Customs period corect motor

hi all

i have 1 51 chevy 2 door sedan. right now im runnng a 64 283. i want to put a period correct motor in it. i dont want a straight six. i want v8 something pre54. tryng to figure out what would fit and look like someone built it in 54. thanks for any nfo or pictures.

jason

 

Of all the pre-'55 Chevies I've seen that still had vintage OHV V8 swaps intact, Olds leads the pack.

 

Cad or Olds. Nailhead would still be too new, and harder to get in 54. I like Olds, but I think a Cad would be the one I'd use in that car.

 

Yea they were pretty popular engins back then. After that Caddy engines.

 

i just want to make sure a cadillac will fit in my 51 chevy. i was told they are bigger motors. ive never seen one up close

 

Either will fit.

The '49-'54 Chevy wasn't a real popular car for engine swaps for what ever reason.

Something else that would be doable for period correctness would be the blue flame six with the export package. Think Corvette.

I had a '54 Wagon with one, it was purchased that way. pretty cool old wagon.

 

it's 2011. put whatever you want in it.

 

you can do a 1955 engine swap with a 265, or hop up that 6 with a split exhaust manifold and have that awesome exhaust rap

 

That awesome rap ans six cylinder now that's an oxy-*****. I guess if you are into Piper Cubs the sound is as good as it gets.

 

Don't like 235s with split exhaust, huh? What are ya, one o' them damned commies?

 

My grandfather who is now close to 80 had a 51 chevy with a 235 and a split manifold when he was a teenager. He always would carry on about how that was the thing to do in his day. I didn't get it 10 years ago, but I sorta do now.

I know you are committed to the v8, so I won't try to sway you.

 

alright if the 6 doesn't work for ya then put a Y block in it!

 

Studebaker.
Dare to be different.

 

The ****** must have been half asleep because I know he knows that "rapping" the pipes came long before that stuff some clowns think is music.

Back when pipes had to have a sweet sound rather than just be loud and we knew the sound of our buddies cars from three blocks away.

Ok, what period is the style of the work on the car set in including body work, paint style, wheels/tires/hubcaps and what not.
It doesn't make much sense to blow 3 or 4 k to change engines to a "period correct engine for the early 50's if the style of the car is early 60's as far as paint, wheels and custom work goes.

If the whole theme of the car is set in 1953 and you have nothing on the outside or interior of the car that showed up at a later date then swapping to an early Olds or Cad engine might be interesting. but if the car is decked out with mag style wheels and lace paint or paint that came later why blow the money on the engine that could have been better spent on paint or interior? And most "custom" car guys could give a rip what is under the hood of a custom as long as it is dead nuts reliable as they refuse to open the hood at a show anyhow. Even on my 48 I hate the look of it with the hood open and never open the hood at an event unless it is requested.

But everyone chooses how to spend his "car money".

 

I'm not partial to 235s, I don't like all six cylinders equally.

I just never did like the way they sounded, like I said Piper Cub. I wonder what one would sound like with flow masters?

 

331 hemi, very period correct!

 

Sir Hemi allways works well.

 

With a 283 you already have a period correct motor.. Why change........

 

Period correct engine swap....hmmmm....in my mind's eye I see big holes hacked in the firewall, covered crudely with metal from old oil cans attached with slot head screws, mounts made from angle and pipe cut off with a torch and brazed to the frame, etc.

Olds if you can't find a caddy

 

331 cad was a very populer engine in those years but the 6 is the one.

 

GMC big six or be very different and try a Hudson 6

 

Buick straight 8!

 

olds was the motor that most guys used but in 1964 i found a 51 chevy conv. that had a 322 nailhead in it it was built in the late 50,s and in bad shape when i got it but it look like it was made for it

 

One of my old small magazines has a 322 powered '52 Chevy in it, and they cured the LH exhaust manifold/steering gear interference problem by splitting the stock manifold and welding two outlets to it, making a pair of two cylinder manifolds that were then connected by a Y pipe.

 

Olds were popular but in the 50-s the most popular engine was and still is the SBC.

 

But...Piper Cubs were/are 4 cylinder engine powered...... Even the Super Cubs were flat 4 powered.
I know, has nothing to do with a period correct 1954 car engine.

 

I learn something every day I get on the HAMB.

A "period correct" 235 does sound a helluva lot like a small airplane, 'specially with split pipes, Porters and a good rev with a 3-speed.

 

not sure what would be cooler than this with 3 deuces

 

When I bought my AD, the first show I went to, the guy at the gate had a big smile on his face as I pulled up. "Nothin sounds like a staight six. Got a couple Thrushes on there don't ya?" My first hinkling that "Inliners" had a devoted following, and weren't just a couple oddballs on the fringe of hotrodding.