What parts are so important to Chevy Eng owners?

I get so tired of guys telling me they use Chevy engines because they can buy parts anywhere,while on the road. What parts, inside the engine,might you need while traveling? I can't think of anything,that would go wrong,that you need parts for TODAY. If the engine throws a rod,I am not going to rebuild it in a hotel parking lot. I don't think I would change a timing chain either. Most everyone uses aftermarket Ignition systems,and carburation,on their cars. I think it is a very poor excuse,for being a sheep,and following the crowd.

 

Do you really want to start this shit again?

 

Chevy/Sheep? Attend a national event. Big time sheep. This is an election year. Now there's some serious sheepin' right there.

 

Sorry, when parts are needed, they are needed. I overhauled the 400" SBC in my 40 Stude...drove it to Memphis for the Nats...got 280 miles from home and broke a rocker arm in half...found one at a parts store. Drove to Kansas City and broke another...got that one in a parts store. Drove to Mulberry, Arkansas, in the middle of no where...broke three...now where am I gonne get them...walked to a farmer's house...told him the problem I had...he said "there's a bucket of 'em over by the shed, help yourself." Seems his son had torn apart an early 283" and left the parts...I got 'em, fixed my car and continued on.

R-

 

sheep or just a good engine?

 

One good example,the waterpump goes on your flathead. You ain't going to walk into pep-boys and get one but the smallblocks everybody has in stock. Ford guys are Ford guys and Chevy guys are Chevy guys. And both would argue over a fencepost!

 

You know, when I get tired of someone talking to me, I just walk away. It works, if you work it.

Does the Chevy engine have patina or paint?

 

It's just that no one has ever told me what parts are so important,that they can't wait a day or two. I have never needed a part while on the road,and when I do go to buy parts for any old engine,Car Quest can get them the next day.

 

Amen!

 

Really?

 

looked at your profile and see you are retired. I always thought it was just the young posers with thier cuffed pants and a chain on thier wallet who referred to the SBC as boring.

as for being a sheep and following the crowd, that is exactly what you are doing by trying to shit on the SBC.

 

But WHY wait a day or two for it when you can have it instantly, fix it and keep going...waiting costs money if you are traveling...food, motel bills, time lost in getting there, missing the event...!!!

Besides, when you get old like me, you tend to forget what you were doing and end up waiting a week for the part...then wondering why you ordered a part you didn't need...until you try to start the car again...

R-

 

Don't think they'd tell you unless you ask. Maybe you make to many comments !! Iv'e never had someone just blurt out why they had any particular part on a car.

 

If you had a SBC you'd might concider rod brearing or timing chain in the hotel parking lot. If you had a SBC, you would NOT need aftermarket systems nor carb. If you wrench yiourself & drive a lot, you know this & lean toward a SBC it everywhere & very universal/interchangeable. All that = $$$$$$. You could start driving with pretty much any USED SBC.

Then there's the freeway thing . . . .

AAaah I would love a Flathead V8, but is the complete oposite.

 

Yeah and SBC's arent traditional, either. Nobody used them in the late-50's and early-60's in their hot rods, did they?

 

It's funny but I have NEVER heard that argument as to why to use a SBC. It was always they are cheaper to build (used to be true, but not so much anymore), easier to fit in early Fords (pretty much true), more aftermarket stuff available (used to be true) and they didn't make as many changes over the years (definitely true).

 

I've always heard the argument the other way around....

"Why would you wanna drive your flathead 500 miles? What happens if it breaks down?....you'd be stuck up the creek without a paddle."

Or..."banjo rearends are no good...the keyways break...try changing an axle in a banjo rearend in a parking lot...better yet...try finding an axle somewhere"

Guess the old guys around here just run what they know will be reliable...based on experience.

Tradition comes with a price...maintenance, problems, headaches, and money...anybody who tells you different is full of shit. Shitting on guys for wanting to save themselves maintenance, problems, headaches, and money is like calling yourself an idiot.

My daily is an 87 chevy pickup...I work on that thing once a week. Brand new rigs need nothing but oil and brakes for the first 5 years now.

 

I also haven't heard that as the main reason people run them but it is also a valid point. Driving to the LSRU last year my friend's fuel pump went out in his 27 roadster with a SBC...as I drove him to the chain parts store to pick one up for a simple side of the road repair I couldn't help by think if it was my car with the bad fuel pump (mopar flathead 6) we wouldn't be driving to a parts store...we would be getting towed home...and then I would sit a wait several days for a new part!

 

I've had lots of cars of all types and sizes and enjoyed them all but as far as tradition goes, GM has built the SBC over twice as long as Ford built the flathead V-8. Think about it.......

 

Like hotroddon says...the chevy's were just used because they were cheap, bulletproof, and you could find anything you needed, no matter where you were. 350's were like lawnmowers...everybody had one.

Now finding SBC stuff like...transmissions 350's and 400's, torque converters, flywheels, heads, 4 bolt main blocks, etc...is like finding hens teeth in my neck of the woods.

Even the guys who have the parts don't wanna part with the stuff, because it's really started to dry up.

 

As a plug for the Chevys over a vintage mill of any kind listen to this.....
I was on my way home from the Hamb drags in Joplin mo a few years back when my =GENERATOR= took a shit on my 348 CHEVY motor in my ol A roadster......see where Im goin here?

I get a ride into a town with a parts store and ask about a generator and the kid says that HondA one there is 3500Watts STEADY LOAD SIR......
sO MY POINT IS THIS =

WHEN YOU DRIVE OBSOLETE DRIVETRAINS IN YOUR OLD CAR YOU ARE NOT GONNA GET ALMOST any PARTS YOU NEED IMMEDIATELY.....
but since I was a sheep-I just told that kid to hand me a deep cycle Marine battery and installed it -drove the 6 hrs home with no generator working at all....

you can make all the arguments about vintage dependability you want sir but we all know you dont drive that car a hundred miles very damn often do you?

your claims lead me to suspect you are a restorer in hot rodder's clothing?

 

Building a hotrod and you want an engine that is cheaper, more common, easier to fit, more reliable, parts easier to find on the road.... ??

Wha happen'd to: traditional, cooler looking, unusual today, making it fit -- and oh yeah if it breaks, tow me home...

I got a 55 DeSoto hemi in the shed just waiting for a chassis and body ....

 

Sorry but this is a dumb ass topic... SBC are great and so is whatever you like.. its all prefrence and who cares what someone else thinks if you like it and it works for you use it, do it Ect... close this one

 

This is so true. Who'd a thunk SBC parts and drive trains would become extinct?
I also have a couple of Fords and a flathead. But if something goes wrong on the road I know I can find a part for my Chevys! That's why the 41 Ford goes down the road on Chevy parts. Simple as that.
Yes small block Ford engines are good and more popular now but more expensive to work on. Some of us old farts still don't have a lot of money to spend on parts.

 

Yeah, and those are some reasons why you would choose something other than a SBC...other than traditional, you are not going to win that argument...SBC's have been in hot rods since they were introduced.

I run my Plymouth flathead because I do like that it is different...but believe me I do it in spite of all the reasons people give for running an SBC...which are all valid!

 

On the real, if you got a Flathead in your 47, I'm looking up to you. Your Bad Ass!!! But it better be a V8!

 

To me the best engine under the hood of any streetrod or custom is one that's different. A real hotrodder wants to be different now days. A late model Hemi in my old Chevy panel truck would be cool. Did ya ever price parts for those things? Or the old 440 I have sittin in the shed. I can buy a Chevy short block cheaper than 440 heads.
Practicality wins in the long run. The stovebolt six that came in my 55 Chevy was a good engine. Or the optional 265. But in todays world a late model V-6 or V-8 of any displacement makes more sense.
I loved the flathead V-8's I had in old Fords. But even NAPA doesn't carry many replacement parts along the highways of life. And most other parts stores don't have any idea what a flathead is. That's my excuse for runnin SBC.

 

Cheap and available parts is a good reason but for me, not the primary reason.
I run em' cause I like 'em, they're good engines, they can make a lot of HP, I know 'em and I grew up on 'em. If someone else thinks they're boring, too bad! I like mine and you don't have to run one if you don't want to...so please just shut the fuck up.

These ridiculous threads irritate the piss out of me. Does it make you feel special to bash somebody's choice of engine? I hope so, cause it damn sure makes you look stupid and childish.

 

I drive it cause I can afford one!!! I'd say its because I know how to work on them but then again I'm on here every couple weeks asking how to do something! The fact is I'd love to run an early hemi, or even a flat 6 in my hemi! But I love my SBC's and I will always love them! That being said if and when I have 2 or 3 hot rods that are all sorted out If only 1 has a SBC and I'm gonna drive to Bonneville I'll probably take that, and maybe use it to tow my flat head, or hemi! It just makes sense! I agree that most of the SBC bashers are just as cliche as the SBC its self!

 

This thread wins first prize in the Lame Question Competition.