A neighbor has a 59AB motor in a car of his that was just rebuilt... he was telling me how he wished he would have put the effort into a SBC instead of his flatty... I have a 327 in my garage that is a strong runner... and got to thinking I scoured the tech archives looking for wisdom on the swap but couldn't find any tech's on it... I'm thinking it would be worth it to swap him, but I would be the one doing the swaping... is it worth the hassle...? and estimates on the cost's involved? Thanks.
Both engines are cool. Not a difficult swap. You didn't say whether the flatty has an enclosed driveline or original rear end but its just a matter of changing engine and tranny mounts and possibly having to split your bones and changing the rear end. You definitely dont want a small block pushing a banjo rear. If you feel the need to have a rebuilt flatty I'd go for it. Now if the 327 engine was already in your car, i'd have second thoughts.
I'd say a lot of it depends on what type of car the swaps entail. But then again I'd swap a good SBC for a good flatty ANY day. Bill
I did this excat thing in a 53 Merc. It had a rebuilt flathead and the guy wanted a chevy didn't matter what it was as long as it was a sbc. I went out and bought a good running late 70's caprice for $200 and pulled the motor and trans. I left the automatic on it for him so really only had to make a trans mount and motors mounts, sometimes a hurst motormount will save some time as well, had to make a pipe off the stock chevy exhaust manifolds and tied it into the exhaust on the car and the only other thing was the driveshaft which I had shortened and balanced. After it was all said and done I was happy I did it.......the flathead still runs great. If he wants to retain the stock trans and you can adapt it to a sbc then that's even easier i think. Just plan it out to make sure it's worth it for you.
I can get the adpater from Offenhauser that bolt the SBC to the early Ford transmission. With the adapter, the switch is a breeze. Put motor mounts in and you are set. Dan Marvin, Owner Exeter Auto Supply
if you are gonna adapt the SBC to the stock trans , it is a easy swap..as already stated . you will still have radiator outlets , throttle linkage , exhaust and maybe converting to 12 volts to deal with if you want to use the chevy transmission...room for it has to be made for it in the X-member in the ford frame..in a `35-`40 frame the center yoke has to be drilled out and removed...something that can be done with the body on the frame( i've done it many times)..but is kinda a bitch. the chevy trans would also requre switching the rear end to an open type
I just pulled a stock ford 4 speed that was bolted to a SBC. I replaced the tranny with a th350 so I have the leftover adapter and clutch pack. The adapter is an offenhauser the clutch pack will probably need some work as it was making a little noise..all you would need is a noise cone bushing get them from speedway pretty cheep....let me know if your interested.
Just so you know, the four speed transmission has a different bolt pattern than the early Ford flathead transmission.
I have a 53 merc that I plan to put a SBC engine in. Will the TH350 transmission fit without modifying the hump in the Merc? Also, do you need to modify the steering linkage?
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