1932 Roadster Build - Which Engine???

Well, they did come with a V8

 

Sometimes I can't follow my own advice.
Main thing - I think - I was preaching here was parts availability.
Even so, the SBC is an appealing little engine.

I used to run with a gang of street runners and - mostly - drag racers who ran everything cept SBC . . . well, one guy did, but we made him park down the pit a ways....

Actually, he was always late.

Long as we're talking engines here, a 455 Olds is an excellent candidate.
Not as lightweight - but not bad - as the late Buicks plus they have a rear distributor compared to the Buicks front distributor, the Olds' big advantage is there is a whole lot more speed equipment made for them than there is late Buicks.

Here's an Olds - sorta - for ya....

 

Education.......

A point to consider in all this is how many of these folks are riding ? with the engine they recommend ..
And in a 32 Ford..... ? or a 28 to 34 Ford (same small engine area.... )

C9 is.....
I am....
A few others too ......
Is is nice to give advice on a certain engine........that may work well (..... ... ) in the car it came in. Or a big car where it can easily fit ( like a 50's ride ) .....
Most of the engine recommended are cool.....as long as you are just going down to the burger stand on a Friday night.

It is a fact that there are more SBC's intalled into something else than ALL of the other engines combined.... WHY ? fit, ease of parts, good power and the list goes on...... Try buying a set of rockers for a early Caddy....on a Saturday evening in Pigeon Forge TN. Or a distributor, starter or water pump for MOST of the other engines.....

Just do what makes you HAPPY ! !

I have over 50 thousand miles on my 32 Roadster......from LA California to Ohio to Florida to Kanas.....to Boston....and most places in between......came home 1 time on a rollback.....the engine died.......1 shot too many of the NOS......

 

Hmm Small block chevy Yeah Sure No Imagination there. LOL

My choices
Sideoiler 427 (Cammer of course) if money is no object.
More reasonable I like the looks of the old Caddy 390s If you are not concerend with where the Dizzy is located go with a Caddy 429.
Maybe a 472/500 Caddy lotza torque in a package lighter than a BBC.
Cant beat the looks of a Flathead.
Me I like the FEs I would have to put in a warmed over 390 if the Car was mine.

Dawg

 

In this order:

Early Hemi
Early Olds Rocket
Early Cadillac
If you really must have a Ford, make it an FE.

Forget about horsepower; these cars are about style.

 

You've got a myriad of answers. If resale and ease is the point, small chevy, if small for d is your desire, I like the 5.0 late model with a carb and the aod or 5 speed trans. The 5.0 has real small port heads that have really good bottom end. The fe looks good but is limited by size and weight. With alum heads and intake, this is somewhat alleviated. The 427 cammer is huge in size, weight, and price. I had one in a gas dragster in the mid 70's. Early hemis, many sizes, small ones make no power, large ones are real large and real heavy, 426 style is more expensive than 392 style. Chrysler wedge is a good possibility. The silver 29 built for Centerlint wheels years ago had one. One again, real large, real heavy. If you get too far from the beaten path, you will have to fabricate all your parts. With companies like Egge machine, there is sources for engine parts for most any v8. A car is what you make it to be. If you want to sell in a short time, I would encourage you to go chevy. If you think you may have it for years, put in what you wake up in the morning dreaming about. Good luck.

 

Very good point. This was one of the reasons for asking this question on this board. So.... the frame is stock 106" wheel base. It will not be stretched. So... what of these engines will fit?
SBC = I know that will fit.
351W or 351C = ???
FE = ???
others???

 

Yeah, do a sbc, brookville body, kiwi frame real "Original"! F-THAT!!!!!!!
Do you wanna be just like all the others? I say if you are building a "Ford" keep it a Ford, You got money? 428 or 429 CJ nuff said. But a built FE would look sweet and plenty 'O' power, and if you absolutely have to go with another Company's motor, well Hemi then.

 

So is it the sbc that you don't like or the entire car? So you don't like the kiwi frame nor the brookville body?

 

Running an original, real steel Deuce are you?
You're a lucky guy.

Any chance you could post a pic of it and the engine you're running in it?

 

haha

 

Not sure about the 351 Fords although I'd like to see a couple of different swaps using the 351C into the 32.
I think length is the problem there.
In fact, a 351C was the original choice for my late Buick (455) powered 32 roadster, but I fell into a free Buick engine, did a little research on it and went from there.

If you run an electric fan the big Buick fits into the 32 engine compt. with no probs other than oil filter interference with the frame up in the right front corner.
You'll have to run a remote adapter there although a ChryCo 90 degree adapter as found on some of the small blocks may work.

I'm not too fond of electric fans and would run one only if there was no other way around it.
They don't cut it in the cfm dept. far as I'm concerned.
Funny part is I see a lot of electrics in cars where a mechanical fan would fit with no probs.
That apparently due to some folks feel an electric fan is a hot rod necessity.
It's not, it's simply a means to an end and if you get the right one, right radiator etc. you can do ok.

If you want to run a mechanical fan on the 455 Buick in a stock 32 engine bay, here's one way.
(And some of this may be helpful with a different brand engine.)
Set the motor/trans mounts up so the right head touches the flat style firewall.
You can make an indentation - not with a BFH though - later.

The fan to use is a Hayden 17" flex fan, the model with fat stainless blades.
Brand is important here because the Hayden bleades sit back on the mounting flange.
Another flex fan I have - a Derale - is a nice fan, but the blades are centered on the mounting flange which makes it unusable in a tight area like a 32 engine bay.

The Buicks come with a three sheave lower pulley.
Machine the outer sheave off so as to gain fan clearance.
Run the short pump, there's not much difference between the two, but there is a slightly longer one out there.
I think it boils down to the 68-69 430 pump is shorter than the 70 on up pump.
The Buick 400-430-455 are all the same engine with minor external differences as well as differing bore and stroke.
Easily ID'd by looking for the 1" high cast numbers on top of the bell housing aread right over the flywheel/converter.
They'll say 430 or 455, not sure if the 400 is ID'd this way.
There's also a cast number behind the starter, numbers about 1/2" or so high.
430-455 etc.

After the lower pulley is machined, set the fan on a 3/16" spacer and build an alternator mount that pulls the alternator back so as to match the pulleys far as the belt alignment goes.
I run a Pinto alternator, it's small although not as small as the foreign alts, but the good part is they're inexpensive. ($37.00 for the last one.)

You'll find the fan clears the lower pulley by about 3/16" and the V-belts by about 1/8".
That's ok because the blades flex forward when running and there's quite a bit of clearance gained then.

I run an older Walker 4 core radiator and a thinner core would probably give you a little more room.


Aside from the big Buicks, the early Chrysler Hemi isn't too long and swapping one of these into a 32 should be easy.
The only problem with these if you can call it a problem is the big - and wide - heads.
You'll have to run sans hood sides, pop a speed blister into the hood or cut some louvers away to gain room.

 

for me a big consideration would be induction

not only performance wise but visually

you put an attractive setup on top of any motor and it can make all the difference.

a vintage blower on a flathead?
an early 471 on an SBC (my choice)
four Webers on an SBF
a v belt driven 671 on a 394 Olds
factory supercharger on a Studebaker
factory dual fours on a '50s Cadillac
factory tri power on a '50s Olds
factory tri power on a '60s Pontiac

hmm, I see a pattern in what I think is cool,
factory muscle is way cool.

 

I think it's been mentioned but if big power (hp/torque)at a REASONABLE price is the goal you can't beat the BBBBB, That's Big Block Belly ****on ***** for you uninformed. Even in the deminutive (ya,right) 396 size you'll surprise a whole lot of big C.I. wannabe's. Step up to the widely available 454 and you'd better have stock in Goodyear. And for those (gold chainers) who just can't settle for less than the A.M.B.R. (All Motor Bragging Rights) trophy there is over 600 cubes available by tossing down your Visa Platinum accessory. Pick your poison


Frank

 

All Right - Mark H-A, You say I took a shot at you. I don't think I really did, I just asked you what you liked? What do you have experience with?
Do you have any motors that are accessible? What kind are they? Or can you get any motor you want? What motor were you thinking about when you bought your frame?

You've had overwhelming response. People have rung out everthing from 32 Deusy motors to the every so commom but awesome SBC ------

So how are you feeling now? Has this thread helped you make any decisions?

Just Curious.

 

The little Ford motors (302 or 351W) might not be the all-time traditional favorite, but they are light (good), available (good), satisfactorily powerful (good), and have excellent aftermarket support (good). Said support includes great cylinder heads, reasonably priced crate motors, stroker setups, and a broad range of intake options, both carbureted and fuel-injected. They also have a reputation for durability. If you are going to make the car a long-distance runner, go with a stock displacement. If you really need to make tire smoke, a 408 or 427 stroker 351W is the ticket.

If I was building a new car from scratch, I would go with a Tremec five speed.

The fit in an early Ford isn't always as easy as a SBC, but I have seen many in Model A and '32 Fords. It might take a little more head scratching, but they fit fine.

And by the way, my '29 roadster has a 302, and my '40 coupe has a 351W. Both cars are ******* me off right now, but not about the engines......

 

Hey Bib Overalls!
Cl*** of 82 SGHS Matador Graduate here too!!!!
Grew up on Ramona St & Played @ the High School all my youth.
In high school I spent all my time in the Auto Shop, My teach drove a 40 deluxe w/a 283 3spd closed drive line. So I guess that was indeed the engine of choice in the 60's. I like your alt choice of alt engines.
PM me.
Kevin

 

Ummm......THE V8. Thank you.

 

You guys could be brothers!

 

It was this comment that made me think you took a shot at me...

"What ever - I say if you have to ask what motor to run, you've got bigger problems. You'll never get past anything in the build if you can't even decided that for yourself. Who cares what anyone else thinks but your own damn self."

Maybe you didn't mean it the way I read it. Has this thread helped me... well yes! It has educated me a lot in different motor setups and the vast difference in opinions in what is a nice hot rod. Right now I am still some what undecided. I have a friend that works for the CA smog commisioner. They do state funded car buys. This is where the state pays someone to take an old car off the road due to smog. The program kind of ****s, but the good news is that he comes across a lot of older cars for next to nothing. He is watching out for an older Ford for me. I am still leaning towards a Ford motor. Probably either an FE or and 302 or 351.

Thank you for everyones help. And please continue to give me ***istence. I will continue to give updates on my progress also.

 

Do you know if this was on a stock wheel base or was the frame stretched?

Very interested in any experience with this setup.

 

Pete is right, we are brothers. I'm the older, better looking one.

Frank

 

The stretched wheelbase 32's are good looking, no doubt about that.
I've seen em stretched 4" and also stretched 2".

It's surprising how much room you can gain longitudinally speaking with the 2" stretch.

Makes the car look lower as well.

The frame stretch is done in front of the firewall fwiw.

Since you're new to some aspects of the hot rod biz, I'd leave the stretch for the pro's or the very experienced amateurs.

You can probably use a stock wheelbase 32 and set the engine back in the firewall 2-4" and legroom should still be sufficient.
Doing a firewall setback means the seat base and back will have to go back with the back cushion going into the trunk area a ways.
It doesn't hurt and actually looks pretty good - to my eyes anyway.
Ergonomics are one of the most important things you can do to any car you're building.
If it's a pain in the *** to drive and you can't spend the day in it, why bother?

Like I said, not trying to sell the SBC, but it's a good way to go.
Here's some pics of a friends 32 roadster.
He's had it since 1955 when it was a lowboy and it had quite a history then.
Pretty much a show car, but after Oakland he planned to drive it regular and knowing him, he probably did.

For those who are tempted to jump on the gold chainer band wagon and make disparaging remarks about this car, know this; the car is owner built.
Both this time and times prior.
It's had many persona and this is the latest.

These pics are about 2002 or so.
The gentleman and young lad in the pic are a couple of friends from OZ.

 

I put this in mine
4L 400hp

 

Here's a windsor. Stock wheelbase, no shorty pumps or anything etc, fits easy.

I do have a flat firewall.

 

Thanks for posting this up X38. There seems to be a very large number of Ford in Ford vehicles "Down Under". Frankly that's quite refreshing after wading through the sea of sbc's here in the States. Do you know that according to some "experts" here, doing what you did is all but impossible, and if someone actually pulls it off they'll never find parts for it when they're done?! They only carry sbc parts in the parts stores around here! hah!

 

I would love to see pictures of it. Thanks!

 

Do you have any more detailed photos? I would love to see them. Thank you for the post!

 

If you want to go with a ford but be different than the SBF guys, I'd say go with a big *** FE like a 390-460, possibly with a tri-power. Not too traditional, but i can't think of the last time i saw one in a '32.

 

I just had another thought: a couple years ago Rod & Custom did a tech article on stroking out a 409 using a crank from a 454, and it came out to something like 474 cubic inches, with a pair of dual carters. Made right about 500 ft/lb. torque and almost as much HP. So then you have both traditional looks, AND crazy power.