History Has anyone ever put a Ford engine in a Chev?

Put a 5.0 Ford in a Morris Minor and went an import car show and won the trophy for best old school import. Really funny amongst all those ricers.

 

yes he was called big wille.......huge black guy and the vette kicked a lot of ass.

 

Does this count?

 

In an old magazine article I read a guy put a 406" Ford engine in a 58' Corvette.
My cousin, who was in partners with another guy bought a 427 SOHC motor to put in my cousins 65 Corvette but the partnership ended and the engine was sold. Now THAT would have been something wild.

 

Next stop the local dump!!

 

There is a 55 chevy drag car on the fresno craigslist with a 429 for 10k right now.

 

I have, put a 289 in a '62. It is not common and I didn't do it to gain performance, I did it because I had the SBF and the Chevy needed a motor.

I have also put a gremlin motor in a '54 Effie and a 500 caddy in a Monte. As well as various sundry other abominations.

 

I was offered a 427 for my 57 chevy as long as I let the donor of the motor drive the car one time... to show our local chevy purist.. as he thought itd give him "the big one"

Looking back, maybe I should have taken it. But I've never been a cross breeder.

 

I owned a 38 Olds coupe with a flat head Ford. I was told it was a case of cracked block and a wrecked ford.

 

Funny how a 427 Chevy in a '55 Ford would be way cool, but a 427 Ford in a '55 Chevy would be blasphemy. They would probably be a close match performance wise but there is some kind of stupid stigma attached. "What fools we mortals be".

 

A local guy has had a 351 in a 39 Chevy sedan for the past 25-30 years.

 

I'd put a ford in anything. It's what I know and once you are familiar with them, really no different than a chevy. And yes, I know about the balance, pulleys and all the other excuses people use to not want to deal with them but in the end.....it's what I like. Heck, I'd push my ford without an engine uphill in barefeet through broken glass before I'd ever install a chevy in it........just saying.

 

The Ford in Roth's '55 Chevy was a 406.

 

Its just a 4 stroke internal combustion engine. An engine is an engine. Any of them can be built, some cost more than others and some are easier to come by but the end of the day they are just a motor and if you have one its what you use.

I use SBCs because I usually have one. But I got an Olds on a stand that I will probably use eventually unless someone comes along and buys it or trades me out of it. If I had a Ford or a Plymouth or a Buick or whatever that is what I would use. Guess I am just not purest enough to be considered to be a real hot rodder.

Funny I had read that the five five was MOPAR powered. Not arguing the point that is just what I read somewhere, and what I read could be absolutely incorrect.

Now just to get back on track I don't think that this is the correct car but it seems that I recall a salter Camaro that was flathead powered.

 

There was a chopped '50 Chevy with all Ford running gear, even had a special Connecticut license plate NOEKG. Bob

 

My Grandpa had a 46 Pontiac (almost a Chevy) with a 460 Ford.

The same Missouri hillbillies that built said Pontiac had a Ford Ranger with a 389 Pontiac.

 

I don't think it's bad to put a Ford in a Chevy, or any other powerplant for that matter as long as they plan on keeping it forever. The problem will come when they try to sell it. Not saying it won't sell, it just might be a little tougher.

 

In the Missouri Hills you are liable to find about anything, they used to be poor and used what they had. Oh and proper English is Mountain William.

You are pretty close to being correct on the wrong motor hard sell. it easy to sell a Ford with about anything in it if its a hot rod and you are selling to hot rodders, but nearly impossible to sell anything else without the "correct motor" even if you are selling to hot rodders. There was a '34 Chevy truck around here with a 302 C4 combo that was for sale about forever. I looked at it and it was very well built, nice looking truck in primer and ready for a good scuffing and painting. But no one wanted it because it had the Ford motor in it. It finally sold without the motor for as much as he wanted for it with the motor. If it had been a '34 Ford it would have sold for twice he price with any motor in it.

 

I saw a '59 Impala with a 351C in it at a car show in the NW, maybe even at Portland, can't remember exactly. It was dark purple and had Magnum 500s for wheels, and that unmistakable sound of a Ford firing order.

 

The Henry Gregor Felsen book "Here is Your Hobby: Car Customizing" (1965) had a chapter on Roth's '55 and stated it was a 406.
I also found this on an old thread here on the HAMB:

Sommes
Member
from Seal Beach, Ca.
In the summer of 1965 I worked for Ed for three months as a sometimes silk screener most time "gofer." My brother built the motors for Ed so I got a job there.

This car was Ed's "daily driver" and if I had to go for parts I would drive the car. It had a Ford 406 with an automatic transmission, the poster that said that Ford gave him motors for the custom cars is correct, this car had one of those motors.

One afternoon I went to Reath Automotive in Long Beach on an errand for "Yellow Fang" parts. A Plymouth Dual Quad ('63) challenged me at the light on Long Beach Blvd. and we were off like a shot! The Chevy pulled very strong and had about 1 1/2 car length lead at 1/4 mile. The dual quads were sucking like crazy, I don't think he had air filters and I don't think he had any idea what was powering that Chevy.

 

I was going off of a an interview with Mr Roth in a publication just prior to is death. It could have been wrong which is why I said that I wasn't starting an argument about it.

 

speaking of abominations.... I once had an 84 ford ranger DD work truck and spun a bearing in the v-6. with no extra money and needing to drive it to work I installed what I had, a 250 chevy 6 cyl. and th. 350 lots of big hammer work around the bellhousing and a big shoehorn were needed but I drove it for about a year till I could afford something different. went down the road just fine.

 

My buddy Ricardo had an 'almost new' '55 Chevy in '57. 265 threw a rod through the block, we looked for a Chev V8 at Paul Navarro, Tex's, and Santa Clara Auto Wreckers, there was a list of buyers at every one.
I had flatheads...probably 9 or 10 then, mostly 59AB, but also a '50 Merc I had planted in my '36 and a nice '53 Ford with 3 speed out of Bruce Leegard's '53 Ford. (engine was a recent Sears rebuild!)
I told Ricardo the engine would fit his Chevy, so we pulled the 265 and tranny out, swung the '53 flattie in. Ford radiator bolted to the core support with some flat brackets, we used the driveline out of the Ford. Engine mounts courtesy of Louie Amarel, (Santa Clara Industrial Welding) We towed the Chevy to Louie's on a chain, engine sitting on a 2" X 4" board. Louie used 2" square tube, made the trans mount, fabbed engine side/front mounts.
I made clutch linkage; was a combination of Ford/Chev gas welded, worked great. Chevy coil, Ford dist., Chevy generator.
Throttle link fabricated from Ford stuff from Bruce's '53. Two day swap, Ricardo took it to Santa Clara Muffler with dual straight manifolds.
Ricardo drove the Chevy like that for over a year, until he found a 283 for NOT cheap!
Ricardo said I could do anything. (probably meant that I WOULD do anything! LOL)

 

In 1965 I put a 427 Ford in a 57 Corvette because that's what I had for street racing

 

This one?

 

Have seen this 55' at Day of the Drags a couple of times, had a stroked 460 Ford. I believe it was 545 cu. in. Last time I saw it, it was wearing a supercharger. My son caught this pic just as it got on the rev limiter. (You can see the shift light and the corresponding ball of fire out the exhaust.) As I remember this car did haul the mail.

 

Forgot about this one till right now. There was a guy in the next neighborhood over from where I grew up. He put a 2300 Ford with an aftermarket turbo charger on it. In a '69 Camaro. Never did see or hear of him driving it. But it was in there and running. Damn, forgot all about this thing. Going tomorrow to see if it's still there!!!

 

Man , I have been thinking about this for days . Seems as it would take 3 or 4 Certified Mechanics and a good Priest to complete a swap of this imperfection !