All time greatest engine?

From it's impact on the automotive world and its roll as the foundation of modern hot rodding, you can't really argue against the Flathead Ford v8 as the greatest engine of all time from a Hot rodding point of view...

But if I could have any engine at all right now, it'd be a Ford Can-Am FE side-oiler... With SOHC heads... I dream about the potential... Nascar and NHRA be damned... I'd find an old Daytona Coupe or similar sports coupe body and build a vintage road race themed screamer...

Or, an Offy 4 banger...

 

I guess that's the point.

Why would anyone care what you or anyone else wants to "see" in thier car..?

Greatest motor for hot rod history..

Not..weirdest..unusual..or draws attention from others..

I build for me..not you..

 

I have to say for me it would be a Y block, can't beat the sound, or the look of a fully dressed Y Block with three carbs. Only my opinion.

 

You want sounds? You can't beat a Formula 1 car! Check this out: http://www.funnyville.com/funny-flash/dengdeng.html

Hijacked my own thread and blew it's head off... LOL

 

Personally, for the amount of basic power produced - I like the hemi in nearly any configuration. They weighed "a ton", but for a hot rod - that's the look. I do bow in deference to any flathead...can't beat those for the hot rod look either, but a stock hemi just puts out more oomph - and they both look good when the hood is off. I've had tons of sbcs and dollar for dollar those are certainly the most bang for your buck. In their fifty-plus year history, nearly everything has been done to them or made for them, and sooner or later, you can thank the racing and/or hot rod segment for that development. As others that are much wiser than myself have already opined, nearly any engine looks good in a hot rod. That's the essence of the hot rod - a different engine (presumably with more power).

"it ain't how you look...it's what you got under the hood"

dj

 

A big block chevy would be my pick. If you want to go fast, thats how you do it. if you want to be a cool rat rodder, stick a pile of strombergs on a sbc or flathead!

 

Hey, someone with real taste!!
Only problem finding a Cobra Daytona Coup will be hard as they only built 6 of them, and at a measly 5-7 million bucks I'm sure you can get one of them.........

Doc.

PS I LOVE the Cobra Daytona Coupes!!

 

Muscle car stuff.

 

The Chrysler line of Poly engines, and more specifically the Polysphere 318 motor that was produced from 1957 - 1966 (67 in Canada).

Not only is it a unique engine not often seen in hot rods, it has quite an interesting story behind it. Basically it is an improvement over the Hemi. It weighs less, makes similar power, and cost less to produce. There was a factory dual quad engine in 1957 and 1958 that produced about 290 HP and 300 Ft lbs of torque.

Albeit rare, there are three deuce Edelbrock & Offenhauser intakes, Weiand dual quad and single four barrel intakes, and factory dual quad and single four intakes. Edelbrock also made a very limited number of finned valve covers for them.

Nothing beats going to cruise night and having people dumfounded guessing what kind of motor that is. "Maybe that's an international." !

These motors can be built to run with the best of them, and will give your hot rod some unique character. Aftermarket speed equipment was limited and people failed to realize the potential hence this engine never really became popular.

 

The best engine for a hot rod....................There isn't ONE!!!......There are MANY!!!......All the engines, no matter what they are, as long as they power a hot rod are GREAT! I must admit that I've seen enough small block Chevys to last me a lifetime BUT...........like any old whore, they're cheap and easy to get! Hemi Chrysler?........VERY expensive but worth every penny! Everything else in-between kinda depends on your taste or pocketbook. Nope, I don't believe in only ONE engine being the best since they all have good points and bad points. Just put it together and DRIVE IT!!!!
Wolf

 

I guess I failed to make my point clearly. We are talking the greatest "hot rod" engine no? The little Chevy took precisely what the Flathead was good at (lots of bang for the buck in a cost effective and compact package) and took it to the next level.

BTW I must also mention that the "baby" Flathead V8 60 gave lower budgeted midget racers an excellent cost effective powerplant by which to compete on the many dirt tracks scattered accross the fruited plain. Again a simple cheap compact and responsive engine that fit a niche perfectly. Ford simply scaled down their own formula and it worked perfectly for racers if not so great for heavy passenger cars. The V8 60 was another offshoot of the Flathead Ford design that helped in putting the aftermarket speed industry into overdrive.

 

I'm having a hard time with a modular Ford being able to handle 1200 HP with stock internals. How to build max performance 4.6 L Ford engines by Sean Hyland recommends 450 HP or less for stock rods,500 HP for cast crank and 600 HP for late Blocks. This is what I would expect from the other makes. Even the SBC in stock form has limitations. Like Pontiacs myself. Thanks to all for the great Pics of your favorite engines. Like the Modular engines also.

 

I was going through some Robert Roof Model T Ford Speed equipment sales literature to answer a T related post. He made stuff for V8-60 Midget engines as well. One of the top speed equipment manufacturers of the day, and in the center of the foldout poster were Briggs & Stratton engines for scooter and marine use.

 

OK - I give up! What is it?? I recognise all the rest, but this one baffles me!

BTW - for hot-rodding - Ford bangers until the flathead came out in 32, then the flatty until - god forbid, I would admit this - SBC. For GM, I prefer Nailheads for the sound and look - also the 348/409 for the same reason - MOPAR would be the early hemi.

Rich

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napier_Deltic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2LgpzeAexM&feature=related

 

And this guy built a miniature Deltic...

http://craftsmanshipmuseum.com/tomlinson.htm

( pretty far from being a Hot Rod Engine, but I thought it was impressive enough to post..)

 

Id say the GM I6. Gmc 302's are still powerhouse motors. 216s were torquey as all hell. When they introduced the solid lifter 235 with insert bearings, that was the hotrod motor. Chevy I6s were the SBC before the SBC.

Didnt Henry Ford respond to GMs I6 by saying, " if people want more cylinders, we'll give em more cylinders! " Thus was the beginning of the Flathead V8.

Iv always loved I8s as well. Torqe like no other, and a sound like no other. However much people love the V8, i love the truely balanced Inline motor.

 

My fav is Ford 300ci 4.9 L almost same HP and Torque as the 302 V-8 5.0 L you have more crank support 200 pounds lighter and with a small bit of work you can put some V-8 out to pasture

 

i,m a die hard sbc guy i like the way they look when done like 283 early,s but i also love old y-blocks they look good and sound cool when you talk early hot rod.s flathead,s and sbc,s hand,s downs but one of the great things about gearheads is that they will take any engine and make it run i,ve seen guys spent time and monery just to prove that a make the like will beat sbc,s and other that would do the same to beat a hemi so i say the greatest engine of all time is that engine that someone put their blood sweat and tears in to beat the next guy and the worst is the jerk that boreing calls others boreing

 

"What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right."
— Albert Einstein

^^^DEF not a sbc^^^

Crappy stock valvetrain and oil pumps imho. GM def. made some sweet cylinder heads, but overall, I would have to say the legendary 426 Hemi based on "all time greatest engine"...

 

260 ford

 

Rrreally????........

 

Amen! Chevrolet U.S.A-1

 

Chumlee! Chevrolet U.S.A-1

 

"THE all-time classic rodder's engine"

Flathead Ford. Hands down. It was the real beginning of hot rodding, plain and simple. It gave birth to the aftermarket speed equipment market, lake racing, bonneville, all of it. Not the best design, not the fastest. But from 1932 to 1949 (Rocket!), it was the only game in town, and without it, hot rodding wouldn't be the same.

Followed by the Chrysler Hemi. It dominated Nascar when it was in production (to the point of being banned, on more than one occasion). It dominated drag racing when it was in production, and arguably STILL does. And nothing looks or sounds like a hemi.

SBC? First of all, this is the HAMB right? So, that should limit the SBC discussion to 265's, 283's, 307's, and 327's right? I've seen people cry foul on the 426 Hemi as a classic hot rod engine, even though it was introduced in 1964 (when it went 1-2-3-4 in the Daytona 500, btw).By that logic, the 350 shouldn't even enter the discussion. I'm not even sure you can include the SBC in a popularity contest if you draw the line at the 327. And really, that's all the SBC wins. Its not the best design, its not the most efficient, doesn't make the most horsepower, and its definitely not the "coolest". Its just the cheapest, easiest thing to throw in to go fast, and not necessarily fastest. And isn't hot rodding about being different?

 

The small block Chevy and the Ford flathead are the two of my favorites. They were not changed a hole lot during their lifetime (interchange of parts, after market parts, basic motor mount locations). You do not see this in new engines. They all have something different every year and nothing will interchange.

The small block Chevy was designed by two engineers that quit Ford.

I doubt that somebody will be casting new blocks for some of the newer engines like they do for the hemis, flat heads and small blocks.

I think Chevy is screwing up by not making the new small blocks more interchangeable with the old small blocks.

I think the Ford engineers that designed the Chevy small blocks were genius.

 

IMO, the main reason the SBC is the greatest engine is because of the length of it's model run (for various reasons). The aftermarket would have never been able to keep up if Chevy changed the design every few years. What other engine can you bolt on parts made in 4 different decades? (poss VW air cooled)

With that, you can buy a complete engine now that is all aftermarket. Even with it's shortcomings, that is a hell of an accomplishment.

The aftermarket + design refinements (not major changes) made the engine what it is today

Love it or hate it, there will never be another motor, nor era, like it.

 

The two Ford engineers that designed the small block Chevy would have tough time today. There are too many people involved in the design and manufacturing process. The insurance companies, epa, state governments, lawyers, environmentalists, federal mandates etc. What we get now is a bunch of compromised designs. This is really sad.

 

Is there an all time greatest, I think it depends on what you are putting it in.

 

I think I read a post somewhere that the only way to beat a 426 hemi was to build a better 426 hemi. This was a Quote from some famous car builder. I remember going to a car show and there was a bucket T with a hemi. I found out 10 years later it was a flat head with Ardrum (sp?) heads.