Technical Engines

Whoever would have thought the sbc would be pushed out as the most popular motor to swap in to anything.?

Now popping the hood at a car show, if you have a carbureted anything, you are old skool cool now. To us here at the HAMB.... NORMAL!

 

Trans out...

 

But, but, but, wait a minute. Isn't the whole purpose of "hot rodding" to modify your car (engine) to make it go faster? What's traditional about going to the factory and buying a brand new engine? I never heard of such a thing until the '60's when every dork with a tri-five bought a 327 short block and threw all his old stuff on it. Sorry, but crate engines are for street rods. Hot rods have engines built from old stuff. Now, get off my lawn!

 

Yeah, never goes away.......But you're too young to understand (No offense intended).

 

I'm lucky, here I have a guy in his 50's that is a damn good engine machinist, and old school to boot! He has a 40's Ford pickup, all a part he's hoping to get to, and glass model A Coupe body sitting outside, and 6-8 new 32 ford frame rails & cross braces & rebuilds 4 spd's. He has more engines sitting outside, and more then I would count inside tore down, and stacked 3-4 high cranks standing around, and heads. He does all the crank grinding I balancing valve grinding and everything you need done to a engine. He done my last 4 engines including my 327 for my coupe. I have another to go to him.

You know the best thing! He is Very reasonable on his prices! Not out to rip you off. His shop, is out back of his horse pasture, so to steal, you have to deal with his horses & goats, which will walk in up to you, to see you at the counter if the doors open.

Pat

 

At one point in time it was impossible to not trip over a better power train option than you currently had. Hurst made custom engine mounts to mount almost anything into almost anything. In fact if hurst didn’t make it you didn’t need it.
Things are different now,
The old stuff is still out there but you probably aren’t finding it anywhere and everywhere you look.

 

I realize that it is often necessary to buy a crate engine or Brookville or fiberglass body in order to build a car. The stuff we used to pick up cheap or free on a daily basis is long gone. So, it's a different world. More people in the hobby, less stuff to go around. Gotta make adjustments. Glad I got mine during the good old days.

 

I can still build a 327 for less than a 350 crate motor. Now that I have no covered space whatsoever, I will probably buy a crate 350 for my 65 C10. Who knows though. I have rebuilt engines outside before, but was much younger then.

 

Only "crate" engine i have is a French flathead that i picked up in French in 2005 for 600 euro.
Other crate engines are of course a lot more expensive because i live in Europe.

 

Take a second look right off the HAMB....We don't do LS

 

Hmm, really disappointed by the HAMB. Guess I'll move on.

 

In my opinion I would say this boils down to the build on the car and personal preference. Hard lean on personal preference.

I have done all of the above. Rebuilt the 327s in both my Camaro and Impala SS, learned a lot on both from my dad during both builds. Machine shop did their usual to the block and heads, but me putting in my first rotating assembly was an eye opener to the actual mechanics of an engine. Learning to tune a carburetor, I'd rather have teeth pulled, but once it's right you'll never have a problem. Most importantly setting timing. It seems like yesterday for me, but it's been almost 20 years since those builds. Impala is long gone but the Camaro is still kicking.

Crated a 502 BBC and a 4 speed Muncie in my Chevy 2 SS, only because it didn't come with it's original 396 powertrain. It wasn't feasible to source one and rebuild it at the time. Fairly simple, bolt in, gas, and go. Still enjoying it to this day.

Also done the LS drop out method on a few late models, and now I'm on to the LT4 drop out. The LS is much easier to source parts and produce power with IMO if anyone is considering an LSX vs LTX build.

With all that said, if you are looking for traditional you should rebuild. Parts are pretty easy to come by on most traditionals, and carbs are a dime a dozen these days. If you are building a custom car for you, do what makes you happy.

Always remember who is driving it and why you wanted to build it. Every rebuilt car has some sort of story. Don't let anyone tell you it's wrong just because they don't like it or think you shouldn't do it. Make it custom or make it traditional but by all means make it you.

Sent from my SM-G950U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I’ll tell you it’s hard to beat a 5.3 swap but it’s not what the Hamb is about. There’s only 1 place on the internet for traditional hot rods and this is it. Stay here for that content and talk about the LS stuff on one of those hundred other sites.

Oh yeah, make sure you hang your elbow out on the window sill

 

50's thru 60's Olds, Cad, or Buicks don't need rebuilds very often, drop them in your car, patch the holes in your firewall in case they smoke and roll. I put a used nailhead in my roadster 25 years ago and am still driving it. All the cars we admired as kids had "Junk Yard" motors, my favorite yard was Rollies in Sun Valley, he had them lined up in a row like new $125 to smokes alot $35.

 

First.....

Let me offer a sincere apology. It was very disrespectful of me to post such a blurb to your very lengthy and thought out reply. I could have phrased that much more thoughtfully and much more respectful. Of that I apologize.

I also want to clarify.....the 2nd look right off the HAMB.....was not meaning "You" poster but that engine choice of engine n a traditional car.

Those engines are impressive they are equalizers. By equalizers I mean overnight they made iron block pushrod engines obsolete, as obsolete as a flathead.

Now the postwar OHV engines are truly vintage. Now their place is truly defined. This place (forum) is kind of a refuge for that old technology.

 

one good thing about crate engines is the machinist will not put your oil pan back on when it is full of bearing pieces under the baffle, then act like he is doing you a favor when he replaces the bearings. never apologize for the fact that I had to R&R it twice, and then have the nerve to tell me somehow it must have come from the heads... big chunks of bearings somehow hid in the heads, then came back out when I put them on and dropped into the pan.
that was the 3rd and last motor I ever had that guy do, he is going out of business now.

 

Dueces asked the questions "Whats an LY6 and an LS7". I didn't realize he was being facetious Being naive enough to think that, I responded with information to enlighten him. Thought he honestly wanted to learn something. Little did I know that I was stepping on a sacred cow.

Here is a picture of my all time favorite car of any kind, the Doyle Gammell 32 Ford. Its the epitome of rodding in my view.It has the perfect stance, the perfect chop, the perfect proportion. If things go right, I will be aquiring a Brookville body this year and begin building my lifelong dream.

 

Apology accepted, and I offer my apologies in return. I didn't intend to offend anyone, just simply thought I was providing information. Personally I like nostalgia but I also like combining the old with the new. Once you fool with the new fuel injected engines.....its really hard to go back to the older engines....but that doesn't mean I don't respect those that like the older stuff too.

 

Indeed, and more so if you don't even live in the USA.....
I would have loved to be putting an Ross Racing Olds or a 409 W motor into my 32, but that would have been financially crippling compared with just buying a boring old crate sbc from a UK agent which is probably a 1/4 of the price of a built vintage engine. Yes, I'll be dressing it up as much as possible to look vintage style to match the late 50's/early 60's style of the car, but the crate sbc was the only logical choice in my situation........for now at least.
Once the thing has been on the road for a while, and should funds allow, a later swap to a vintage engine might be on the cards for the future

 

I did rebuild my 327 for less, even with the change I'm doing with the pistons, again.

Rebuilding a engine outside has what to do with age? We may not like to, but you got to do what you got do. Most my tranny & engine changes for myself, and others are in my rock driveway, talk about sucking! Only my coupe is inside, and that sleeps most the time.

Pat

 

I still don't know what an LY6 is..... Really!!!!

 

6.0 litre gen 4 small block used between 07-2010

 

Guess I'll have to Google it to see what it looks like...

 

Well I sure ain't gonna be the one to try to tell you....

 

It's an ls....

 

I always prefer to build an engine over buying a crate engine. I find it very enjoyable. I guess it is a pride thing and building is half the fun for me. Although, the price of crate engines today with a warranty is something to consider. As many have stated, I also like engines that do not fall into the typical crate category. Nothing like turning the key and hearing that engine roar to life while thinking, yes, I built that bad ass fire breathing dragon.

 

I was happy with this crate engine. Very happy when right out of the box the little 315 horse 283 ran 12.0's!

 

If only you could still get them like that