudden, the power advantage goes up in (rear wheel) smoke and you'll probably have handling problems as well. Plus, you might even think about power steering with all of that weight. You will be taxing the front suspension to the maximum.

Of course, the 289 solves all of these problem, being lighter than the flathead.

 

Since you seem confused, let me put it this way : How do you bolt a 289 Ford to a '47 Ford transmission without an adapter?

 

I just assumed the guy was changing a trans
My bad I guess.
The comment meant( in my head anyway) the trans that comes with the 289 or available with them is easy. The trans that the hemis are born with aren’t even used much by mopar guys (unless a restored stocker) thus requiring some form of adaptor.
Something that needs to be considered in the cost.
And yes a sbf can bolt to the stock trans with an adaptor.
Sorry for your confusion over my comment.
Edited it for ya

 

Extra heat from the water cooled exhaust. You will have a lot of money in a flathead to make the same horse power of the 289 even before you change it to a 4 barrel.

 

It would have made things easier if the O/P had said what he wanted to do about a transmission. Yes, they make adapters to put a SBF against an early Ford transmission, but they also make them for early hemis (I have one in my racecar to mate the short-bell 331 to a CAE in/out box which has the same bolt pattern as an early Ford). In my opinion, if the O/P plans on keeping the stock transmission, a hemi is a bad choice; too much power and too many broken transmissions. A mild 289 would be OK, and of course a flathead is a natural. Maybe he will come back and tell us what he wants to do.

 

WIX 51311 oil filter is half as long as PH8A, giving more side room on SBF. Late model 5.0 oil pan is rear sump, works good in beam axle configurations.
289 is plenty of engine for a cruiser pickup, if you want pulling torque get a 351W or go hog wild with a 385 series 429-460.

 

Maybe very slowly.

 

If budget is a (and it usually is) the 289 is probably the cheapest. From what I am reading the dollars to build an old Hemi with modern transmission and late model water pump are quite expensive. Enough so that you might be able to get the truck on the road with the 289 for about what it will cost to rebuild the Hemi with the adapters for the modern accessories.

 

I don't have any experience with either hemi so I really can't speak regarding them but they're damned heavy.
I bought a 49 ford pickup with a '67, 289/cast iron cruisomatic. It was a stock 2 barrel engine and the truck ran the original dana 4.27 gears in it. I drove it as my daily driver and it was peppy enough around town with those low gears. It'd cruise all day at 55 [Federal speed limit was 55 then] with the little 289 buzzing along.
I've owned probably 15 cars/trucks with flathead V/8s in my life and the only one that ever overheated was a 50 ford I bought with a known cracked block. They have pretty good low RPM torque for a small displacement engine and although and they will cruise along happily at 3000-3500 on the hiway, they don't make as much mid-high rpm power as the 289. One thing.......the flathead ford V/8 makes a distinctive raspy sound.
I'd prolly use the 289 while I built the 354. The flathead I'd save for a featherweight modified with a T-5.

 

The smog era 302 does good in mine.
However, having an engine that with lots of pulling torque also needs the brakes and suspension to match the hauling/towing plans.

 

Everyday driver I'm personally going with the 289. They can make plenty of Hp.

 

I currently have or have had all the motors you have listed. I liked all of them, however, for day to day driving I would go for the 289. Flatheads are no longer cheap to rebuild. The last hemi I built taught me the true meaning of unobtainium. It was dreadfully expensive to build using quality parts? It looks great hanging over the frame rails on my roadster and I do get lots of good remarks about it. But, you want a daily driver with a closed hood. You can get decent power from the 289 if you shop carefully and just put the 302 crankshaft in it. Ford has crap exhaust ports so open yours up or pop for a good used set of aftermarket heads. With the proper cam and intake, it will perform just fine for a long time. For the flathead, have threel in my garage as we speak. I will gladly build one for somebody else, but you will never spend more money to get 180hp on anything else. They all belong in hoodless, fender less hot rods because, to me, nothing is prettier that a full dressed flathead. Do what you want because only you can decide where to spend your money.

 

I would get a late model "roller cam" 5.0 from the local U-Pull.
Then swap over all the peripherals from the 289.
eg Rocker covers , intake, front timing cover [with dipstick],waterpump, pulleys , front sump with oil pickup.
And distributor [you'll need to keep the 5.0 distributor gear]

All the other 5.0 bits leftover can go back onto the 289 longblock and sold.

5.0s were good enough for F150's up to the mid 90's .
If you can find one, also get an AOD.

 

289 is the most practical,but use an aluminum rad. I have a stock 302 in a 55 Bird and it runs hot in traffic. Ive had 2 Hemis in stock form and had no overheating problems. They hold LOTS of water. The last one was in a 28 A with standard steering and steered like a dream. Your truck springs should be ok with a couple hundred more pounds. People forget that those flatheads were flying out of old Fords as soon as the overheads came out.They were underpowered then and more so now.They look cool and sound good -great for an A or 32 but you would be disappointed in performance. The flathead guys will hate me but the truth hurts.

 

His Hemis where supposively taken from Dodge trucks?

 

If someone is going to all the trouble to swap an engine into any vehicle, they have to decide what they want to use it for when its done. Myself, I want to be able to get on the expressway and drive with all the other cars tooling along at 70-80 mph. If its a truck I additionally want to be able to haul some stuff in the bed and have the option to hook a trailer if need be. In other words, I want it to be just as functional as the 2000 Chevy shortbed out in my driveway. In addition to that, since I went to all the trouble to install a newer engine, probably a transmission, and a rearend......... I want a modicum of performance. If I'm not going to be much faster (if any) than I would be with a flathead in it, then its not worth the effort. I'm not knocking the 289 as being a decent engine but its too darn small to do all that work for.
A quick look at the performance of a typical mundane (Not HPO) 289 Mustang shows it with a quarter mile expectation in the 17 second range. Heck, a KIA Soul with a 4 cylinder shows the same et of 17 seconds. The pick up weighs more than the Mustang so its probably going to be even slower.
You can spend money to hop it up but you don't gain much without a sizeable investment and you are still not going to have much torque or HP. Start with a larger engine and you have an instant torque advantage and probably some HP to go along with it and you only add about 100 lbs. Its much easier to expand the power with the larger engine later if the builder wants to. With the 289, you are never going to have an abundance of power. If you want to watch all the Grannies in Kia Souls whizz by you, and maybe even Prius's then settle for the 289. If you want to cruise with the Xway traffic and actually outrun todays compact cars you need to set your sights a little higher. Maybe a 351 or a 460 Ford.............Them Kia tail lights are UUUUUGGGGGLLLLYYYY!

 

If you plan on driving long distances the little 289 would be a better choice. I'm thinking what it would be like waiting for parts in the middle of nowhere for a 354 Hemi if you ever broke down. I know most auto parts stores will still stock Sbf stuff or at least be able to get whatever you need within a day.

 

Yes sorta. If it breaks internally ya probably gonna tow it. If you use the newer starter required with a trans adapter, a gm water pump, small block mopar oil pump and dizzy you can fix those anywhere.

 

Certainly the short stroke 289 lacks torque. If you load it heavy it will use more fuel than a larger longer stroke engine. a 351 W will do the job and have more HP and Torque than a souped up 289. and use less fuel. Ive never owned a HEMI. Ive owned several flatheads (still own a couple) . You only overheat a flathead one time after that its cracked.

 

289 with an AOD, keep the stock open drive banjo rear if it's good condition. The banjo can handle the SBF and the OD trans gives good highway rpm. For daily driver the 289 will be plenty of power. Not a race truck, but plenty for normal use. Especially since you already have it. Dome better heads would help.
If you need more power, 351w is basically a bolt in for the 289. Or go with one of the 347 stroker engines on a roller 5.0 block.
Save the Hemi engines for an exposed engine application.

Sent from dumb operator on a smart phone

 

I wouldn't have to look any farther than the 289....

 

Why not use the most expensive, least practical of the bunch for the daily driver? Make sure it's hard to work on, parts are hard to find, and expensive when found. And make sure it gets bad gas mileage, is a handful to drive and hard to maintain. After all, the cool factor should come with a little pain. Every day will be an adventure. That's what daily drivers are for.

 

Yeah, but your biased,.........