Technical Favorite Engine Conversions...

the current swap is always the most fun

 

That is an opinion I can fully back

 

Are "engine conversions" only swaps? I can think of many conversions to engines. Some are OT, like a BMW "brick" motorbike cylinder head on a BMC A-series, but arguably as many are HAMBworthy. The Ardun is obvious, but reverse-F-head (EOI) Flatheads fascinate me. Any such conversions on non-Fords?

 

Yep. I still have mine. I think 3 or 4.

 

Favorite Engine Conversions.
I am very very good at converting engines from running to blown up.

 

"Engine swap"
One of the very first hot rod terms I learned. And it still carries that certain mystique it did way back then to my uninitiated mind and soul. A certain feeling. Hard to put my finger on it. I can almost taste it. The Henry Gregor Fellson effect.

I heard a woman exclaim with surprise and glee the first time she heard her husband's V8 powered roadster start up.
"Ooooh... it sounds like a big car!"

Yeah... kinda that.
More power and a bigger roar than any little pup of a car was ever meant to have.

I was quite enamored when I first heard the term "Fordillac" and realized the significance.

 

George converted to Latvian Orthodox and at one point owned John Voight's LeBaron drop-top
I guess it's possible I misunderstood the question

 

Sbc into 49-54 Chev ( or Canadian Pontiac which is a Chev in Pontiac clothes)

 

Don't let Pops work on that LeBaron!

 

Nearly 90 cars I’ve built and never swapped in a SBC. Had a lot of Camaros/chevelles with them though. Favorite swap was yarding out the SBCs, selling them at the swap meet and dropping BBCs in the engine bay. 396. Game changer. 427. Magic.

 

Another one that I owned for a while... '50 Ford panel with an Olds 394 and early Hydro. An easy swap and it sure surprised Vette owners on the freeway more than once.

As far an engine swap books go, I have the 1961 manual by Don Fransisco, or what's left of it. Purchased it in a Greyhound bus depot when I was 15. It had a big impact on what I've done for the last 60 years or so.

 

Any early Chev or G.M.C. 6 in a Ford!

I can't think of any bigger improvement!

 

No pics 'cause it was a long time ago. 58 Ford PU with a tired 292/3spd got a 56 Chrysler hemi with it's auto trans. Complete with push button shifter installed left of the steering wheel in the dash. After an 'interesting' experience during a panic stop from 65mph or so it also got the 12" brakes from the same Chrysler. Rear brakes locked real early causing a spin on a bridge in heavy traffic. The advantage of having a Dad that owned a salvage.

 

Luxo Barge engines into 50s and 60s trucks . Doesn't matter who's, the sight of a big Buick, Oldsmobile, or Chrysler in an old short box always turned my head. Especially Buicks.

 

The 318 and a 904 trans in my ‘51 Plymouth wagon worked out very well. Small block Chevys are so popular because they fit and have economical aftermarket parts and might have fit easier, but I wanted to keep the wagon all MoPar because people gave me grief about putting a 302 Ford in my ‘53 Dodge panel, another swap that worked great.

 

From a 4 banger to 354 conversion. It was a big improvement.

 

I've been on the 15 year program with my 60 Falcon- I'm resuming work on it after I move house this year- 414 inch small block Mopar, 833 4 speed, Frankland quickchange rear.

-rick

 

never really had a favorite, just used what i had laying around.

 

Aint never seem BB chevy Valve covers like that before (?)

.

 

I'm stuffing an electric motor into my Austin but that doesn't count here.

 

370 Pontiac/muncie 4 speed/quick change in my 34 ford coupe. Love it!!!!!!!!

 

JD,
You're not the first to question my valve covers. They are plain steel tall BBC that I painted to match the engine. The Chevrolet script is a decal that looks like engine turned aluminum. I drilled the second hole and baffled it for another breather on the driver's side. I thought it looked better with breathers on both sides.

 

2 large sticks and a shoehorn….65 Corvair

 

Very subtle exhaust on that car, Ron. Just the way I like it! BOOM!

 

For me it would have to be the 350R Olds V8 that I put in my 51 Merc and put a ton of miles on. My son and I pulled the Olds engine out of a mid 60's Chevy truck that a buddy gave me and stuck it in the Merc using the limb on a big tree in the back yard to do the swap. I made some stands by hand with a hack saw and little more to set the Olds motor mounts on and we had the engine in, hooked up and running and driving in a little over a weekend.

 

I like most motors, but I'm pretty much a Chevy guy...

 

Removing a 223 cubic inch inline 6 and replacing it with a 302 cubic inch makes a big improvement on on red light to red light times! HRP

 

@HOTRODPRIMER - nice looking engine, it's a wonder we don't see more cars powered by small block Fords. Always thought they looked ''tight and right''. The profile is even slimmer than a SBC.