Got the engine and box out of the Buick ATM to fix a transmission leak, and am looking for some ideas to flash it up a little. How it was before I pulled it last week....
Problem is that none of the pictures I have really show very much to be honest due to the cold air system... Will happily post them up if you want but dont think they are what you want... P.
Nice posts! I've never owned a big block, but always liked the "looks" of one! wait a minute! ...is a 401 Nailhead considered a big block? If so, I'm IN!
two lane blacktops and a clone,sorry, i kinda hate chevy big blocks, i cant think of any traditional car that has a big block that looks good, unless its blown.id throw these on there and a cross ram....and be done
I think the problem you're gonna have here is that most bigblocks are about going as fast as you can, not looking traditional. Here's the one in one of my Anglia projects.
here's my tortured test mule from the past, swapped induction setups almost monthly for a while there the Man-A-Fre had the biggest balls, the Cross Ram was the prettiest, the small tunnel was the easiest to setup and the big tunnel the worst..
my old truck. That sucker would start no matter what. i still love the fact i went to woodward a week befor the real thing just to proove i could do it in that thig, the engine stayed at 180-195 and never higher, even sitting in traffic. not bad for a radiator with 4 holes.
The guy hanging over the dash is a Ford guy, the only way he new how to put one in was from the front of the engine. The things I do to accomodate friends.
You'd make most W engine owners mad by calling their engine a big block. So if there were no "big blocks" until 1965, does that mean there were no "small blocks" til then too? No "rat motors" means no "mouse motors", right? I guess they were just V-8 Chevys. Larry T
Anybody know what the story is with these valve covers? I've got a set of polished ones on my BBC and don't know anything about them.
That is great news, as I have a BBC that I'd like to wedge into my '33, but want to make it look traditional, I had no idea there were Man-A-Fre intakes for these. It looks great. Great thread...
Man-A-Fre setups for the big Chev are rare, and as far as I know were rectangle port only. it was actually pretty easy to tune, idled well and the power band was very strong, bottom, mid and top.
I'll bet they are rare. I'm probably destined to run the new 3-duece Demon setup. Finding the GM 3x2 setups are tough and pricey.
I have always considered Big block to be elegant...they're a pretty engine-certianly no Flathead or Hemi, but they can be built to look good. Keep in mind that I am not a billet basher. I recently saw one with fabricated valve covers and a fabricated intake- typically, not very sexy-just "all business"- then the guy polished them and had them "hard anodized" grey. over an aluminum headed block- all painted Orange. oddly enough, it looked tough as nails. the other cool thing about big motors is they don't become "all accessory"- meaning the belts, pulleys, wiring, and stuff like alternators and air filters don't dominate the actual engine. You can still see some engine "in there". I think that's what makes or breaks an engine. is it in there, or buried under all of that crap? with a hemi or flatmotor, it's all out in the open. same with the big inchers.
I've loved big block Chevys (Mark IV's for the techies) since they came out in '65. Raced them on the street, quarter mile and oval track. Still have few that I've saved to play with. My '32 5w will get a 435 hp 427 with the 3X2 high rise manifold and the first set of Offenhauser finned valve covers ever sold to the public for this engine. Keep the pictures coming. Frank
Ok, here's my real submission, building this for my v-drive. Its a LS7, winters heads, tunnel ram, etc, etc... Tryed to keep it "period correct" but did buy new valve covers cause i didn't want to deal with clearance issues with my rockers, but i think they still look right.
I think BBCs need aluminum water pumps to look right, and hadn't really put my finger on why til reading this. Makes a seperate component stand out color-wise and helps make an area of complicated orangeness look defineable as individual parts.
Here's my 396. I don't have the Tri-Power on the motor currently, but hope to set it up properly someday. I just have a regular dualplane with a Holley on it now.
65? Is there a point to that? Most of the A/FX stuff was 65. I think the good ol BBC is one of the best power makers ever. The fact you can dress em to the taste on this board makes em all the better. I'd like to see one with an old set of those finned covers painted kandy gold between the fins and some period fuel parts. Don't forget the white headers. Those were the days, huh?
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