I sorta like marching to a different drum , realized I don't need a gazillion cubes or horsepower, just wanted lots of fun cruising. Had an old Chevy 250 six kicking around, figured why not. Then go and do what we do, bore it, balance it, deck it, plane it, lump port it, street port the exhaust, jump valve size, screw in studs, roller rockers, triple angle valve job, tri power, and let the fun begin. I get many, many comments on my choice, but it's all good. Wait and see what my plan is for my 32 Coupe build,
Put 185 miles behind an "Other Engine" today. Avg. 17.4 mpg with dual quads. No fuss, no muss, no sbc '31 A roadster with a Cadillac 331 and early Hydro...
MPG is not a deal maker in hotrod speak but my blown flathead gets 14. As long as we are in double digits I think we have it made. I think we should call it MPS (miles per smile).
The '63 Biscayne in my avatar is originally a 230ci inliner, and when that died I had a hot 292 Chevy put together with high compression pistons, lumpy cam, lump port head with SBC valves, 4-bbl, dual exhaust, etc. good for roughly 300hp and 300 lb-ft. I love the motor BUT it has turned into a "hybrid" consuming over a quart of oil in 450 miles. I love the motor, but I'll be deeper into a rebuild moneywise than going to a crate Chevy 350, and I'll get more power and torque outta the V8. Plus, I'm juts old enough now that I want to ensure reliability for my own driving and for when one of my daughters hopefully ends up driving it (they're 17 and 20 right now).
If you have to ask why everyone runs this engine you’re dismissed. I’m not even gonna try to explain this one. My ‘other’ engine lol. Some really cool powerplants in this thread!!
Every flathead I have ever owned since 1957 got 14 mpg in regular use. Fords, Mercury's, stock, modified, and even worn out beaters.
I put a 231" Buick iron V-6 in my Sedan. I used the standard cowl and hood and even saved the stock cowl gas tank and dash. I don't know the mileage, but I believe it's somewhere between 15 and 20. I've driven it to Bonneville a few times and in one trip, I'd calculated with my Isky Dream Wheel how many RPM would be needed with the 18s on the back to top 100 MPH. It was surely not a 1/4-mile, but came in soon with the old Halibrands needing better balancing!
The "why" for choosing a SBC or SBF or BBC, etc. is pretty simple. Not even sure why someone asks the why question? The reason is simply economics, and availability. These engines are common, parts are well supported, plentiful, and cheap; so it only makes sense for people to choose them. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, and for those who are brand loyal to various other engines they can build and install whatever they like. I have great admiration for those who swap in less common engines, and do so regardless of cost. It's not something I'll do as I'm always budget conscious, and "belly button engines" save me money that i can spend elsewhere on my builds. I'm not too concerned if others don't like my choice. If it bothers them too much I'd gladly accept a well built hemi, Pontiac, Buick, etc. if they want to help me be a non conformist and get rid of my belly button engines.
Dodge 315 with 10:1 forged pistons and mild cam waiting for the 1930 Model A Coupe body and 1932 chassis to be completed.
My first hotrod build in the late 1950s,I knew I wanted a over head valve V8. My limits were,had to be free or close to free an running with tranny needed. I hoped to find a Studebaker,but brand was not a must have! Tiny hotrod piggy bank,with luck, was what shaped what I'd use. The parts I could find,in the woods n down dirt roads dumped junk car,drag parts home,over the last 3 years of the 50s. I was lucky getting a Ford"Y" V8,w tranny! It ran with out needing much. I drove my 28A to Sr high school,love how it turned out,still have it ! Even thought I also built a full custom Henry J,after finding out I super need a car with roll up windows an a top with fenders. { I put a Olds Rocket 88 in to the "J",got Olds from my buddy who was going into the Navy"} Also did an helped with a lot of rods for others,with a wide number of brand engines. I've kept my rod,"Y" powered always. Only updates are,now chrome headers an alt. replaced old gen. ,the rest still looks same as it did in Sr High.
Only on the Hamb is there a 1965 rule and its not devoid of exceptions. For the rest of the world, we get to decide what we want. I'm not going to knock the smallblock Chevy, I have always liked them and they earned their way as the top choice. That said, today the multitude of small blocks installed in old hot rods were not made before 1965. The 350 was not introduced until 1967. Most of the decent engines (power wise) by other manufacturers also came along during that time period. Personally I have a soft spot for the old Cadillac engines as I had a 33 Ford with a 365 Caddy and 2 fours in the sixties. Today I'm building a 32 Coupe and it will have the newer version 500 Caddy for an engine. I think they are a great choice for a driver with power. They are really inexpensive to purchase, often in running condition. They have low compression but decent heads. You can easily pull 500 HP from one, but their torq is there thru the whole rpm range......which makes driving one very pleasant. Still they can be made to accelerate very well by replacing the stock cam and rocker arms.....and still have torque everywhere......and run "regular" gas, not premium. Often they run as purchased and are reasonably low mileage, but you can purchase some cheap pistons ($250/$300) and bump compression a little and still run regular gas. I have 3 of them I picked up for $500 each. That seems to be the going price for one. Some come with a Turbo 400 attached. Mine is going to have a Tremec 6 speed manual tranny. ($$$) I wanted a trans that can take the torque and I like shifting gears. I should be able to cruise at 80+ mph and have the engine sipping gas with the overdrive. Here are a few pictures showing that some of these less popular engines do look good in hot rods. Cad ^^^^^ Lots of engines look good in Hot Rods.......but that doesn't mean I don't like or respect smallblock Chevy engines too.
I built this Cadillac for a boat I was building. Never built the boat. Thought about putting it in my roadster, but it's a monster! Sold it to a guy building his own boat in Seattle who has finished his project...
The Jalopy Journal
