The SBC won out. I was trying to be different but my Chevy buddies had an intervention. One gave me ($0.00) a good 4 bolt main SBC and another gave me ($0.00) a 4 bolt main SBC for a back-up. I already had a Turbo 400 on the shelf and I have three other SBCs. One in a 70 Impala and two others (ZZ3 & ZZ4) in motorcycles. What's a guy to do when it's raining SBCs? I liked some of the odd engine suggestions, but I've never seen much in the way of speed parts for a Supersonic Six.
Small block Ford is narrower than SBC (17" without exhaust manifolds), are approximately 100 lbs lighter than that same SBC running similar components, and thanks to the 5.0 Mustang guys, it costs about the same money to put one together that can out horsepower said SBC. Big block Mopar (the REAL 383) came out in '58. Aluminum heads from 440 Source are under 1000 bucks and drop the weight down into small block territory. The right arm in the ba*****t of the low deck block of that same 383, or better yet a 400 can get you 450 to 550+ cubes and make starry stupid horsepower.
If you are running with a sbc crowd that you have to please then why not keep it a little more period correct and run a small journal 327? Or a 283 punched to a 301? I can see the 350 if you are looking to be compe***ive and it has to be a chevy but what really evades me is why so many people want to build a unique and imaginative car and then use the least unique and imaginative engine they can find.
Quote: <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD cl***=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by 53sled Olds 455 is only 2" wider and like 25 lbs heavier, weighs the same as a sbc if you use an aluminum intake </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> Did you say an OLDS 455 with an aluminum intake weighs the same as a SBC? Is that right guys? I was figuring at least a hundred pounds difference. Tis true. That is why bowties are referred to as "chebbys" in the BOP crowd <!-- / message --> <!-- / message -->
Back in the middle 60s there was a Henry J with a dual quad 50s Cadillac in it that came into the Mighty Mo occasionally. I have no idea how fast it was. Nobody ever challenged it. Are you really going to race it? If you like the cars here, go with a nostalgic engine to get the most attention. It will still break the tires loose enough to get very squirrelly with that short wheel base. It could turn in the 9s on Saturday night but with an old Cadillac it'll get more attention on Wednesday night at the cruise night. JMO
I'd love to find a picture of that HJ as it was probably the car that started me down the hot rod path when I was about ten or twelve. I grew up a couple of blocks from the Mighty Mo and used to sneak down as a kid. I've got the engine sitting so far back no one is going to see it on a cruise night. Tommy, I know you're local. Do you do the Marley Station cruise nights or Prince Frederick cruise nights?
No I sometimes go to Burtonsville on Sunday mornings. There are few 'Mo rats" that show up there from time to time....the days are getting longer. I think that Henry J had a tilt front end.IIRC It wasn't easy to see the engine but it was cool if you got a peek. I grew up a GM man but I have moved away from the belly ****on engines even though I know they run like stink! They are boring to me now. I had my share.
I live in Saint Leonard below Prince Frederick, so, Burtonsville would require me to get up too damned early for a Sunday morning. Maybe I'll stumble up there one morning come spring. I grew up in Mount Rainier and Avondale. Avondale was that section above the old GEM store and accross from the big gas tanks on Chillum road.
I can't think about the GEM store without thinking of the fun we had cutting donuts in the snow in it's parking lot. No islands or light poles to get in the way. Just put it in second gear and let 'er rip! That would be long trip but there will be a lot of cars there when the weather breaks. It's worth the trip on a nice day. Come on spring time!
You too huh? There was always that car and hang around that got no respect and one that comes to mind was a nerdy buddies four dour Maverick. I did my best to roll that thing over in the GEM parking lot but the skinny tires and rain slick asphalt would only allow it to yaw and twist and break loose into 60MPH doughnuts.
Henry J owners often hear people tell others as they walk by "It's a Ford". People see the name Henry and ***ume. Henry J owners get so tired of telling people "It's not a Ford" that anything with an F or an oval is out. I can appreciate the light weight and small dimensions though. I had a Pick-up with a 302 that ran pretty strong.
383 Mopar is a great engine, not sure why they are often over looked . I dont think a SB OLds weighs much more than a SBC, a 403 Olds is failry light with good cubes and power, basice rebuild with cam, intake and headers and your can have an easy 400hp out of a driver.
I gotta wonder if anyone actually reads these. Guy said late fifties early sixties in post #7, and guys are talking about SBF's, 455 Olds, BB chevies, tunnel rams, 472/500 cads, 401 AMCs ect, ect, ect? Hope you've mastered time travel... Heres your choices, Early hemi, Mopar wedge, FE Ford, Y-block, MEL, sbc chevy, 348, early Olds Cad or Buick, Flathead, Studebaker or Packard. None of the other stuff these guys are talking about even existed in the late fifties.
I put a 383 Chrysler into a 38 Chevy coupe that looked almost identical to this one. I was saving to buy a SBC for it when a friend said you have a nice 383 in this corner of the garage and your chevy in another corner. Why not put the two together? So I did. (first set of headers I ever made) I blew it up at the track and replaced it with a 327-340. Uncle Sam sent me a letter and that was that.
I wonder if in 10 months y'all made up your mind on a motor? Personally I would go with a Pontiac V8 only because they're all the same block, resulting in them being relatively inexpensive to build depending on the size (400s aren't too bad for a kit), and a late one can be dressed up to look like an earlier one without that much trouble. They don't need much more space nor do they weigh much more than the SBC; the key would be to use a '64 up block that runs a block-mount starter, so you can use most any BOP trans with it. D-port heads will take any D-port header, too, if you don't want to try to make a set yourself. And they came out in 1955, falcongeorge must have forgotten that.
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