What is a more traditional engine

Thanks for the input everyone. Every mag Ive looked in seems to show a lot of sbc power cars in that era. I think if I had a 3x2 set up for the y block that would be the ticket but edelbrock has not released there y block intake yet and trying to find one isnt going so well. Also anyone know where a guy can get a new preformance cam for a y block.

 

Here you go!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FORD...rQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EDEL...rQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tri-...rQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1954...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ford...rQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_1182

 

Gotta say 265... Hard to ague with their performance history. 'Course, then again I wouldn't waste money on rebuilding a Y-block...

 

...I love sarcasm...makes me feel all tingly inside..

 

I had a 292 in a '55 Fairlane and loved the sound of it.

I ran a 265 in my Nomad for the first 11 of the 20 years I've owned it, and loved that little motor.

I say either way, you can't go wrong. Both cool, both period correct.

 

Isky has a line of y block cams. Very easy to pick one up. The rpm 300 and e-4 have a bitchin idle to them. Y-block 3x2 intakes are easy to find online or at any good swapmeet. Also why waste your money fixing up a 265 when a 283-400 can give you the same look but with more performance. Its like a Ford guy using a 221 instead of a 289-302 in something. When was the last time anyone gave a shit about a 221?

 

I thought that was funny too. I did a little look on the net they are easier to find then I thought

 

Only one guy I know put a Y block in his car, a '53 Merc. By '60 half the '55 Chevy 110s around here had 270 hp 283s in them. And they were fast. Truth is the SBC was very popular in 1960.

 

in 59 or 60 the hot motor would have been a 283 not a 265
for the Y block the 312 would have been the hot motor not the 292

neither would be more traditional than the other for a 59/60 hot rod, flip a coin or develop your own opinion and run with it

 

I grew up in SW Iowa and the only hot rod that I can remember was a 32 Ford coupe and it had a small block Chevrolet in it, that was 1960 or 1961. He sold the car just a few years ago, it had sat in a shed on a farm, the Vette 283 froze and cracked, the car was all steel and I don't think it saw the street after the early 60's.

 

In 1959 the traditional engine would have been a 283, duntov. That was THE engine in my neighborhood.
Actually what the guys claim as traditional, Nailhead, Olds, Caddy, and Y-Blocks, were non traditional in the day.

 

So why does everyone seem to think that the "traditional engines" olds caddy nailheads and so were then. Was it really more like whatever over head valve engine available at the time was the hot ticket?

 

The more traditional hot rod engine would be the lightest one.

 

Because those engines were more 50s than 60s.

 

I see makes sense

 

I vote for the Y-block......grab a tri power, some Smithy's and GO...

Man...when I was looking for a tri power for my small block Ford 302 '70
block...I ran across Y-block tripple-duce set-ups ALL the time on eBay...

...before I found what I wanted......

But hey...that Model a is pretty light...either or will move it along just
fine...I guess it depends of what you'r gonna "DO" with the car...

...hhhmmmmmm...

-

 

Depending on the car you are transplanting it into, The SBC will be easier. I'm thinking you are fairly new to this. The Y block is a long motor. You may have to cut and modify the firewall to make it fit which can open up a hole can of worms that the shorter SBC avoids. The Y block will get more attention just because it hasn't been done to death.

If you are new to this I'd recommend the SBC. There are so many hotrod parts made for the SBC that it is very easy to build a hotrod with a Chevy. It will end up being a little boring for the old timers but if you build a hotrod that gets done and on the street it sure as hell won't be boring for you. Get the first one done before you reach for the golden ring.

Once it's on the road, then you can try to amass the parts for a more traditional build and you'll have a lot more experience to pull it off.

JMHO

 

Its sounds to me, with all the choices, that you may need to build 2 cars to really solve this dilemma!

 

The famous Mouse Motor!
The King is dead (flathead) Long live the king (SBC a.k.a. Mouse)

 

When did they start drilling up the 283 to 301, now thats a hot rod engine

 

Thats funny if I had to I would then the only choice would be which one to drive

 

BINGO!!! give HEATHEN the prize. Get your hands on a few magazines from that era and actually see what guys were running in the time period you want the car set in. Late 50's early 60's meant over head valves in one of the choices he presented. Flatheads were still there but loosing ground rapidly.

A Y block with factory aluminum T bird special valve covers and a few chrome trinkets is a great looking engine and with a good set of the right glass packs has one of the best sounding sets of pipes of any engine you will ever hear fire up and rack them off.

 

very eloquent way of cutting through the bullshit i like it

 

A never ending cycle of suck..

Simple.

 

Even Ford bailed on the Y block in less than 10 years when they introduced the sbf. The Y block isn't an awful engine, but almost from the git-go they didn't ring the bell of anybody but the most hardcore blue oval loyalist. Believeing otherwise is honest wishful thinking.

 

Id go with your SBC. if your could afford that engine back then...i doubt you woulda hesitated on it.
If you were a performance guy at least

 

a nice Y block with T-Bird valve covers and 3 carbs is hard to beat in the cool department. what trannies can you bolt to a y-block?

a nice 265 with Corvette valve covers and 3 carbs is hard to beat in the cool department. every trans they made for SBC's will bolt right up.

 

Pretty close to the truth...

 

By the era he's asking about the flathead was already obsolete and rapidly becoming an anachronism. OHV engines were commonplace by then and rodders were using them.

 

They also just happen to be ugly...(oh no he didn't). The distance from front of valve cover edge to end of water pump is less than appealing...throw all the traditional "fluff" on one and they still don't look as nice as a plain ol' SBC....

Whatever ya decide....do not use old magazines as reference....just because it was documented in print does not mean that's how things were actually done. Just ask the old timers....haha....

Oh ya..."build what you want", "do it your way", "screw what others think"....blah, blah, blah...and all that other bs that many like to vomit.......as I'm sure those are the responses you really wanted when you started this thread....

Pure championship.....