The best engine for a hotrod?? Flathead, sbc, etc

I know this question can be answered a hundred different ways, so i will explain my story. i have a 1936 3w ford coupe that has a 59ab Flathead, 1939 gearbox, juice brakes with 1941 rims. other than that it is stock.

Sadly a few weeks ago i blew my engine, but not so much that it can not be rebuilt. the question is what should i do now engine wise? (even though i know changing this effects other things). In the late 90's i had a 1924 Ford T with a SBC and it was a lot of fun!!. But living in the time we do, i wanted to try a car with a flathead. when i first drove the car i said to myself 'so what is all the fuss about these flatheads'. but after i fixed a few things, putting on a new carb, dizzy etc etc it ran a lot better, but still.

i think that Flatheads are the most beautiful and coolest engines in the world, but is that enough?? i am part of the Traditional scene but it is also important that the car is FUN, meaning fast!! it does not need to be a rocket, i am not trying to beat a land speed record. i wish to know if is it possible to re-build a Flathead without it costing a fortune and always pushing the engine close to edge!! to get some fun out of it. If i was a hotrodder living in the 50's/60's and not in 2010 living in the middle of 'Traditional Mania' and stood between a Flatty and a OHV, which one would i choose. I think sometimes that 'Flathead Crazy' people just choose that because it is what is cool and because it is what the scene is dictating (i myself am guilty of this).

With a SBC i understand why they are so popular, there are so many reasons why it is a good idea, and i am temped. but it is also important to me that my car stands out a little in the crowd. i know you should build a car or bike for yourself but i love it when i see a big smile on someone's face and they say 'thats f#€king sweet'. but saying this, if that is the best choice so be it.

I have also looked into an Olds Rocket (just the name is great) but is it too big to put into a 36 Ford? Am i again just falling for what is cool and not for what is smart and simple? Is it really just the same as a SBC just with a different name and more hassle?

I am an American living in Denmark so everything is hard to get, so availability is not a factor. As for cost, i have the money to rebuild the flathead but is that the best place to spend the money. Know that changing the make of engine will meaning changing other stuff too. It is more important to be FUN than just being COOL. But it is important to be DIFFERENT as much as FUN. please don't tell me to 'do what you want' if i knew that i would not be writing this thread .

i would love to hear form guys who have been around the block many times in different cars with different engines. What is the smart choice for a 1936 ford? I would not like to hear from people who's opinions come from what is in fashion, i know what is in fashion. It would be great to hear from guys who have been both sides of the 'Detroit Tracks' (i realize there are more than two sides). Maybe this question is too open to ask but i look forward hearing all the different answers. I really hope this does not turn into a debate, or some kind of bashing.

Thank you, James.

 

Anything but a small block Chevy! That's been done to death.
I'm a staunch flathead fan, but I'll be the first to admit they aren't terribly powerful. Nothing else looks or sounds as good, though! Depends on what use you will put the car to. A 200 horse flattie will cost way more than, say, a Rocket, and have less power than a stock Olds.
The flathead doesn't require a whole drivetrain swap like any other engine will. No butchery involved on your cherry little coupe!

 

Thank you for your honesty, i try to use the car on a daily basis between May and October. I hear the 'been done to death' line a lot but on a tech level that is not a reason not to do it, you know what i mean.

 

Flatheads may have the highest cost per hp. After my last build I was just shaking my head, but I don't regret it.

Their volumetric efficiency is absolutely terrible. Having said that, have you ever been around one with a blower? It helps overcome this. Don't need a large blower, just enough to overcome the airflow issues. If you have the cash to spend, I think that might be a good trade-off. Then you still get the sound, the look, but it will perform OK.

 

You have a very nice three window don't mess it up by putting a S.B.C. in it. How did you blow the flat head to me a blowen engine means a big hole in the block?

 

Yes a Blower was exactly what i was thinking, but was very worried about the cost. I know a blower from H/H alone is between $4000 to $6000. but that is defiantly a good option.

 

large banging coming from the engine, then thick white smoke coming from oil breather.

after i took off the heads and intake i found a large piece of rag in the bay, and also that most of the water and oil channels to be badly blocked. i think bearings at the bottom of two of the pushrods are gone.

 

i,m frist to say i like sbc,s but a flathead is a cool little motor and i had afew in my youth and back in the early 60,s we all change to ohv motors if i was to drive it just to shows and cruzes i would do a flathead but if i wanted to drive it as a daily i would due a sbc with old school stuff like the old 283 vette vavle cover old 270 hp wcfb 2 fours with a 4 speed it would be fast ,old school and still have the cool factor you want

 

If you have the 59ab in there I would leave it. Flatheads ARE THEE hot rod motor. But if you feel that perhaps you are looking for a bit more and do not have the $8,000 to put into it a early chevy is just as cool. There will be many nay sayers as these threads always produce but the fact that and early chevy will bolt right into the original flathead mounts, give you twice the horse power right off the bat and cost 1/4 the price is definitely a reason to look into them.

If you are going Chevy you really need to do it appropriately with a early 327 or my favorites the 283 & 265's. Those engines would have been the most appropriate engine along with flathead, olds, caddy during the late 50's.

As far as blowers go, there is a 3-71 in the HAMB classified that could be had for $550 and would work great on the flatty. Take a look at Navarro's setup. He ran a 59ab with a 3-71 also. Seems like he was able to get good results.....but he's also Navarro.


If you are interested in early Chevy v8's here's a thread I started to showcase all the rad cars running them in the 50's and 60's....

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=430018

I will tell you this, as much as I love the Flathead I changed my tune once I bought a car with one in it. WHile it's reliable and definitely cool my car is slow. Before that I was planning on building a '32 Coupe with a flathead and all the trimmings. But now I can't see having another slow car that can hardly get out of it's own way unless I spend serious money to do so. So instead I decided on a full house hemi. If I am going to spend the money I want it to take my breath away and pin me in the seat.


For me I really try to look at the period I am aiming the car for. Early 50's??? Definitely a flathead, Olds or Caddy....(Cadillac would be awesome). Mid-Later 50's? Well the flathead was on it's way out by then and all the serious guys ran Chevy V8's, Olds and Cadillacs with a few nailheads pepperd in. So I would take aim at you over all look and see where you are headed. To me that car screams 1954-56 so the flathead would definitely stay in there especially since it's in and running. But really A chevy would not be bad either. Full dressed corvette mill would smoke that flathead!

 

thanks teddy, you are the exact type of guy i would like to hear from, a guy that was around when people made a choice not because of fashion. even though i guess that was a fashion in it self.

if you had time would you give me a more detailed description about 'sbc with old school stuff like the old 283 vette vavle cover old 270 hp wcfb 2 fours with a 4 speed.

 

Two of the push rods are missing ? Fix the flat head keep it real.

 

Life's pretty good when you're tryin' to figure out what engine to stick in your '36 3-window...

I think an early ohv would be fine. Maybe a 292 Y-block dolled up with three 2's and finned valve covers.

 

no. sorry for the slang. i mean they need to be replaced because they are damaged.

 

I'm thinking it needs one of these:


Or just rebuild the flattie and enjoy it. That is TOO clean and nice a car for a Chevy swap, IMO.

 

Flat heads don't have push rods.

 

Thank you very much for reminding me of that, i needed that kick in the ass as i have got down about it over the last couple of weeks.

 

If the goal is to really drive it and realiabilty is a big factor run the SBC and love life. A 283 or 327 in that car would make it fly. Screw the SBC haters. Save the flathead for a future project that won't be driven as much...

 

If you pull the flathead, I'd lean towards and early Caddy or Olds. Both can be quite reliable as well.

 

Flatheads are the only way to go.

 

You are going to get a million different opinions and the only one that really matters is yours. That having been said, ask yourself a couple of questions: am i going to open the hood? Do I want driveability or looks, do I care what other people think and if so how important is it to me to please other people?

You may need to change your trans and rear end too if you go for a more powerful/later engine as the '39 trans and stock rear end may not be up to the additional power of a later OHV if you intend to exercise those horses. Or you could put a T5 trans behind the flattie and open up a whole new world of flathead driving. This may not be just an engine swap alone....

 

I love flatheads,,I have one in my 32 sedan,,,but if it blew up tomorrow I would replace it with whatever I wanted to and wouldn't worry about what the rest of the Hamb thinks.BE IT FLATHED,SBC,Y-BLOCK OR CADDY.

I have a 32 pickup with a sbc and I have really enjoyed driving that truck as much or more than the sedan.

I also have a 32 5-window coupe with a sbf,,,so you see I am a equal opportunity engine user,

Do what you really want you will be driving the car.

BTW,,,nice looking car.HRP

 

If your were living in the '50s you would have most likely wanted a valve in head engine but the 50s being what they were economically you would have used what you could afford. Valve in head engines like the SBC, Caddy, Olds and so on and so forth were cutting edge. Flatheads were resily available and a dime a dozen.

If you are building to suit a certain era of vehicle then the absolute best engine is one that was available. Face it if you want everything to be perfect to the Nth degree for a 30s era rod, a GM 396 won't work. That's understandable right?

As for the absolute best engine for a hot rod there are two considerations one being just like in the '50s is your wallet. Face it you don't drive a Bently on a Daewo budget. The next consideration is your desire. I have a friend who likes big Pontiac engines he wouldn't in the world consider building his own personal ride with a small Ford. It wouldn't be the absolute best engine for him.

So take Era of the rod, plus desire and factor in budget and you have the absolute best engine for "your" hot rod.

 

The choices of engines are unlimited. What ever you do, don't start cutting the car up just to put a different motor in it! Also, if you change the motor what about the transmission and rear end? Would you leave them or replace them with something more reliable once you double or triple the HP? If you were to keep the flathead and rebuild it..........be ready to spend $2k and that is without any "go fast adders".......it may be even more expensive
in Denmark. Maybe the thing to do is have H&H put a shortblock together for you and send it over, so all you have to do is take the old one out and put the new one in.
As for flatheads, they are neat, they sound fantastic, and they can cost more to build and soup up than buying a factory crate motor with 3 times the HP.
A blower would be great, and the one that really works well is the Roadrunner Engineering with small Wieand blower. Joe Abbin's blower package can be had for under $3k and comes with everything except Carb. The picture of the blower motor I put together was about $10k but I went a little OTT by spending a lot of $$$$$ on the bottom end with totally reworked stroked Merc crank/H beam rods/lightened Ross pistons/Doug King steel mains and some very expensive blower heads from Norm Frick......................but you don't have
to spend that much and can cut corners here and there.
A small Hemi, like a 271 "Baby Hemi" would be really cool, but you would probably have to run without the hood sides or have new one fab'd.
A Buick Nail Head would also be a cool motor as it's narrow although I'm not sure if you would need to cut the firewall.
An Olds is cool, but big and heavy and not sure how much cutting would be required to make it fit, plus the big bellhousing.
Whatever way you go, just don't cut up the Coupe to make the engine fit!!!! You have a beautiful car and it would be ashame to ruin it by cutting it up.

IMHO

 

That's a beautiful car. FWIW I'd keep the flathead, I think it's too nice to go cutting and welding for another motor.

Even in the late '50's I would think it would still be common to build a hot flathead, after all parts would be much more available and inexpensive as compaired to an overhead at the time.

 

FWIW, IF you plan on keeping the hood on it, then it doesn't matter one whit what you put in it...

If it's a daily, then it must be dependable. If it's a hiway cruiser, then you'll want some horsepower. If you're hauling your family, you'll want it safe. If you're asking here for opinions, then it must be important to you that you get approval.

Personally, for all of the above, I'd go with a SBC...it's "trad", it's powerful, it's dependable and it's "safe"...your '36 3 window stands alone on its looks and you don't need to open the hood for anyone's approval...however, it is YOUR car AND your choice...

R-

 

Well the cost to rebuild a flathead is high, but still probably cheaper and easier than changing out the whole drivetrain, especially in Denmark.

Practically any engine "upgrade" is going to make the rest of the drivetrain obsolete.

 

small block chevy 400

 

If you pick the right engine, adapters and mounts are available to adapt to the present drivetrain. Ya know the way they used to do it back in the day. One of the reasons I thought an early caddy/olds was a good choice.

 

how about a small block ford? easy to source, cheap to build, reliable as hell and it's not something you see done to death.

 

i agree with this dingbat