Hot Rods Why do many still build Fords & use Chevy eng./trans.?

Hey guys, I know I'm a FNG. I'm not trying to start any arguements or fights, just trying to understand this long time question. I'm sure this has been asked before, & I have asked individuals & never got an answer that made complete sense. I understand mixing & matching engine combinations, but why not put a Chevy in a Chevy, a Ford in a Ford, or a Mopar in a Mopar, etc.??? There are soooo many body & engine choices out there in all price ranges, so everyone please let me know what you think about this subject? Thanks in advance for your time & comments.

 

Cause some people like Ford, some like Mopar and some others like Chevy, use the search function, as you said this has been discussed way too many times.

 

Because the way the Chevy is made its just easier to make it fit into more places. Saves a lot of work to use a SBC.

 

In a LOT of the cases ... a SBC fits so much better.You can install a SBC in a 32 Ford with no cutting. Same for a 40 Ford. And it's TRADITIONAL Back in the 50's ... a Y-block Ford was a good engine but did not fit as well as a SBC. The HEMI's, Pontiac's, Olds, and Buick were good also but were large and did not fit as well either.

Plus ... the SBC has a lot more speed equipment available at reasonable prices. The SBC came out in 1955 ... and remained the same basic engine for 30 years or so.

.

 

easy fit, affordable, easy horsepower, gazillions of parts... It's a hot rod, not a restoration. Who gives a crap whether the motor and chassis match? How about a 4G20 turbo in place of an original banger in a Model A? Could be cool, but either way, it's your car, your money. In the end, do what you want.

BTW... I have a 283/TH350 in my Model A.

 

This. That and, it doesn't really matter where you are in the world. They'll likely have parts for an SBC. The aftermarket following is just incredible.... so why not?
Great bang for the buck, and its so easy to maintain.

 

Way back in 1953 while the Sbc was being readied for release , Duntov thought it would be a good idea to dislodge fords flathead from the thrown of the hop up and hot rod market. He laid his plan out in 1953 in a letter. The rest is history.

Follow the link in this thread to read the letter
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=780285&highlight=duntov

 

mix and match an american tradition...

 

And I will bet that everyone boasting about mis matching would not put a Mopar or Ford in a Chevy if they actually "had" a Chevy hot rod.

 

Because they fit in the same space a flathead fit, they were, and still are, cheap, and anybody can make them make lots of hp with very little money. Baseball, hot rods, apple pie and Chevrolet. Hey, it's a song!

Brian

 

Because Pep boys dont sell chrome valve covers for old nailheads and hemi's

 

The same reason people shop at Wall Mart and eat at McDonalds. Its just easy.

 

It's a carry over from when they were little kids and their mommies dressed them funny...

 

It all makes sense now. Thanks for clearing that up


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

Chevys are cheap power and small in size, and there is a boat load of parts and pieces under every tree, i know i have seen them. It takes a little more money and time to step outside the box and go with a different power plant combo plus more money and time, some of which today is hard to come by.
fabrat

 

I would..done it before
fabrat

 

I wouldn't put a chevy in anything but a chevy, 'cause it's boring. But, yep, easy and cheap power so that's what everyone does. Me, I usually go the difficult route. More fun that way!

 

I've heard most of this before, but it isn't the 1950s & there are tons of parts for almost any engine a phone call or mouse click away. TRADITIONAL, is using an engine from the 1950s, not one that was first used then. Almost all of the sbc engines used aren't from the 50s or 60s, so saying it's traditional is a cop-out for not being original. Plus the whole "it fits without cutting" is hardly legit because 95% of those cars with GM engines have chopped tops, channeled & sectioned bodies, or other mods. So making an engine fit is hardly the hard part to the equation.


I'm all for mixing & matching! I would like to see a Mitsu 4G20 turbo in a Model A, at least it would be unique!


I'm honestly not trying to be a dick, so please don't take any of this personal. I'm not directing this at any one person. I'm just tired of seeing the same thing over & over. I also want to get to the bottom of this debate.

 

honest ? deserves an honest answer. Chevy motors are easy cheap and plentifull. Early ford bodies were built better than gm and plentiful. Mopar was the red headed stepchild until the hemi showed up.Love me a hemi.... I liked the Mcdonalds coment cause we used to call sbc happy meal motors cause they were so cheap they gave away parts for them at Mcdonalds.

 

Yea I never quite got it either. Whats really funny is the guys with the high $$$ rods that are "NO expense spared" Yet still put a 350/350 in the car to cause Ford cost too much! It costs very few extra dollars, if any at all, to put a ford in a ford, ect. Size wise the SbF is very close to the SBC and actually narrower and shorter height wiseand just an inch or so longer. Iactully had a guy buy my 40 PU that had a very nice 302/C4 in it and he took it home and swapped out a 350/350 cause he didnt know how to work on a Ford! Should have just kept that one!

 

because it takes skills, talent, ingenuity, and originality, to do anything other than put a SBC in everything........

 

Its definitely easier to put a heavier engine in a car than it is to put in a lighter one. I saw a 34 Ford coupe this weekend. Had a 1100.00 radiator, Ostrich interior, 11000.00 paint job and a 350 out of a Chevy Silverado. He said he used that engine because it was cheap and got 20 miles per gallon.

 

You want the bottom of it ? Really ? Then go to the beginning .
Take a min or 10 and look at post 7.

 

Crap, now I gotta go back to post 7.

 

This on going fight between a SBC and all the others is just a lot of hot air blowing in the wind. The SBC is the King of the mountain, tell something comes along to kick it off, like the SBC knocked the Flathead off the mountain. Will the next great engine step up to the plate.
What engine will step forward, only the future will tell.

CRUISER

 

I guess that duntov had a vision of fiberglass FORD clones sporting his beloved parts.

 

Old Fords with Chevy 350s are boring as hell.......Really! They are lined up at the shows like they came from a cookie cutter. Cheap and esay. What really jerks my chain is a Chevy with Olds valve covers.... Ther is just something wrong with that! Seems like if you are too cheap, lazy or unskilled to put an Olds in there don't try to fake it...

 

If you go by the numbers, over all the years, a SBC is probably more traditional than a flathead. Maybe not quite as cool as a flathead, but the fact that it is a better designed engine makes up for it. The SBC is sort of boring, and the flathead is getting there too. To me, it's hard to beat the looks of a old Chrysler Hemi....too bad they are so big and heavy.

 

If more people knew that a Ford 289/302 is lighter by 120lbs than a Small Boring Chevy and can be made shorter than a SBC with short pump - by using a shorty water pump kit either from Ford Motorsports or from Snow White Limited, then maybe more people would use them. They were popular in narrow engine compartments such as Model Ts - many T sedans and coupes with 289/302 as early as 1915 - anyone remember Steve Tansy's 1915 Centerdoor? I have a 302/5.0 and AOD in my 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery with the stock length water pump with an electric puller fan and shroud and the stock firewall - no recess. It can be done if you are minded to do so. You can even remove an SBC and install a Windsor without changing the radiator outlet - just use the pre 1969 Ford water pump which has it's outlet the same side as the chebby....

 

Cummins already did. People just gotta get over it.

Gold03