I am always curious as to why people choose, say, a 302 Chevy over a 302 Ford or a 383 Chrysler over a 383 BBC. I know very often it is because of the 'Ford in a Ford' appeal etc, but performance wise, what makes people choose one over the other? Size, weight, torque, power, cost? Educate me.
That's a good question ....back in the 60's I think Chevy had the best power and lightest weight vs. Ford and Chrysler and seemed to have smaller exterior dimensions . I think the others caught up over the years performance wise . These days I wouldn't put a Chevy in a non Chevy but that's me . T
I've owned them all... Just build the damn Chevy and get over it! Cheapest, easiest to fit anywhere, best packaging of the batch, best aftermarket support. I've always sworn when the small Chrysler in the Pymouth goes away I'll change the mounts and go Chev...
People usually choose which engine to use based on; * what they have got, * what they plan to put it in, * what they believe is best, cheapest, most impressive, most unusual, or just because no one else ever has. Sometimes they get it wrong though.
Mopar - Once you drive a light car with a stout 440 it all becomes very clear... Torque is your friend for life.
many reasons.... sometimes it's just what motor appeals to them. i like Chevy 283s so that is what i use
Sometimes it's what's on hand, or what you got a good deal on. For me I'd love to build a '30 PU with a 354 Hemi -- I love the looks of that truck and went to sleep many nights as a boy listening to a '56A Chrysler spinning an irrigation well.
Piston diameter & the diameter of the crank rod connection rotation(stroke), the two diameter combinations make up the cubic inches. The smaller the stroke, the more it'll rev. but less torque. A 4" piston is ideal, smaller pistons have less punch, bigger tider/rock in the cylinders. Then Chevy/Ford/Mopar all have their own carrying case/ the block, and each of those have their own distict construction, size, & fit. Each of those engines have the place in certain veihicles with different sizes & weights & performance & dont forget taste & style.
Mopar,Ford or Chevy all become apparently clear when big cubic inches are stuffed in a light weight body! HRP
The SBC was used in the 50's and 60's a LOT because it fit where the 292 Ford and a lot of other engines would not fit without major surgery. As time went on ... folks followed what others had done Traditional Rodding ... and the SBC grew from 265/283 to 302/327/350/400 ... The SBC oil filter also works great in a early chassis and it is on the front of a SBF. The SBC is also shorter than a SBF, Now you can get late model SBF stuff to work and get it short. One advantage the SBF has ... is it is more narrow and weighs less. BUT most early rods have the SBC ... most likely 60 to 70 per cent are Small Block Chevy equipped.
Price and size. You cant go the horse power route for the 50s and 60s because everything else had horsepower then as well.
I like engines that don't eat their own cam lobes, don't puff oil every time you start them, engines that will last more than 70,000 miles without needing a rebuild and engines that get decent gas mileage so I avoid chev products. It's as easy as ABC, anything but chev . .
Go into a Chevy, Ford, Mopar dealership parts department with $1600 and see which one you leave with a NEW motor in the back of your truck. I prefer fords, but on most cars I build to sell, it heads out wearing a bowtie.
I think for some of us its go back to what we were helping our dads work on as kids, then on to our first few cars. I stick to Ford engines because thats what i grew up with.
I blame my Dad. To him, the 283 and 327 Chevys were the hot rod motor of the 1960s. I find something to love in virtually all vintage engines, but there's something especially appealing to a fully dressed Corvette V8 in virtually any HAMB-friendly hot rod.
SBC has traditional support, is shorter and the bumps (starter, oil pan, oil filter) fit into earlier cars better. SBF is narrower, but is longer and has the oil pan bump messed up. SBM is newer (LA series starts in early 60s same as Ford) and has the starter on the left, the same corner as exhaust and steering. BBC, BBM and the FE and 385 series Fords all require more effort to install due to size. Since the OP is from the UK, I won't correct the engine size mistakes. The most common and cheapest is the SBC. Common is a positive to some, a negative to others. An often heard reason is "you can get parts everywhere". This is not as common as it once was, and the whole point of building a motor is to make sure that it doesn't break down...
I've owned Chevy 396, 402, 454, 265, 283, 305, 327, 350 Ford flathead (59AB and 8BA), 289, 351 Plymouth 383, 440 Pontiac 389 Ford 272, 292, 289, 351W Cadillac 365, 425 Buick 401 I like them all. Good performers and reliable. Nothing beats the sound of a V8, any V8. I've never understood those who bad-mouth a particular brand, as if there is something intrinsically wrong with it.
It used to be that we just built what we could get our hands on because the US cars tended to disappear from the New Zealand landscape after WW2, and we became a colonial outpost for the worst that Mother England could sell us. Thru till possibly the early 80s you needed an import licence to get stuff into the country, so again we took what we could get. People even built "hot rods" out of things as peculiar as Morry 8s and Hillman Minxs and old Vauxhalls. Things changed politically, and suddenly we could all get SBCs at low enough prices, and they performed well at our three dragstrips so the default engines of choice became the SBC. And your mates usually had parts if you broke them so that helps too. Most hot rodders down here still reckon a 671 on a 392 is the ultimate hot rod engine tho they arent at all common in hot rods.
Exactly. Ford and Mopar wouldnt have mass produced their engines if they didnt think it was as good as or better than a SBC. Just because its not a SBC doesnt mean its garbage. The same rings true when you run a SBC, its not junk because its the most common hot rod motor.
It amazes me when someone justifies a SBC in a Ford hot rod by saying that it is easier and cheaper.---------Saying this after spending 1100 on a radiator!
Although I've had a few and run Mopars Chevys and Fords (SBCs Flatheads and SBM/Hemis), my preference is for Mopar. Simply put, they are way over engineered from the factory. I like how MoPar blocks, cranks and rods are very strong stock, 18 deg valve angles stock, tall block deck heights stock and shaft mounted rocker systems STOCK. For cruisers, daily drivers etc Chevy/Ford. I just like mopar for performance usage and I don't care if they generally cost more to build - everyone likes what they like, no right or wrong answer.
Boulderdash, I seldom go looking for a specific engine, I have found that I can make anything go fast. Some things are easier than others but anything can be improved or ruined if your take is that turning one into a monster is ruination. What I normally do is use what I have to work with. I do keep an eye out and if I happen onto something that I think is exceptional, like a Clevland Hamster for instance ot a rare old race motor like my Chet Smith Olds , and I can swing it I snag them up for future use.
A lot of times, like someone here already said, it's what you grew up with. Me, my father was in to airplanes, so I grew up with Lycomings and Continentals and Pratt&Whitneys. I did, however, buy a disassembled 283 SBC at a garage sale for $2.00 when I was twelve and my dad taught me automotive engine basics with it. In my high school years I raced a 68 Torino GT 302 that also served as my daily driver. In the evenings and on weekends I helped the owner of the Arby's A/F front engine dragster. He ran a 392 Hemi with a 5/8" stroker crank injected on nitro so that was my first real experience with Hemis. When he moved up to the newer style 426 Hemis I bought one of his 392 stroker motors for my steel 41 Willys coupe I was building as my street/strip car. Later on I have built and raced many SBC and BBC up to 502 cubi inch. My point is this, there is no one engine manufacturer better than another. They each have their own strengths and weakness' and you adapt to those as you build. As for me, I like them all, if it's got an engine, I'll figure out a way to race it. Go with what suits your fancy and have fun. I've raised my boys to be hot rodders and wouldn't change a thing.
Your question is too general. Choose for what? I can think of good reasons to use anything from a flathead 4 cylinder to a Chrysler Hemi V8 depending on what kind of car it is and what you want to do with it. Most of us get into one particular make of car more or less by accident, or for reasons that seemed to make sense at the time. After a while you accumulate parts, tools, manuals, and skills all applicable to that motor and no other. Having made this commitment it becomes harder and harder to change. The Chev V8 was the default choice for years. Chev fans never tire of bragging that the motors and parts are cheap and common which they are, in every sense. Meanwhile Ford and Dodge also had their fans. There were even guys sold on Buicks and American Motors products, some of which had a lot to offer. As far as performance goes for street use you can get all the performance you need out of practically any make of V8. It's a matter of personal preference and what is the most practical, or best for a certain application. These days there is more interest in the oddball motors like Studebakers and DeSotos as a reaction to seeing nothing but Chev V8s at car shows, so many they eventually get boring. I like to rib the Chev guys but have to admit, they were popular for a reason. Now it is nice to see some variety for a change.
the 55 stude I am working on for a buddy had a 327 Chevy corvette motor in it. He had a guy in south Mississippi name of King put a 5th ave frame under the nose,( welded in for some reason), and then started putting a 440 mopar in it. I inherited this job and can say the SBC would be the second choice, with the stock stude 1st. The 440 is way too big, though I may get it finished one day, In the midst of crossmember mods to allow duals. The bent torsion bar system was the way to go when the project started 20 + yrs. ago Anyone have a similar monster ?
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