Anyone had any luck dropping a 400 SBC into a 49 Fleetline? Any pointers? I haven't found anything on the site for this. I've got a pretty good deal on it and I'm thinking this might be the replacement for the 216.
just kidding it's been done zillion times. if i was to do it i'd use the motor/tranny mounts from Walton Fabrications http://www.waltonfabrication.com/dh/11.htm
Have you ever seen a 350 in a chevy? Its the same engine except bore and stroke. Oh yea. And the heads are more prone to cracking due to the extra steam pockets. Externaly they are exactly the same.
so, a no go on the 400 or a good deal for 350 bucks? im new to this...i could definitely use the pointers
Seriously? come on... A small block Chevy is a small block Chevy is a small block Chevy, at least three different people make bolt-in or weld-in mounts to install them in 49-54 Chevy cars. The mounts don't care if the motor is a 327, 307, 305, 350, 400 or whatever else. Obviously the earliest ones have different mounting provisions, but by the time they made the 400 they all had mounts that bolt to the side of the block.
A 400 Chibby? sure, just a big 350.... It's been done... and done... and done.. many times.. And just like someone else mentioned Walten has the mounts and all that.. But if you were plannin' on stuffin' a 400 Olds in there... that's a different story, but I'm sure it'd be a very cool story too... But I'd also wonder what you robbed a 400 Olds from.... A 400 Olds with a factory 3x2 is one of my dream engines.....
you will also need to replace the transmission, rear end, springs drive shaft, radiator...and in the process you will make your 1949 Chevrolet perform and sound like a mid 70s Chevy pickup truck.......if you want to do it on the cheap find yourself a nova or camero axle pre 83 and an LS1/trans combo from a late model firebird or camero.... If you actually want something cool and unique..........use any other engine.....the easiest swap is to a 235 from a 54 to 61 chevy car or truck. There period correct..very reliable and pretty cheap...........second easiest is probably to go to a 230/250/292 straight six from a later car. Both can be made to work with your stock tranny. thats my 8 cents...
dont forget that the 400 is externaly balanced,unlike the rest of the small blocks, so make sure you have radiator room out front for the big balancer& long water pump
4 bolt main yes. thanks for all the info. maybe i should describe my car a bit further. it has a 216 motor like i said with the stock 3 on the tree. ive already got the rear end out of a camaro. i just found a good deal on the 400. but the way everyone is making this sound, it's going to be a pain to put in with the radiator, etc. so i'm guessing the 350 is the way to go. i failed to mention that it's a 4 door, and i want to be able to get down the road, without much problem. yes i agree the 350 has been done, and like i said, im new to all this, that's why the question of the 400 was thrown out there. but thanks for all the advice. wish me luck
OK, we made jokes about the 400 change over.... so now, I think you realy don't know....a small block chevy from a 283 , 302,307,305,327,350,400 are all the same motor on the out side.....any motor mount for these engines will work for you. the engine will fit your car like it was made for it! the old 6cyl. engine was longer than a V8, so your radiator should be just fine where it is..you can find kits or just pieces to weld in your self. if you want the 400 chevy, most any chevy transmision will bolt up...The only problem i see might be drivers side x-hast. manifold. you may have to look around a salvage yard for a comon left side manifold that will clear your steering gear. I've never swapped out engines in a '49 chevy but if you run stuck PM me, maybe i can help good luck
350 bucks? I wouldn't think twice about that, go get it. As pointed out, they're externally balanced, so you need the balancer, and the correct flywheel. Does the engine come with a trans? It's a weekend warrior project, and you don't need to swap radiators unless your's is in such poor shape it's not repairable. BTW, there's absolutley NOTHING wrong with the way a mid 70's Chevy truck performs, or sounds. It'll feel like you've got afterburners in the thing compared to the 216, or even a healthy 235. That's a pretty dumb statement. Brian
I forgot to mention too... I'd buy the 400 just to have it.. I know quite a few stock car guys that would kill for one... All the SBC's are the same on the outside too, so it doesn't matter if you've got a 262 ,265, 267, 283, 302, 305, 307, 327, 350, 400, or a 350 w/ 400 Crank (383).. They're all gonna fit with a kit to put an SBC in... And they're all going to fit in your car with little to no modification aside from mounts and what not.. And as far as exhaust goes just get a set of block huggers, toss the factory exhaust manifolds (unless you've got a set of ram horns)... It's all pretty simple really... If you want simple go with an edelbrock intake (I'd go for a performer), and matching carb, stick a new bump stick in it, throw on a set of headers (block huggers if clearance is an issue)... And call it a day. And it should be a pretty reliable cruiser...
I was pointing out that that a 49 fleetline is a heavy car ~3700 lb! This is balanced with a very floaty and expensive to service front suspension matched by it's faint suggestion of brakes. The 216 is a weak point but not the biggest downside of these cars...... I should have said the 75 Chevy pickup would handle better......as it would. I did the 350/TH350 conversion to a 50 style line 4 door. The result was an improvement in interstate performance from 65 mph to as fast as i wanted to go. A decrease in gas milage from 20 to 13 and a heightend awareness to the poor brakes and the really high center of gravity. And the 50 year old radiator did not do well with the small blocks volume of hot water and vibration. Unless you want to spend a lot of money building a stout small block you will not have performance that approaches any modern vehicle....the torquy straight sixes produce pretty good performance and bring the top end speed for road trips without replacing every part of the driveline. Engine selection is a matter of personal taste, what you can afford and what your goals are for the car......if someone is excited about a cheap engine I would be inclined to think there looking for a quick way to get the car drivable and reasonably reliable and there are much easier and cheaper ways to do it. If this guys goal is to build a performance car he can save some money and frustration by picking up an LS1 and tranny from a camero...there everywhere for 1500 bucks, have decent gas mileage great power and are pretty light. While he is at it he should look for a jaguar XJ crossmember and front suspension. Updating a 60 year old car with a 30 year old engine for performance does not make sense anymore unless it's freshly rebuilt and comes with all of the accessories. If his goal is to make the thing drivable and reliable.........there are easier ways to do it than a junkyard 400 SBC swap. and as for the dumb statement...........I do not fondly remember my 75 chevy pickup trucks acceleration and handling.....i didn't know many people did? Maybe that smog system choked engine was better than i remembered...... My memory is not what it used to be....
I'm not looking to put this thing on the drag strip. But, if I goose it and burn a little rubber, by all means, let's have a little fun! I don't intend on having the fastest, coolest, Boyd Cottington street rod. It's ugly, it's dirty, it's an old rat rod 4 door with a SBC under the hood...a sleeper in a sense. There's really nothing wrong with the 216, other than the fact I have to stand on it and pray to hit 55. I've seen some disc brake conversion kits around for the 49. Anyone heard or used these? Are they worth a poo? I'm not looking forward to doing a "front clip" swap. If there's a way around it, I'm going to take it. I need to do some searches for that double master cylinder mod. I saw something about it, where you take the guts out of one, and then have a back up one. Anyone done that? Like I said, this is all new to me. I built a chopper from the ground up. It was easy...this four wheel stuff...much more complicated
[ Unless you want to spend a lot of money building a stout small block you will not have performance that approaches any modern vehicle....the torquy straight sixes produce pretty good performance and bring the top end speed for road trips without replacing every part of the driveline. Engine selection is a matter of personal taste, what you can afford and what your goals are for the car......if someone is excited about a cheap engine I would be inclined to think there looking for a quick way to get the car drivable and reasonably reliable and there are much easier and cheaper ways to do it. If this guys goal is to build a performance car he can save some money and frustration by picking up an LS1 and tranny from a camero...there everywhere for 1500 bucks, have decent gas mileage great power and are pretty light. While he is at it he should look for a jaguar XJ crossmember and front suspension. Updating a 60 year old car with a 30 year old engine for performance does not make sense anymore unless it's freshly rebuilt and comes with all of the accessories. If his goal is to make the thing drivable and reliable.........there are easier ways to do it than a junkyard 400 SBC swap. and as for the dumb statement...........I do not fondly remember my 75 chevy pickup trucks acceleration and handling.....i didn't know many people did? Maybe that smog system choked engine was better than i remembered...... My memory is not what it used to be....[/QUOTE] Where are you from that you can buy an LS1 from a Camaro for 1500 bucks? I'd like to buy a couple of those, having just paid 1400 for a 6.0 with 4L60E. An aluminum block 5.7 would have been another thousand dollars. Not to mention the work involved in unravelling and reconfiguring the stock harness, or expense of an aftermarket stand alone system. With the 400 all he has to do is grab a $60 dollar one wire alternator, wire up the selenoid, and it's running. Jag suspension? Are you kidding? This sounds like a first time project, that's a job beyond most beginners skill set. Scarebird for disks, Jamco or Kanter for eccentrics, tie rods and kingpins/bushings, and the stocker is good to go. He's got a Camaro rear, which is a mornings worth of work to install and trip to a driveline shop for a driveshaft. I'm a big fan of modern fuel injected engines in old cars. Have an LT1/4L60E in the '48 Pontiac convert, an LS1/4l60E in the '51 Pontiac wagon, a 5.0 HO/AOD in my '59 T'Bird and the same combo in my sons '68 Mustang GT convert. I just bought the above mentioned 6.0/4L60E for the Diamond T pickup. The only car we have with a carb and distributor is the '36. It's not as easy as you make it sound, and while the performance and economy IS generally better, a 400 with 250 bucks worth of Edelbrock manifold/carb and a set of headers will be fun to drive, easy to install, easy to wire, and lots less noodling out than than LS or LT series engine. I think your memory IS bad, I remember my 454 '76 as being a pretty quick truck. In fact, it still is. Brian
The 49 has "Huck" brakes, it would be wise to update them to the 51 and newer, "Bendix" brakes. Chassis Engineering makes frame/engine mounts that work real well, their trans cross member is strictly weld in, and not a drop out. We used a modified Dodge Dart cross member, and cut the center out of the existing 51 cross member, in order to make a drop out trans mount/crossmember. It works fine. You'll need to trim the firewall support ribs. We used a 56 rear end, and redrilled the leaf spring locator holes to work with the existing rear springs; added coil wrapped overload shocks to help control body roll. If I were to do this again, I would use the early 265 exhaust manifolds; we used 94-96 Caprice LT1, and although they work and fit well, there is some modification needed. You'll have to upgrade to a 12 volt system; that's fairly easy by changing out the 6 volt bulbs to 12 volt, using a Runtz resistor for the gas tank sending unit, the heater blower motor, and the radio. The radiator will work fine, unless it's full of crud. We used a generator with ours, and just replaced the voltage regulator with a 12 volt unit; the wiring is fine to carry the load. Like others have already said, go to ChevyTalk.Org, to the 49-54 forum, and be sure to read the stickies about going V-8, and updating from 6 to 12 volts. Send me a PM with your name and address, and I'll send you an old Hot Rod Mag article from 68 on how to do the swap the "old" way. This is a good swap, fairly easy to do, and real popular. Butch/56sedandelivery.
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