Five uncommon OHV's of the 50s

If your on the HAMB, it's likely you already know that American overhead valve V-8's came on strong in the 1950s. After all, we owe the single-handed most popular aftermarket motor of all time to the year 1955: The small block Chevy, which debuted as... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

 

I some day hope to be running a 53 Lincoln Y and its 4 speed Hydro in my 57 F-100.

 

In 1953, my brother and I chose the 322 Buick over the Lincoln, Cad, Olds or Chrysler due to its lower weight. We installed one in our '34 sedan, getting a warranty long block from an ad in hot Rod.

 

Now your talking!
My kind of swap! I have 57 F-100, but I have a Lincoln 368, and of course 3 or 4 Lincoln hydros. So one day the 57 F-100 will get the 368/hydro combo put in it. Maybe some stacks too.

 

Another engine that I particularly like is the 320/352/374 Packard V8s. Plan on bolting up a dual range hydro to my 374 and shoe-horn into my 55 Nash Rambler. Tight fit (that's what she said!) but oh man what a screamer!

Really like the early Hemis (have one in my 54 Chrysler NYD), along with the Lincoln Y's. Buick Nailhead, good, reliable, and narrow, great for swappers. Olds Rocket, have 303 and later 371, both run great, had a 331 Cadillac, strong runner.

One other engine that might be worth looking at is the AMC 327 V8. If the bottom end is anything like their OHV 6s (232,258), then this thing will be strong.

The MEL engines are interesting too.

 

I like all the OHV V-8s of the fifties. It would be cool to have a collection of them, all in running condition. Throw in some from the sixties, and what a cacklefest one could have!

 

Interesting choice of motors. Some of the off brands had a lot of good qualities but got overlooked.

Not true about Cadillac suing Studebaker. When the Stude V8 was introduced a lot of people noticed the similarities but Studebaker denied it was a copy. They pointed to differences like, completely different size, different bore X stroke, gear driven cam instead of chain driven, solid lifters instead of hydraulic, in fact they had nothing in common except a similar overall appearance.

Later Stude engineers admitted they had a long look at the Cadillac before sitting down at the drawing board, and even consulted with Cadillac engineers on certain details. GM had no objection to this, once the car was introduced the design was more or less in the public domain. They even published SAE papers giving the minute details of the design and how they arrived at them.

 

I must be some kind of screwed up since i have had all of the mentioned engines save the Y block. But i did have a Y block head on my 32 Plymouth banger, so maybe that counts. And the Pontiac I ran was a 455. So that's a bit of a stretch. But I did have a half 389 banger in a tempest I bought new in 63. Had a 361 Dodge B block in a new 66 Coronet. Loved them all. Pictures of the 241 Dodge, the Packard and the Plymouth with the y block head. You can have fun with anything if you just are willing to think about what you want to do and do it.

 

Here's my Nailhead in my '50 Sedan Delivery. It's got some not so traditional stuff on it but it works......really good.

 

I have a Lincold Y in my collection and always wanted to take a Model A and make a "Hot Rod Lincoln" but when it came right down to it I went with the Ford. Oh well, the Lincoln will find a home someday.

 

I've had a couple 287 Poncho's never really cared for em (well they are kinda slow) & have had a 241 Red Ram --kinda spendy to rebuild (I found 2 in a local bone yard)but you have love the look!

 

The 50s were a great time for those who like engines. New designs coming out most years. New stuff to look at and dream about. '58 brought us the Ford FE engines (332 and 352) and the MEL. 352 was a big engine then and the intake ports seemed gigantic at the time. 348 Chevy was another interesting thing to look at along with the MoPar B blocks. HRM had all kinds of pictures of the inner workings of any new V8. And I loved looking at them.

 

That little 241" Dodge Red Ram, was my first engine swap. I put one of these gems in a
'46 ford business coupe, in the summer of 1959 and had more fun than I could imagine .
That car is one of 50 or so I wish I'd never sold.

...............................Jack

 

My 26 RPU had a 241 Red Ram when it came to NZ but was parted out before i bought it. That had replaced a tied 331 Hemi.It has an ealy SBC now,oh well ! JW

 

Ive always wanted to put a packard v8 in something.

 

The Hemi, Poly,348 W and Mel are really the only different engines 1950's V-8's.All the rest have wedge combustion chambers with the valves inline making them no different than the 49 Caddy or Olds other than appearance. Obviously the bore and stroke etc are not the same...I am not familar with the Packard.....

 

The Lincoln had some killer valve covers, but are pretty rare! Have a great weekend, y'all.

 

I have an early Stude OHV for my T sedan. Should do ok with a 4 spd Saginaw and a V8 Banjo rearend.

 

I had a 352 Packard in my Golden hawk. The Ultra-matic was junk & in my little town nobody could work on them. If it would have had the T-85 3 speed it would have been awesome. It was fast as hell. I think the only other car with more hp was a Chrysler 300. For my money there's never been a better looking engine than a nail head Buick. I don't know much about Y-block Lincoln's but I like the idea. Wish I had one in my '56 Ford. There has to be a story about that Y-block head on that banger, what is it?

 

I have a 289 Studebaker and a T-10 speed will be in my Daytona. It's a little heavy, but it should be a good runner.

 

Jive-Bomber Jay - Great post!

I'm a big fan of "Uncommon OHV powered" Hot Rods ... the family owns two of my favorites ...

1) Dennis Mariani's Deuce 3wd Coupe (powered by a Dodge "Red Ram" HEMI):

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2) Mark & Dennis Jr. Mariani's Deuce Tudor Hiboy (powered by a DeSoto HEMI w/ S.Co.T. blower):

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NOTE: Both of these Bitchin' Hot Rods are BRIZIO built.

 

Lincoln valve covers are indeed pretty. The Y block head Ply was pretty well documented here on the HAMB when i was running it. Holds the V4/GR record at Muroc and had a best speed of 135 in small blue car on the left. Car is now for sale, make offer. Any questions answered if you PM to me. By the way, stick shift bellhousings for packard V8s are not that hard to come by and bolt to Ford top loaders. I also did a How to for that here on the HAMB

 

The Packard 352 w/2 4bls. was put in some of the Studebaker Hawks. They made some with 4spds. Lots of hot rodders overlooked this fine motor.

 

All fine motors,but the Red Ram gets it on looks.

 

That has to be one rare intake! Will that engine work with the earlier Packard transmission?

 

Hate to hi-jack the thread, so, yeah, how about another thread that gives the details?

 

Guys. It has been covered here before. It's old news. V4GRM@yahoo.com for any questions. Here is a picture of it along with the flathead version of the same thing.

 

I honestly think its pretty hard to beat the mid-late 50's Pontiac engines for a late 50-early 60's styled car. I've built 3 or 4 cars with them and besides looking pretty good they really respond well to simple modifications. The 59 389 that eventually found its way into my old 34 (after a 55-287) made more power than I ever needed on the street. simple port clean up, 11-1, old isky 5 cycle, 2x4's and a mallory dual point was good for over 400hp on a chassis dyno and low 7 second 1/8 mile passes, even with a 3.50 geared rear end, a Muncie, and hurst slicks that would just smoke for the first 2-300 feet.
I've got another 59-389 stashed in the corner behind the pile of flathead junk that will end up in something eventually just not sure what that will be at this point.


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My dad had a '56 Golden Hawk with the Packard 352 V8. In the early 60s he got it up to 125 mph on a deserted two-lane. The Golden Hawk also had one of the most beautiful factory instrument panels ever, with SW gages festooned across a backdrop of engine polished stainless.

 

Thanks for the pictures of the desoto hemi32. I was starting to feel left out as a Desoto fan.
I wish I had those Edmunds valve covers!


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