Hot Rods Right Engines For HotRods

IN MY OPINION

Body Make .............. Correct Engine
GM cars/trucks .......... GM Engine
FoMoCo cars/trucks .... FoMoCo Engine
MoPar cars/trucks ...... MoPar Engine


EXCEPTIONS,
Early MoPar Hemis and Buick Nailheads look right in anything, IMO.

Jack

 

The one that gets it down the road quickly is the right engine. Hot rodding is using what you can get your hands on to build a fast car. IMO

 

And you jus told most everyone they have the wrong engine in their ho rod. IMO

 

Just like belly****ons... everybody's got one


If you look at the threads about 40's hotrods, early salt flats, etc, hotrodders used whatever was going to get them somehere faster and cheaper and/or what they knew how to work on- that's been going on for decades since.


I go for more of the aesthetic approach- if it looks good in the bay, it's okay.

 

I don't care as long as it goes well,mine's a kustom,so i keep the hood closed
Paul

 

well i'll be darned. i've been doing it wrong all these years.

what goes in studebaker,hudson,packard???

 

Tech Week and this get's posted? Man I gotta poo.

 

Where will that leave the guy with a Packard engine? I don't have a Packard car. And the really cool ones are kind of pricey. IYHM is it OK to put a Packard in a GM product? I know a Studebaker would be better and am working very slowly in that direction.

 

Blah Blah Blah

 

Hmm. Should I run out right now and rip that Chivvy motor out of the Nash? I suppose that the reason I used it is faulty too. (it was there in the corner and I wanted to clear out the shop a little)

 

Hot Rod Nazis must die!

 

Ah man im in trouble, I have a Volvo engine in a ford... Why? Because its all I had lying about in the garage, better put to use than throwing it away!

 

Well said.

 

My hunch is not everyone is going to agree with your "opinion", but that's okay, it is your opinion. Should make for some interesting comments.

 

Kinda like telling 19 year old girls not to get a tramp stamp or a nose ring - you know they might regret it later but if it works for them, okay, if not they can always remove the offending matter later (painfully).

Do what you want, I don't care. Just don't try to tell me how wonderful the small block chevy is, how cheap it is and how traditional it is. It is traditional (like I give a ****) but I call ******** on the other points. I have enough kills with small block and big block Mopars with mostly stock parts to make my point.

 

Trying to build up your post count Jack? I'm pretty much on the same line of thinking as Mac The Yankee. In the area I lived in guys ran pretty much what they could find in the way of a big engine in a cheap light body.

Some Cars that I grew up around were.
55 Chev 2 dr post with 401 Buick set back 10%
56 Ford two door wagon with 352 and 4 speed
57 Ford two door with 352 and 4 speed
36 Ford Bobber pickup before there was such a thing with a small block Chev of some
Several 55 Chevs with 389 Pontiacs in them. This was when you could buy a 55 Chev off the car lot for 350 bucks and drive it home. The 389 with a four barrel cost about the same or less at the wrecking yard.
Our own Family car in the late 50's that was a 52 Ford Vic with a 57 Thunderbird Special 312 and overdrive trans in it. The car ran in the 14's in the late 50's. My stepfather won more than a few street races with it.
All of those combinations were pre 1965 and all were put together by guys in the local gas stations or kids in their home garages.

 

IN MY OPINION

Body Make .............. Correct Engine
GM cars/trucks .......... GM Engine
FoMoCo cars/trucks .... FoMoCo Engine
MoPar cars/trucks ...... MoPar Engine

Uhh , OK.... I'm glad the "hot rodders" of old felt differently. I'm also delighted you're not in charge...

 

i agree!!UNLESS you have something lying around.i never understood why most people buy crate sbc to put in there fords.for the same money they could put a nice 302 or 289 in it.NOW if they have an off brand car and cant get or dont want that make of engine than the skys the limit.i set my car up to run a sbc.but i had an amc 360{actually 3of them}so thats what i put in it.i know i could go faster and cheeper with the sbc but i like to be different.oh yeah the biggest motor i could find for an opel was a 1.9 4 banger{NO FN WAY}

 

Right hot rod engine = HOT engine. Too many wussy engines slathered with finned accessories and a gaggle of carburetors.

Make of engine? Not such a big deal. All anybody needs to know is the make of your taillights.

 

This is old hat....

 

You sound like a Restorer, not a Hotrodder.

...what a dumb-*** thread.

 

I like the Ford engine in my Ford and I put a supercharger on my Triumph to make it go fast instead of a V8, but in the end it is your car and you can do as you wish. Also I know that when the sbc came around all the guys were yanking their Flatheads and installing those. SBC traditional? Yes! but it also depends on where your tradition starts, before 1955 you ran a Flathead, Olds, Buick, Caddy. Before 1949 it was a Flathead. How far back do you go?

 

I remember a Kaiser with a 368 nailhead when I was in high school. Is that OK? What could you put in a Kaiser? My GM product has had GM, Ford, and Chrysler engines at different times in the 30 years I have owned it. Now it's Packard powered. It was fastest with the 455 Pontiac. Might be something to this GM in aGM deal.