A while back I picked up a '53 Chev with the intention of building a Gasser.. and no, not a faux gasser despite the recent trends. This girl will get beat on in the quarter mile. Anyway, I'm torn as far as a choice in motor.... all I know is it will be supercharged... I would love a Hemi but that is a little out of my reach. --I have a perfectly good 450 horse 390 FE, Edelbrock heads, Erson rockers, MSD, etc and a built C6 to back it all up. Which if I tear down and build into a blower motor... would be fairly stout and unique... but is it a bad choice? Will I be hung out to dry by Chevy guys? --On the other hand, I have a '98 350 service block which has heavier ribbed casting and 4 bolt mains.. which I thought I could stroke and build into a blower motor, then back it up with a Turbo 350... this way I would save a ton of weight, rev higher on the top end, lower my ETs, and possibly save some cash.... But are SBC's overdone? Any opinions would be great.
If you run the Ford sure the chevy guy's will hang you out to dry..but who care's, if you don't then just run it...And that's coming from a die hard chevy guy.. On the other hand, if you think the ball busting's gonna get to you after a while then just build the sbc.. As we all know that too can be built to run, and run hard at a fairly decent price too..NOT cheep, but decent price...It does cost to built power And small block's are overdone, but mainly in Ford hot rods...I've done the chevy in a Ford thing myself, and would again because i personally don't care if it's over done or not or who likes it..i like sbc's... But, your dealing with a Chevy car, so the sbc would be a give in in my worthless opinion. I'd run the chevy myself, but like i said, i'm a chevy guy. Unfortunately i'm not a Gasser God though...so my 2 cent's may not even be worth that, maybe a penny though.. Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Tony
Do something really different, an injected 348/409 Chev or early Olds with a Hydro-Stick. There's a fella running brackets at Pacific Raceways here in Kent, Washington with a 53 0r 54 Chevrolet 4 dr sedan with the new style big block Olds and T-400. Have'nt seen it for a while, as I usually go to Bremerton Raceway. It's a sleeper.
Not a god, but I dont get any ribbing for running an amc in a willys....I would run the ford as is, then later, if you think it is the way you want to keep the car, then invest in the supercharger. If you run the small block, in my opinion, I would just take a glance at it. If you run the fe, then I would spend some time talking to ya.....Don
If it's not a "faux" gasser rolleyes, then run whatever you want to and think about ET's and winning, not what somebody else is going to think of your choice in cars/engines. Somebody will ALWAYS have something negative to say about whatever you do, so fuck 'em - do what you want. Geezus, is this the Red Hat Society ??? And how come we don't call newly constructed hot rods, "faux" hot rods, if they don't run down Paradise Rd. on Friday nights ????
Pick the class you want to run in. If it's a bracket or ET racing, run what you like. Just make sure you can use the blower in those classes. If it is a "pounds per cubic inch" class, the Ford won't go past first round unless the other guy breaks or redlights. You may have to spend a lot of money to make a T-350 live. I'd go with a T-400.
i vote for the sbc, but take great pains to keep it period authentic. it's the little details that will sell the car as an authentic gasser, not the over-the-top factor such as supercharging. spend the money you would spend on a blower setup on getting the rest of it right. sell the 390 to fund some more appropriate stuff (this, coming from a ford guy, mind you). some vintage valve covers (typically unpolished corvette ones) and intake, fenderwell headers from a 55-57 car, find a 55 v8 chevy truck hydro instead of the th350 and set up a correct looking (not a lokar) floor shifter for it. dont get too carried away with ladder bar design, most of the "fake" gassers out there are running ladder bars that are too short and too bulky looking. use 1.25' square tubing and keep length at about 48". the rear axles in these cars were often replaced with an early 3/4 ton chevy rear axle (the one that has a drop-out pig, six lug axles, and deep gears). remember that not all gas cars were supercharged, and not all had a lot of money to build a really finished looking car. there were a lot of cars that ran combinations of steel and magnesium wheels until they could afford to step up. look to the lower gas classes because that is what someone who had a car like yours would have run. Gene Schwartz was perhaps the most famous of all the folks who ran '49-'54 chevys and ran squarely in E/Gas.
First, I would sell all your Ford stuff to somebody building a Ford. Then, I would put together a stout big block Chevy with the turbo350. Then, I would put it in the '53 and have a ball !! If you want to be unique, how about a big block Olds or Pontiac? Plenty of torque to be had there, also. As always , JMO.
Tommy Ivo ran a 53 Chevy with a Olds mill and it was a beast...This hobby lets you build something with whatever you have and want so do your thing...Have fun and give everyone something to talk about!
Holy shit, couldnt have said it better! Keep this in mind. Ed "BIG DADDY" Roth had a 390 FE in his 55 Chevy! Good enough for me (Chevy guy) cause he was one cool kat.
Well boys, I'm leaning toward the FE... I know an Olds or Hemi or BBC would be cool but I already have the FE.. I've already invested enough into it and would take a huge loss if I sold it, and more importantly I like the way the heavy ole FE looks. I know not all gassers need a supercharger, I just like mine better that way... I've considered all the other options. Right now I am running a '63 Galaxie, which is where the FE is right now. It is a 4dr in flat black because I was too cheap to paint it and had a pile of bondo when I bought it, it is a 15 footer but a serious sleeper. This will be the donor car for all the drivetrain parts, seeing as I've put all the good stuff into it.... it's just that the body is rough under all that bondo and the '53 Chevy has a similar grille to my '52 Ford F-1 so they make a good pair. The plans call for the gasser to be fairly traditional, I don't have any intention of trying to fool people into thinking it is a survivor, it will get modern parts to keep repair costs and down time to a minumum when I break it. The Ford 9" from the Galaxie will go under the '53 Chev with the addition of correct ladder bars, seeing as it already has a detroit locker, richmond gears, and moser axles... why sell it all and throw that money down the shitter? I think the 390 will be cool in the '53 simply because it was one of the big powerplants that *MAY* have been used in the early '60s, yes it has aluminum heads and MSD ignition... but if I am going to be breaking it, like I said I don't want to be trying to track down genuine retro parts... I feel you can only go traditional to a certain extent and there are no laws that define how to build your own car.. I mean, it's not going to be dressed up in god-aweful billet crap or anything that I deserve to get an asskicking for. As far as front suspension I would love to go with Duece style I-beam and leafsprings, but Econoline style may find it's way under it... whichever one the experienced racers feel works better. When it comes to wheels, the Galaxie already has Torq Thrusts on it for the street tires and I have a pair of chrome steelies with slicks for the strip. Obviously the '53 will get the Torq Thrusts on the front and the steelies in the rear, since I already have them. In defence of the "faux" comment, I'm refering to cars that have a bone stock 305 SBC, nose bleed stance, bucket seats and guage clusters straight out of "Fast and the Furious", ladder bars or rollcage made out of PVC pipe, and couldn't outrun a golfcart. But they have straight pipes so they must be fast. All you need to do is look around at the talent right here on this forum to feel the need to put a little effort into quality metal work and making things safe.. whether they look it or not. Still open to opinions.....
if you are gonna build it, build a big block not a small block. blown or not no substitite for cubic inches. itll fit, itl run and itl live. a small block witha blower and raced alot usually dont live that well . if you do be sure and get a front crank support for it. put a glide in it and run it. as for period stuff,well if you go that route enjoy it but dont expect to win to many races .
Do the FE motor hands down. Everyone runs SBC's and when was the last time you saw a blown 390 T-bird mill in a '60s gasser? COOL....the Chevy guys will hate it but it will be fun sticking it to 'em... -Dean
Hilborns on meth for the Ford......leave the blower off that 390...will be hard to keep the rods in it. Racing a 427 Ford for over 10 seasons now...have seen it all. Call me if you need any help. Mark 972.712.6558
This is why there is no need for a 'World's Most Beautiful Gasser' award. Them most beautiful one crosses the finish line first and it doesn't matter how it looks or what powers it! Build the engine that you can afford to get the most out of. Over done is over done. Right is right and a SBC in a Chevy is as right as any thing else. It's true that they don't excite us when we look at them but they can be built haul ass for less than anything else,and that's exciting. Personally I'd run a built to the hilt blown 292 inline with a tubo 400. So' did I just undo all I said?
It has been a toss up between a blower or injection, both cost roughly the same... both look awesome and mechanical injection to me looks almost more ourageous than a blower. How much power is feasable with an injected 390 though? If I need a new crank and rods I may aswell stroke it while I'm at it?
We are running a SCAT stroker in our engine...Billet 4.125 stroke, Venolia, Eagle H beam rods(chevy journals) and one of our own cams. .763x.787 on 110 in at 106 or so.......3350 pound 63 Galaxie, Jerico and our own Texas Thunder/Boninfante clutch, 5.00 gears with MT 33x10.5w tires. Launching at 6500, shifting around 7600/7800.........best effort is a 9.63@140. 474 inches..You can make an easy 410 out of the 390 with a 428 crank. I have a crank/rod/piston stroker that will take a 427 out to 472...With the crank in your 390 it could be around 422 or so, depending on bore. You can't go much with the FEs............we are on the ragged edge with our .046 overbore. Hardblocked. Seems to me that most non crossbolted FEs come apart at around 7500............Good luck with the gasser ..no matter what engine...the sbc could do it, but the cheap cubes also is a plus. M.
I give you props for just thinking about putting the FE in there. That would probably be the cheapest way as you allready have most of the stuff and it would cause some confusion ect...and then you could paint "Freak-O-Nature" down the sides! Do it..
Run whatever gives you the most reliable speed for your buck, and the chevy only crowd can't say much if you beat them.
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