Well let's see. I usually use whatever I have at hand in whatever I am building at the time. LOL I have never been a purest so I have never gone out to find a specific drivetrain to build a car. If I had a '54 F-100 for example and had the 6 Cylinder and 3 speed out of a '73 AMC Gremlin then it would be a Gremlin powered Effie. My current project is getting an SBC. It is a good motor and I own it free and clear. That is not to say that it wouldn't or couldn't get something different before it is a runner but that is the plan as it sets. I own a motorcycle that is powered by an 80" shovelhead. But if I owned a Knucklehead top end it would be powered by an 80" knucklehead. LOL So what's my point? I can make anything run and drive with whatever I have at my disposal and will do just that.
239 in the Shoebox(possible LS in future, I know not traditional.), Paxton S/C 302 for my Effy & a 331 in my O/T Falcon.
I won't say this as an across the board statement but aluminum heads have been known to allow at least one more point of compression over iron heads.
2 x 32 Ford - both flathead V-8 39 Mercury - 331 Chrysler Hemi 49 Ford 8N - 1949 Ford 8BA flathead 51 Buick - stock 263 straight 8 52 Hillman - Ford 302/C4 54 Willys CJ3B - 472 Caddy 70 Morris Minor - Rover V-8
Here: 1932-34 Ford 4 banger (50HP maybe) hooked to 5 spd Mustang trans. Going to be replaced by this: 1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport 425 cubic inch 360 HP with stock switch pitch torque converter turbo 400. Should make for some awesome launches. Probably just end up in a lot of tire smoke!
Hello, We have been die hard Chevy engine fanatics. My brother purchased a 1958 Chevy Impala with a 348/280 hp. It was classified in the A/Stock class and did well for that big car. But, the 315hp special order motor was the one we needed to stay at the top of the class and even have a chance the next year against the 320/335 hp 4 speed Impalas in 1959. Even the big 3 carburetor air cleaner was cool looking. The 348 had tremendous power moving that big sedan against all comers at the drags and street. But in 1959/60, the factory horsepower race was over for us with the plethora of factory stock cars with 50+ hp more than us. So, we moved on to the next build. We decided to build a 1940 Willys Coupe for the Gas Coupe/Sedan Class. Set up with the 283 SBC motor and a 3 speed, we were classified B/Gas. We had a 283 with 6 Strombergs/Isky cam and kit for our first ground up, build motor. That was pretty fast by itself, but against the top gas class racers, we saw that it was not up to par, despite what we added or did to the motor. So, the next build was the same 283, bored up to 292 with all new pistons, crank, cam, ported and polished heads and a 671 blower on top. A Joe Hunt Vertex Magneto supplied the shock. This was the most powerful motor we had built and made the 348 seem like a small 6 cylinder for power. The 40 Willys Coupe, the 671 292ci motor and new build was still in the B/Gas class. SIMILAR 671 SBC MOTOR But, we knew if added weight that was conveniently placed and welded in place, we could run in the lower C/Gas Class. If the added weight was bolted in, the Willys was an Altered Class racer. Welding in as part of the structure and support, made it part of the coupe’s integrity. It met the standards from the tech committee at Lions Dragstrip. We knew it was going to be hard to stay away from the big time, famous, West Coast Gas Coupe Racers with unlimited pockets. Our C/Gas coupe needed to be able to come closer to their times and speeds. We knew it was temporary, until we had more time behind the wheel and added, go faster speed parts in the months ahead. It did well getting close to the national record for C/Gas, until our unfortunate explosion and fire. Jnaki Later on we had a 327 and a 350 Chevy v8 in later model cars, but nothing compared to the original 283/292 Chevy motor we built from scratch. That was pure power, good for a couple of teenagers doing their first time build and racing. At the time in 1959-60, there were a lot of 283 SBC motors around, so that made it easier to decide between the brands.
Currently the original engine is sitting in the zephyr but the status is unknown and if the worst is true (possible cracked block) I will be faced with the prospect of either having a running car with an engine swap or a non running car while I wait till who knows when I will have enough money to replace it with another original. IF I have a blown engine the thought process has been do I really want an 8 or a 12 and lean towards a bmw 12. My desire would be to build the v12 in it. On the '59 Tbird I'm running the original 352 but the thought process is that when my modern car (2004 Lincoln Aviator) is due to be replaced I'll pull out the driveline and drop it into the tbird and use the tbird as my daily. The '12 tourabout will be retaining the original block but I am hoping to do a Chadwick style supercharger (circa '10) coupled to a Frontenac overhead. In short a combination of modern, stockish, and built.
Welllllll...That 331 SBF has the distributor stuffed in the worng hole! J/K!...Shiva'lay man! 6sally6
Hey, commodoreswab; OK, this I GOTTA see. . Got a thread build/dreaming-about on the '12? Which Fronty head version? & ideas on replicating the Chadwick-style blower? I've only seen n read a small bit on them, got 1 cut-away drawing on the blower. Very neat 3-stage, built in ~1910, iirc. Been (off n on) considering how to do one, but the inlet/outlet castings(or even hand-fabbing) look difficult, esp the middle one. I was thinking about using Dick Datson's belt-drive-turbo method as a base model. Love this stuff. Marcus...
i personally "like" less mainstream, pontiacs, buicks, cad, early olds, y blocks. i think in old school rods theyre the coolest looking. that being said i think a lot of people lose track of whats possible when building an engine and look at factory specs, i saw one fella on here say he has a 302 but it isnt torquey enough for him.... you CAN build a 302 to have oodles of torque, i have seen and participated in a lot of builds that were just amazing! the point is, a lot can be accomplished by a machinist who knows what theyre doing. my first rebuild was a 350 chev, it was cool, barely held an idle with the cam i ran, i ended up selling it for a grand after a few sets of tires. i think my total cost in it was 600 bucks, so i guess theres something to be said for easy, i still like unique the best
1938 Plymouth pick up-360 Mopar , 1964 Dodge 330 wagon 360 Mopar , front engine dragster-406 Chevy , 496 wedge mopar for future salt flat long term project .
The Jalopy Journal
