Been thinking over various engine options for the 49 Chevy project. The possibilities are numerous...and nearly anything goes with this one...since the priority is just to make it a reliable cruiser that looks cool (and well patina'd!) on the outside! I'm really leaning towards an inline six...either a 250 Chevy, 300 Ford or AMC 258. Somehow, the 49-54 Chevys just seem to NEED straight six power to me! The narrow engines are also a cinch to fit in and have that distinct sound to them as an added bonus! Small block Chevy or Ford V8s are an option, but I'd rather lead by example and put ANYTHING but a small block Chevy in this puppy! Although, I wouldn't be opposed to a 2.8 or 4.3 Chevy V6!!! (Blasphemy, I know!!) I want the car looking well weathered and old-school on the OUTSIDE...but I'm flexible on the drivetrain because nobody will see that...and the following criteria MUST be met for this one: 1. Engine/tranny combo must be cheap (think: donor vehicle!) 2. Drivetrain must be reliable...gas & go...this car is going to be a DRIVER! 3. Drivetrain should be new enough so that service parts are widely available at parts joints. That all points to smog-era engines in dirt cheap rustbuckets that nobody else wants. They can be de-smogified and cleaned up a little...and will include things like electronic ignitions, pressurized oiling and modern automatic trannies from the get-go! Once this thing is roadworthy...my attention turns to a bigger project, so it's gotta be anvil tough and reliable as a rock! Any ideas/input welcomed!!!
Sounds like a Buick 8 to me. I can drive the hell out of mine, I don't think they ever wear out. Repoguy had a line on one that I totally dropped the ball on a while back. You'd probably want to ditch the hood if you had one, though. A problem sorta would be parts...
Lots of potential for a 250 swap. Mid-late 70s GM car donor for the project sounds reasonable. Of course, the integral head deal is easy to overcome with a simple head swap. I built my 54 Chevy with a 100 dollar Caprice parts car. Best move I ever did. The little Turbo 200 tranny is small and fits under the car with lots of room. Parts cars are great. I could list pages of nebulous crap I pulled off mine.
Fathack, Go for the ford or chevy 6. I don't know anything about the chevy's so will restrick my remarks to the Ford 300-6. These engines are absolutely bullet proof. Have 7 main bearigs with sqaure bore and stroke.Gobs of torqe. I have known of several instances wherethese engnes in commercial vans have gone 300,ooo miles with nothing more than an occasioal water pump replace ment and mabey a valve job.I have had 5 pickups with this engine and have had great results. I'd stay with an early 80's with carbuerator. the later fuel injected engines have some kind of weird EPA cam that really down grade them.Parts are available anywhere. Then, if you wanted to the are a lot ofspeed parts available. Plus, it's atwist to have a Ford in a Chevy. Ted H.
I've driven race cars and conversion vans powered by the Ford 300 six-banger. I'm as far from a Ford guy as it gets but I gotta say I'm impressed with that thing !
A 300 inch six-banger means big pistons and big torque at low revs. The big old GMC 300 is popular for the bucks-up crowd and some seriously cool and expensive stuff is available for it. The Ford however is about nineteen times more available and probably one tenth the cost. Pretty much anyone that has a big Jimmy six knows what he's got so getting a deal on one is unlikely. Go with the Ford. It'll probably be even easier to find than most old smaller Chevy sixes these days plus it's bigger than all but the GMC and as everybody knows there ain't no replacement for displacement. Strip all the emissions crud, clean 'er up, and revel in the torque. If you gotta spend some dough on it then go look at all the Clifford goodies.
230 Plymouth/Dodge flat 6. Cheap enough, very common, speed parts are easy to make, or can be bought off pulling tractor guys.
[ QUOTE ] I want the car looking well weathered and old-school on the OUTSIDE...but I'm flexible on the drivetrain because nobody will see that [/ QUOTE ] My feeling is that as long as the engine is "dressed" appropriately, I'm willing to let an anachronism in the engine bay slide. It's when I see pink anodized Moroso valve covers and an Edelbrock Tarantula manifold on what is otherwise masquerading as a '50s or '60s car that I'm bothered. If I ever built that '54 Ford I'm dreaming of, I'd go the fifties stocker route with the 390: paint the whole motor the right color for a '54 Y-block, pick out the "Power By Ford" lettering on the valve covers with contrasting paint and modify my '53 Mercury aircleaner to work on that 600cfm Holley. I'd even paint the headers "Cast" and the alternator eggshell black to resemble a generator. Okay, but that's not what you asked about. I really like the Ford 300-6, they produce a lot of torque and they're reliable as an anvil. However, it seems an odd choice for a '49 Chevy. If it were my car I'd stick in the 396 I've got along with a TH-350 and the 2.56 10-bolt I've got just to piss off the ChevyTalk Performance Forum guys that said it would be a stupid combination and that I should buy a Honda. The other option that appeals to me is the '58 348 in Joe's down in Spring Lake or the truck 409 that my Dad's friend bought and is just letting sit for lack of a project (he also bought a seized 425 horse 409 from a dune buggy, but that's another story...) Based on everything good I've heard about the Chevy 250 from my earlier post on the topic I think that would be my choice if I weren't going to run a 235 or 292 I-6. The 4.3 in my girlfriend's Mom's Blazer pulls like a V8 at low speed so that would be a decent choice too, but I absolutely despised the 2.8 in my '86 Jimmy, I wouldn't mess with another one of those if you paid me. What bodystyle, by the way? This always seems to somehow speak to me regarding the appropriate engine choice. A 2-door fastback or coupe begs for a high performance engine and a manual transmission. A sedan or 4-door fastback is more of a cruiser and just wants torque, a smooth idle and an automatic. A convertible can go either way, depending on how it's built. Sorry for the long post, but I built at least two hot rods a day in my head, so this is old ground for me that I don't often get to talk about.
A warning. I just stumbled upon this in the '49-'54 Forum at ChevyTalk.org: [ QUOTE ] Just a WARNING about using the later engine (230/250/292) in '49 - '54's: They're MUCH longer and tough to fit! I tried to do so in my '49 Fleetline. With LOTS of fiddling around of the engine height (lower, to clear the bell) and aft (to clear the stock radiator location) I managed to get it to fit. I still needed to run without a fan (no room whatsoever) and use a pusher fan (noisy damn thing!) to get it to play. I was most disappointed, and finally yanked it in favor of a 400 SB. This really bummed me out as I had a "woodie" to do up a hot six just one time. It had the cast iron dual headers, a 270 degree cam, and water cooled Clifford 4 barrel with a 600 CFM Edelbrock carb. You can, of course, do some serious cutting and mount a radiator forward (perhaps a cross flow). Note this: see how little fore and aft room there is with the original 216/236 in your ride. NOW, add another 7" or so to what you see and you'll get the idea. IMO, warm up a 235 or 261 with cam, duals, carbs and some dress up stuff or plunk in a smallblock, which can be tossed in from across the garage. Tom [/ QUOTE ] Maybe the V8 isn't such a bad choice after all.
If you go with a I6 the 292 chevy has Plenty of Low-end Grunt too. I went to School with a kid that ran a Hot 292 in a '72 Nova. he could outrun most of the mildly built V8's, and stick with the hotter V8s for the 1/8. I think he was running Three Webers on his. Some kind of special manifold where each Weber fed two cylinders. Now that I think about it, it may have been three seperate manifolds. Only thing I remember for sure was that it sounded like an Airplane when he got it wound out...
How cool do you want to make it? GM is making a new inline 6 at 4.2L in the Trailblazer/Yukon SUV line. If you can find a wrecked one (they've been out over a year, there must be a few), it'd be a WAY killer powerplant. 270 hp as delivered and 4L60-E O/D trans. You'd have to pirate the computer(s) too, but it'd be a slick way to keep inline power and keep em' guessing about what the hell is in there. Check websites for late-model GM salvage- there's a booming business in LS1 used/salvaged engines...I'm sure you could find a new 4.2L Vortec inliner out there w/ low miles in "ready to run" shape for a fair deal..."fair" being what it might cost to rebuild a 235/250/292 up to a similar power level. It's worth investigating.
Scotch, I have been watching the local salvage yards for just that! I agree ...the coolest new inline on the road and fuel injected to boot!
Jump over to www.inliners.org and do aa search for Gerry. He's with Kansas Racing Products and can get the new GM 6 for around a $1000. I've built a couple Ford 300's, cam, dual carbs, header, Chevy valves, etc, Ran good but you knew they were still only 300 CID.
Hack, I'm gonna be in Coldwater over turkey day. I have a front drive canted valve 2.8 and an early Camaro bellhousing to use it RWD. Wanna make a deal?
I got a 250 laying around, if you want it... don't have a use for it so it's yours...well maybe trade for a case of my favorite brew
[ QUOTE ] Go with a Jag 6 they are cheap to buy and look way cool. [/ QUOTE ] Cheap to buy,EXPENSIVE to fix.But they do look cool.
let me know... it's sitting on a hacked frame on my 31, frame is going to sit and rust all winter, motors missing the intake/exhaust man, but spins by hand... it was schedualed to be junked unless you want it...
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