I am woring on my first car, a 53 chevy. I was wondering if I should keep my blue flame stock engine or replace it. I am only 13 and I haven't really experienced power before. I dont have much money to throw around are there any cheap ways to boost what i got?
keep what you got, get a two carb intake and split manis, will be fine, and sound NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE.... my club has some guys in northern IL, around waukegan/zion... we would be glad to help ya out on some stuff man, we LOVE keepinj it vintage... i LOVE the old motors... got a 53 in the cllub, i know he would never ditch his... reliable, and make good enough power.. intake should be around $200 new, $125 used, do taht first, another carb shouldnt be hard to find for free... you could always go with a 4brrl carb mani, a lil cheaper if u can find a used one, cause not as vintage lookin, but doesnt matter on a sled, headers should be about $200 or so... fentons, or you could have yours split for like $80 ususally... i also know a guy that makes all custom stuff, NICE, and not so much bread.. let me know if you need help man, but a second carb on there and split pipes are enough to make ya like it, TRUST ME... wont be racin people, but will spin tires.. so who cares? its all about the cruise,... stock they are underpowered, but add another 20 or so, and they are FINE... let me know man, would LOVE to help ya... and if you swap it out, give it to me, i will run it in a rod with 5 2 brrls, hehehehhhehe... drag car style... these motors can be REAL nice man... plus its good cause you can get em for free or $50 if you ever need another one!!!
I have a V8 in mine and its kind of a pain in the ***, If I was going to do it over, Id keep the 6 and spend my money on making it reliable and look good, Spend that money on suspension, wheels, brakes and body mods.
Keep it , at least for now, there's plenty of things to spend money on in your hot rod , save the engine till last or at least until you are getting close to being legal to drive it.( I don't know the driving age there.) If the engine is a runner , just clean it up and detail it for now, make sure everything is in good shape , i.e. no leaks, ignition, carb and cooling all work good. Then once it can be driven get some miles up so you know if it is in good shape internally. I wouldn't spend any money on special parts for the engine until you are sure it is OK and reliable. ( Get someone legal to drive it for some miles for you) , then you can decide if you want to improve the old 6, fit a newer 6 or V8 it. Good luck with your hot rod, you have caught an incureable disease, I am 50 now and have had my 28RPU since I was 13.( My old man kicked my *** for bringing the old heap home.) The offer from 51 ratt is a good one , accept the help offered and you will learn real fast, probably make it to a few events before you can even drive legally. You young guys are the future for hot rodding.
CPR Customs, Based on what you wrote AND...the cool factor,....I'd say KEEP the six ! If you got the money, go for the mods that 51ratt mentioned. I've got a '53 Bel Air myself with 3spd and 235", and I love to cruise in it..... Got any pics of yours...or more info about it... /primerkid
Wow-very kool for a 13 year old! My 11 year old just can't wait to get my '62 Imp and put spinners on it!
you should keep it and check out inliners.org and stovebolt.com. here are a couple of recent posts regarding stovebolts.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89899 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89977
I think Blue Flames are damn near bulletproof, economical, and can still "get-up-and-go" If you coax them enough... I'd keep it.
Keep the 6er. Cool factor aside, you already own it, it fits in the car without modifications, and you already own it. There's plenty of folks on here who run 'em and know what works and what doesn't. Ifyou change engines you have all kinds of other things to start dealing with. Keep it simple and learn on what you have; like these guys said, there are better things to spend the money on first. It's great to see a 13 year old getting into old cars. BTW, where in Northern Illinois are you? I'm in Aurora. I have a '58 235 that's in long block form (not rebuilt yet) and all the necessary parts to complete it. I'll make you a screaming deal on it if you want a spare to have around. It's great to see a 13 year old getting into old cars and I'd rather see that engine go to you than rot away in my garage.
let me relate a bit to you , when i was a young man i came from school to find a 54 ply in the drive ,front end pushed almost to the windsheild ,(my cousin wrecked it in a marijane fog) my dad came out and said "thats your first car -fix it", now at the time i had about 3 years of rod+ custom magazines and was building models that won consistantly at those doings, but I knew squat about REAL cars, yep ,13, but knew it all from the magazines or so i thought, i wanted a BIG motor and mag wheels and this an that , not going to happen on 3 bucks a week allowence(sp?) , the ol'man was going to help , But I had to do the work an PAY for any custom parts ,he would pay for any STOCK stuff, well, we redid the stock motor shaved head bigger than stock 1 bbl, split exaust and got it to go faster than the owners manual said it could ,it took three years to do it,and had NO speed stuff at all ,(like I could find any in 1970 for Ply that a 13 YO could afford, just out of my money range ), I made enough costly mistakes the way it was, I had to wait until i knew ALOT more about cars B4 I actaully BUILT a car (like until I was 18) of course about that time i got the "letter" from uncle sam and off i went, D+M sold the ply while i was away and to this day i miss it, so go stock take your time and studyy EVERYTHING you can find on or about your car , ask a TON of questions here , a lot of us have done 49-54 chevy's, so we can save some time, h***le and money, you lucked into one of the easiest cars to do either stock or mild custom , you could have got stuck w a 54 ply like me ,NO Kool factor at all in those days, ,better now though cause you never see them, so they get looks
I'd recommend keeping the Blue Flame. They have a cool factor all of their own. Plus, so many have been replaced by V8's that they are becoming more and more rare to see. There are a lot of tricks that you can do to pump up the power with the sixes and you can do it slowly on a budget. Start out with the basics and work your way into the money stuff later. Do some internet searches for Clifford Products (6=8). I did a sixer many years ago using their intakes/headers and it surprised a lot of people on how well it performed. Good luck with yours!
where in No IL are you?? Keep the 216 while you drive and work on it. When you get some more money, drop in a 54-62 235. You'll have better performance and oiling and it's a virtual drop in. There's nothing wrong with a inline 6... but you won't win any drag races in stock form. There are 2 great books originally published in 1953/4 on hopping up CHevy, GMC, and Buick inline motors. One is by Roger Huntington and the other by California Bill. They say basically the same thing, but get them both. They're available from Amazon as well as several parts suppliers. Read up on your motor. Try inliners.org!!! The 2 best things you can do for your motor is a) add 1 more carb and b) split the exhaust (headers or split manifold)
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