Technical The voodoo of the unknown

I have always been a SBC guy since birth. Dad was a 265/283 guy and he raced C/Gas until 1976. We would pull the motor out of the race car and put it in the drag boat, then go race that. He hated flat heads with a p***ion, not sure why, but they were a 4 letter word in our house.

I was reading the post about 427's today and I have always been intrigued with the 427 BBC, but man it's voodoo to me. I don't know what a good head is vs a bad one.

That got me to thinking about guys staying in their comfort zone. I had an old mechanic I used to work with years ago that said "If you are scared of something, you need to focus on doing it, til you are sick of it". Not to say that I am "scared" per se, but I think a lot of guys never venture out and try new things, due to the black magic ***ociated with the knowledge required.

Get out of your comfort zone and learn something new.....

 

I am with you on the sbc deal and know them like the back of my hand. I recently had to learn more about a bbc and it is basically the same as a sbc other than knowledge as you mention when it comes to what heads, etc. are better. Anyway, I am also learning y-blocks and now need to learn early Caddy's as you know. I try not to venture too far out of my comfort zone when it comes to building engines, but in reality, they are all about the same...

 

I learned a lot about the Caddy 365/390 just from doing research and the thread we have here on the hamb.

 

I've been doing that a lot recently...a string of oddball cars....

But the 427 is old hat, I started out working on a friend's 396 and 454 when I was 16, then bought my own 396 when I was 17, and been playing with big blocks ever since. About 10 years ago I finally built a 427, there's nothing different about how it works from the other big blocks. But it has that magic number.

Engines all work pretty much the same, but they do each have their own quirks, and good and not so good versions and parts. If you want to build a hot 427 that's HAMB friendly, just look at the late 60s Corvette offerings, and figure out how to replicate the specs using more easily available parts. A 454 block, early steel 396 crank, LS-6 rods, and stock replacement 427 pistons will make a nice 7000+ rpm capable short block, and the old aluminum heads are light and flow well, although you'll have to shop for a while to find a decent pair these days...but they're still money well spent.

 

I have CRAFT so everything is a learning experience Being dyslexic is no help a all either.

 

I used to get Car Craft...

I even googled CRAFT. I still don't know what it is.

 

"Can't Remember A ........"

 

Ahhhhhhh................................

 

As my friend Bob Taylor always said when we got into the pros and cons of various makes, "They're all put together with nuts and bolts, aren't they"?

 

Rat motor in the F100 Root?

 

Pretty sure he was going to end up with a 396 if I remember correctly at one point, so I vote yes.

 

I sold that one.

 

That means I'll havta build new mounts

 

See.......there you go, changing my mind again.

 

As a kid, it was the SBC's and SBF's for me in all my vehicles. I was never brand loyal, as I like pretty much everything, but I do have more Ford blue blood in my veins than anything else. At least for the vehicles themselves, not so much the engines. Then I went off the deep end with foreign stuff and Rotary engines and what not. Then full circle back to American stuff, but some oddballs thrown in like Y-Blocks and Nailheads, then back into SBF's and that progressed into modern LS stuff. I've never owned a big block anything, and would love to, but after messing with LS's I really don't care to change or learn about anything else. Call me stubborn

 

Oh, and as far as a 427 goes, I guess I built my first one when I was 18 for a 56 Chevy pickup. I used a 454 block and steel 396 crank as mentioned above. It was fairly stock, but moved that 56 3100 pickup along better than the stock engine that came in it.

 

My lane is SBC as well, but I've ventured out into the dark world of early Ford flatheads with the purchase of the 21-stud for my 31 Tudor. Sure hope it runs...I'm scared of the price of a rebuild!!

 

Getting out of my comfort zone is exactly why I bought a flathead car....

 

I bought a flathead car because I always wanted one of those cars. I wanted it even more if it had a flathead. When I was younger I tossed a few running flatheads to put a smallblock (Ford) in, so I had never really driven a car with a flathead in it.

I'm now quite comfortable living (driving) out of my comfort zone.

 

@lumpy 63 is a bad influence

 

Grew up with OHV’s. Until a friends dad brought me over to the dark side of Valve in Blocks. Bought my first one right before I joined the hamb. Initially to learn about them as I go.
I can remember Bruce Lancaster telling me about my 21 stud. I sure do miss that old fart.
I’ve been tempted many times to buy a banger. The stars haven’t aligned yet.

 

I feel like I’ve gotten out of my comfort zone too much and I need to stick to what I know. I bought a Buick so I had the learning curve of Nailheads and dynaflos, then I bought a VW project and had to start back at square 1. I have an OBS GMC then I bought a NBS Suburban with an LS, another learning curve.

I’ve had two Chevy powered 39-40 Fords so I’m comfortable and should stick to those, along with 37-38 Chevys since I’ve had one of those for 17 years. Now I know why guys stick to one make or model.

 

From when I was a kid, only by sheer luck, the majority of my cars had 283/327 powerglides, and then Holden red 6's (our version of the Chevy 194/250). Then later it was a string of Stovebolts & Blueflames (I like my 6's). I have had many "oddballs" like Caddy 390, Willy's flathead, and many others that I can't remember. Still never had a Ford engine, but I would like to build an A with a banger some day. When you have to work on a strange mill, just remember they all ****, squeeze, bang & blow.

 

If Chris wants , I'll ship him a 427 too

 

Seriously though , the supply of small blocks around here seems to be drying up but I can find big blocks all day long

 

Around here, anything not still in production has dried up unless you get it from someone that has saved it.
Most of the still in production stuff is pretty wore out, or mangled in to almost unrecognizable piles.
Its getting really hard to be a hot rodder, but maybe its just me getting to old to deal with this stuff anymore. it had been a fun ride for 50 years though.

 

Yeah, pretty much the same around here. You see a few small blocks on marketplace, but most of them think they are gold. About the only way to get a decent power train is to find a wrecked car somebody has in their backyard. Even those are pretty much gone. I don’t think there is but one junkyard in my county anymore and besides only dealing in late models they won’t let anybody on the yard, you tell them what you want and they go pull it.

I’ve got a 350 Chevy and a 302 Ford held in reserve, guess I’ll hang onto them…they would be hard to replace at a decent price.

 

Big block is more plentiful around here too. Used to be that a core 454 would cost $1000. Now it's $400. Funny how things have changed. And Root, the way I understand it, 781 or 049 is a good? head casting. I bought a set of 781's for mine.

 

Stop it.