Register now to get rid of these ads!

anyone else caught themselves doing this?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by indawaitinroom, Jul 8, 2009.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. S1B
    Joined: Mar 18, 2004
    Posts: 679

    S1B
    Member

    Sorry but your way off on that. The SBC didn't become popular just do to cost. Remember these engine were almost a instant succes.It was do to the ease of performance. Also they were expensive when they came out and for a good number of years.
     
  2. dudley32
    Joined: Jan 2, 2008
    Posts: 2,160

    dudley32
    Member

    I had a few 55 chevy's with small blocks...thought they were cool...
     
  3. CJ Steak
    Joined: Sep 23, 2008
    Posts: 1,377

    CJ Steak
    Member
    from Texas

    If I see an SBC under the hood I just ignore it and look at the rest of the car for detailing. You've seen one you've pretty much seen 'em all.

    I'm a weirdo though... i'll push people out of my way if I see a built inline six running multiple carbs, crazy headers, crazy ignition, etc... to each their own.
     
  4. Not when it comes to Pontiacs that have had a transplant. I see it all the time in Firebirds in the first gens. 1967-69s. The traditional Pontiacs always bring bigger bucks.
    I dont care for small bock anything. I'd rather a Buick Nailhead, Olds, pontiac, Cadillac, Hemi anything. I dont really pay attention to Chevy small blocks either.
     
  5. MIKE47
    Joined: Aug 19, 2005
    Posts: 987

    MIKE47
    Member
    from new jersey

    I run a SBC in a open hood car. It was ugly. If done right, as mine will be this time, it's just as attractive as any other. A crappy job is just that. A half-assed flathead or nailhead is no better than a half assed SBC. There's just a lot of guys using the SBC "as pulled" and not doing the job right. Just like the Rat rod model a coupes we see that make us throw up. It's not the parts it's the execution.
     
  6. Not so much for me with the an engine...Hell, I've got a 460 in my Hudson...not exactly traditional, but the hood stays shut.

    What I have found is that when I am at a show, I'll generally skip open wheel cars that have radial tires.

    I don't know why or when I started doing this, but it happens.

    Radials simply ruin an open wheel car to me...i guess it's kind of like scoping out a super hot chick, and then realize she's sporting a dick.
     
  7. Every time, unless it's a Chevy-powered Chevy. If I see a Ford, Mopar, or an orphan with a SBC, I generally walk right on to the next car. There is zero imagination to a SBC. You see one, you've seen all of them. The name "belly-button engine" was coined for this application. It could be the nicest damn car at the show, but the SBC automatically knocks it down to the "average" car level for me. Why spend all that money on paint, body, and interior, and put a SBC in it? The exception to this is if the SBC in question has nice period speed parts on it, then maybe... Don't give me the "oh, it's so reliable and I can get parts for it!" nonsense. I can build a SB Mopar or Ford for about the same cash, and have something different, to boot. They are both just as reliable as a SBC, and parts are just as prevalent. I'm a Mopar/Hudson/Pontiac guy; and yes, I've owned a lot of Chevys, too.

    I'd rather see an old Hemi, a Cadillac 472 or 500, or any flattie or Stovebolt Six under the hood. A SBC says "I have no imagination".

    Notice the Chevy guys are the ones that get all worked up when you see a small block Mopar or Ford in a Chevy???
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2009
  8. low-lincoln
    Joined: Oct 28, 2008
    Posts: 220

    low-lincoln
    Member

    I don't mind seeing a SBC as long as it's in a GM vehicle, but I just walk away when I SBC in a Ford. I go by the "keep it in the family" rule. Just my opinion:)
     
  9. No. I like cars...
     
  10. Robbie Horn
    Joined: Jan 13, 2009
    Posts: 179

    Robbie Horn
    Member
    from Axtell

    I like them all, the faster the better. I'm a mechanic & don't see many sbc's in anything daily driven any more. Few more years they will be harder & harder to find. I should stockpile a few now. wonder what they will be worth in about 50 years from now?
     
  11. skunx1964
    Joined: Aug 21, 2008
    Posts: 1,455

    skunx1964
    Member


    a small block mopar for the same price as a chevy? man yer laughin me right outta my chair!
     
  12. onlychevrolets
    Joined: Jan 23, 2006
    Posts: 2,307

    onlychevrolets
    Member

    hey my screen name is ONLYCHEVROLETS ..but my hot rod has a Nailhead ...just beacuse I didn't want to be like mikey
     
  13. turdchazer
    Joined: Dec 4, 2008
    Posts: 644

    turdchazer
    Member Emeritus
    from Spokane

    Just keep those damn chevy engines outta the Fords and Dodges, Theres just as many engines that are as cheap to build as a SBC.
    SBC's are like $2 whores...... there's one on every corner.
     
  14. rcoffey
    Joined: Dec 13, 2007
    Posts: 161

    rcoffey
    Member

    not really but I will walk past a 100,000.00 show /trailer queen to look at a 5,000.00 to 20,000.00$ traditional rod .
     
  15. 29nash
    Joined: Nov 6, 2008
    Posts: 4,544

    29nash
    BANNED
    from colorado

    Only the short sighted, misinformed, lame-brain overlooks/dismisses somebody's build merely because of the choice of the motor!
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2009
  16. jamesgr81
    Joined: Feb 3, 2008
    Posts: 283

    jamesgr81
    Member

    Engine snobs! A well done engine, especially if it's unusual and shows ingenuity and craftmanship will get a second look from me.

    I think all the retro rodders that think that beer can puke tanks and baling wire holding up exhaust pipes is cool believe thats the way we did things in the old days. Butchery today is still butchery and a hack job done in 1962 is no cooler today. Barberizing metal to fit big tires or whatever still is stuff for meatballs like it was when a lop-eared kid did it 40 years ago. Even with a whole jar of butch wax and cuffed levis.

    I will agree that a nail head buick can be one of the best looking engines - look at Ivo's stuff. But Old's 303's and 394's, Caddy's, old hemi's and 430 Stinkin' Lincoln's were obsolete by the mid 60's. They are are just old heavy engines that a modern SBC, BBC or Dodge 440 would smoke. Sometimes people forget roddin was about speed and after your flattie got spanked every day guys pulled 'em and put in 327's or whatever.

    I can remember when 283-327 SBC's were king and wanting one of the new 350's bad. Forget about the bucks for a badass 427.

    Somebody said given size any money a SBC will end up on the bottom of a horsepower race? Maybe in the Sonic Drags....

    Give me a 350 SBC, a 350 Old's, a 289 Ford, Ford 390 boat anchor, Buick nailhead, Mopar 340 etc and on the same budget the SBC will be king with the Mopar right behind.

    That said and since speed is king and is what always drove me thats why a SBC is the engine of choice.

    For the rest availability, power vs, $, and ease of installation are what most people want.

    I will agree that the 32 Ford, with the plastic bathtub interior, billet wheel, every item from the Lokar and Ididit catalog, SBC with Edelbrock carb, glass body roadster that clogs every car show is very boring. But it's not the engine thats makes me yawn.....:cool:
     
  17. The37Kid
    Joined: Apr 30, 2004
    Posts: 30,629

    The37Kid
    Member

    Sort of a related answer. All the machine work was done on the proper SBC for my Lyndwood rail 15+ years ago and I can't muster the interest in assembling it.
     
  18. Well, since I've been around them for 35 years, I can do that. So can anyone else that is not encrusted in the barnacles of SBC-thought.

    And, I'll bet money you've never laid hands on a small-block Mopar, by saying what you said.
     
  19. Kingcrow
    Joined: May 8, 2009
    Posts: 343

    Kingcrow
    Member

    True that
     
  20. Royalshifter
    Joined: May 29, 2005
    Posts: 15,579

    Royalshifter
    Moderator
    from California

    Classic Hot Rod engine.
     
  21. So, would ya walk past that show car to eyeball a rat rod?

    Probably.
     
  22. Billet
    Joined: Oct 13, 2008
    Posts: 275

    Billet
    Member

    Lets face it, it IS the cost and availability of parts. Nothing wrong with a SBC. Guys tell me that you'd have to be stupid to build a Ford... costs too much! I met a guy in Lake Havasu City with a old Chevy powered by a Ford- lottsa attention there! I thanked him for daring to be "different". Do what you do. The fella's at D&G motors came outside to look at my stock flathead engine, they enjoyed it. They were finishing a supercharged Nailhead in the shop. Maybe just a "little" more variety than the 350/350 is appreciated.
     
  23. panic
    Joined: Jan 3, 2004
    Posts: 1,450

    panic

    JM2¢?
    "overlooking cars just purely because they are powered by a sbc"

    If it's an original FI car, or a factory 283 2 × 4, or vintage speed bits, I look.

    If it's a "ZZ4 crate motor, chosen for reliability", I pass it by. That's not engineering or hotrodding - that's shopping.
     
  24. What is this "availability of parts" nonsense??? I've never had a problem finding a gasket set for a SBC, SBF, or SBM at the local parts emporium. Water pump? No sweat. Cheap-ass chrome dress-up kits? Check, same price. Aluminum heads? The SBC and SBM are very close in price. Complete engine assemblies, ready to install? Same same.

    Now on the other hand, let's talk starters. In that aspect, yes, you have a point. Let's see, two starters cover virtually every Mopar 6, A/LA/B/RB/426Hemi need. Chevy? "How many teeth does your flywheel have? What year is it? Auto or standard?" Ford? Hah! You had better know the date that engine was built and its original application!
     
  25. Kingcrow
    Joined: May 8, 2009
    Posts: 343

    Kingcrow
    Member

    When I see a 5k-20k rod I like to talk to the owner, because most likely he (she) build the car their self and didn't just write a check...

    rat or traditional what ever
     
  26. skunx1964
    Joined: Aug 21, 2008
    Posts: 1,455

    skunx1964
    Member


    pay up smartass

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    i dont talk about things i dont know about.....
     
  27. Lobucrod
    Joined: Mar 22, 2006
    Posts: 4,122

    Lobucrod
    Alliance Vendor
    from Texas

    The first thing I look at is to see if they have centerbolt valve covers. If so then it go on. If they have the perimeter bolt valve covers without breathers then I take a closer look. Being a diehard chevy guy I dont mind seeing any chevy motor in any car but have a preference for the older ones like pre 69.
     
  28. slinginrods
    Joined: Oct 6, 2008
    Posts: 422

    slinginrods
    Member
    from florida

    im building a late 50s/early60s car, those are my fave.mines gotta 590 hp sbc goin in it,with spaulding ign,some vintage dressup stuff,and injection backed by a 4spd ,it wont be boring.Now what drives me nuts are all the flatheads,olds ,hemis,nailheads,caddies,etc that cost a million bucks to build (just try to buy a 6 x2 intake for one for less than a grand).that are never run hard because the guys to scared to hurt it.i see more museum pieces than hard runnin hotrods anymore.so im building a car that can be driven hard i know will stay together and not cost a bunch to fix.pretty sure in 1958 they didnt care about what was traditional in 1934,but what was fast.and in 1958 the sbc was a fairly new engine that was making good power.20k dollar 180hp flathead been done to death too.thats expensive and slow, ill stick to my good ol sbc.now if im buildin a 30s/40s car then the good ol flattie is cool,but i like my cars to be fast.the sbc is a trad hot rod eng. just ask zora arkus duntov.
     
  29. I'll mail you a penny, smartass. Apparently, you are buying your SBM parts at the wrong place.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.