All time greatest engine?

Automotive- Hemi (pre-late model Mopar)
Industrial would be nuclear power

 

after owning & working on ford 4 bangers , ill take them !!! had lots of sbc & they are great , but the little 4 banger is cool ! ...
steve

 

"So, what is THE all-time classic rodder's engine?"
Heres the original question. Now I am a bit of a purist, but as far as I am concerned, this rules out anything bigger than a 327 chevy, as 350s didnt come on the scene till 1967, and as far as I understand it, the cut-off date for this board is '63, right? This also rules out heads other than power packs and camel bumps, and camel bumps and 327s JUST sneak under the wire. 400s definately out, as you can visually id them pretty easily. FWIW, I own two 327's one is a '67 275hp going in my chevy II, and I also have a 400 block out in the shop, so I am far from a "hater".
Realistically, the above question also pretty much rules out the Peugeot, cool as it is, lets face it, its just a little rare to be considered a viable choice for a "classic" hot rod.
If I was gonna build a "classic" hot rod, the only SBC that is even in the running is a staggered bolt pattern 283 or 265.The hemi will WALK ALL OVER it in terms of performance.
In terms of Bonneville, drag racing, and lakes, the hemi had pretty much usurped the flatty as king-of-the-hill before the chevy even went into production. This isnt to say that there werent competitive flatties after Ray Brown debuted his hemi in '51, but the writing was on the wall.
Its true that it was the arrival of the chevy that finally hammered the last nail into the flatty on the street, if the chevy had never been invented, it still would have happened, just that everybody and their dog would be building thier cars with olds motors instead. It was a matter of timing more than anything.
Nobody can argue the chevies success in terms of sheer numbers. But for me, THE rodders engine is the early hemi.

 

Early Hemi really looks good with open hood sides. A lot of SBC guys put Olds valve covers on them,,,, Why is that??

 

LOL! Yea, good point. If the sbc REALLY is THE classic hot rod engine, why oh why would they want to disguise the fact that they are running one?

 

Well, as you might guess, I must go with the 427 SOHC. Even if you can build a killer SBC for what a set of cammer heads cost, I say the looks and sound of the SOHC are pretty impressive!

 

For sound....Chevy 6....or.... Ford Flathead

For looks....old Hemi....big ....or....small

For lots of things....SBC

 

This MUST say something about the Small Block Chevy!

Like.."They're great, but nobody really wants to be seen with one".

Here is a street rodder who disguised his SBC to look like a Lincoln.

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Confession: I've owned more vehicles with SBC's than any other engine.....by far!

;o)

JG

 

Really. Anybody ever seen anyone trying to disguise an early hemi or olds to look like a SBC? ROFLMAO! Think that says it all. Sorta like saying a ugly, scabby, crackhead hooker is the ultimate woman because they are cheap and there are lots of them around. Thing is, nobody wants to be seen with one!

Straightpipes, you said it all in one short, concise sentence! Beauty!

 

Ugly, scabby, crackhead hooker...........

Thanks falcon

 

That's because everybody (including your grandmother's dog's asshole which you cite) wants to own the all time great engine. I love flatheads. I have one and I respect it's place in history. However, based on production span, popularity, availability of parts, interchangeability, and durability, I say SBC. No other engine has let so many hot rodders go so fast for so little money for over half a century.

Bob

 

Amen! Chevrolet U.S.A-1

 

Chevy LS engine group

 

still waiting for one of the chevy guys to post a pic of an early olds or hemi disguised to look like the "classic hot rod engine" sbc. Think I will be waiting a VERY long time...

 

L88...nuff said

 

No doubt about it, SBC. no doubt!

 

Nothing traditional about it... Not even the cammer in my '05 Mustang...

 

Love to have a carburated gen III in my chevy II. But nothing traditional about it. Absolutely right.

 

Now an FE cammer is a different story...

 

265/283 with 9 fin corvette valve covers and dual wcfb's? Not as cool as an early hemi, but still very cool & very traditional. 350, 383 or 400 with edelbrock heads, comp cams hyd roller, edelbrock afb, & a perf rpm? . Uh, not so much.

 

327 chevy

 

My all-time favorite engine is the 2.8L Mercedes straight 6 made in the late 60's and early 70's. Variants of it in the early 60's were smaller bore but just as solid. Aluminum head, overhead cam with mechanical fuel injection, they are a near-perfect blend of hp, torque, smoothness and response...to say nothing of incredibly reliable and pretty easy to work on. And WAY ahead of their time.

On the other end of the spectrum, I've always been partial to big-block Chevys.

 

Early HEMI is the ultimate hotrod engine.

 

Chrysler 413

 

There is nothing the matter with an early SBC (327 with road draft tube) on a traditional car. Guys are just bored seeing the same engine over and over again. To make it different and interesting, it needs traditional motivation that everyone else seems to have forgotten:



Funny how many people look at this and say, "What the hell is that thing?"

 

New GM Ls motors...drive to the track, go FAST and drive home at 24-25 MPG.
Drive for 300,000 miles with no problems. Love 'em

 

At one time or another I've owned most all of the popular American engines mentioned in this thread, flatheads, Y-Blocks, SBF's and FE's, early and late Olds and Cads, Nailheads, early and late Hemi's, B, RB, A & LA Mopars, Chevy small-blocks, the W motors & BBCs and more. All seem to have their good points, depending upon how they were being used, a good many of the big well known mills, though very powerful, were really pretty much overkill in everyday use. Perhaps impressive to show off and boast about, but not the best choice for long term practicality or durability.
Funny thing is, after all these years and dozens of engine types, my personal favorite has sorted out to be the strong, durable, and simple to work on Studebaker 259-289 V-8
Most of my buds back in the early '60s were gung-ho on the latest 'Big Three' Super Stock mills, and I admit we all had our fun, but now 50 years latter, darn few of these guys actually own the engines they thought were the greatest, but my little 259 Studey is still running fine.

 

a briggs is a flathead

 

Yeah--fat middle age chicks with tramp stamps above their asses are mainstream too now. Are they cool too?

 

im one to say chevy goes in a chevy and ford goes in a ford cross breading should be illegal