Well............................this isn't a flathead, but it is an Honest To Goodness Ford small block, 347ci with 502HP at the crank in a very nice (to be) 1968 Camaro..................when was the last time you saw one of these with a SBF?
I have a late 60's magazine somewhere with a mid-60's Vette roadster done as a drag car with a flip nose, blue on white pshycadelic scallop/panel paint, and a 427 Ford tunnel ram motor in it. If I was going to all that work, I'd sell the Ford and buy a late model OHV drivetrain for the Chevy. Fords those years are prone to a lot of frame rot. Not that Chevs are much better, but they seem to be easier to find with better frames. Or sell both and buy a Model A to put the flatty in -
What would it matter? Your looking to get your Chevy on the road with a little economy. Case in point. You have perfectly good flat motor... You have a Chevy that requires a motor to be driveable. Put the two together and move forward. Twelve years ago, everybody told me I was crazy to put a Y-block in my 53 Ford. Same logic, I had a fresh Y-block and a 53 Ford with a worn out 6 cylinder. Use what you got to make it a runner.. 10 years from now, it will be kool...
Move Over Plymouth Approaching Rapidly I had a guy at a cruise night tell me that putting a Mopar in a Ford is worse than being gay.
A guy got a lot of press when the ran a '57 Chevy on the Power Tour a number of years ago with a 440 in it.
I built a 427/425 ford powered 57 Vette in 1963. I had the motor and the Vette was the lightest thing I could find and was only $500. Had a buddy in high school put a flathead Ford in a 48 Plymouth. Once again, it was what he had. Doesnt matter how smart it is when youre broke and thats what you have
There's a 53-4 Chevy at our local cruise night with a small block Ford in it. And the next town over has a younger kid with a Bronco II 2wd with with a Flathead in it. Don't care for the hydraulics, but the engine is unexpected when you look in there.
You didn't say what your Ford or Chevy are body-wise, cars or pickup trucks or one of each. The Flattie in a 50 Chevy pickup truck wouldn't be near as interesting or surprising as the same engine in a 50 Chevy car, no matter what the body style. Just take the complete Ford open drive line and transplant it into the Chevy. Sounds like something fun to do on a weekend.
There is a good article on putting a flathead in a 49-50 Chevrolet in a old Hop-Up, big size. I got it somewhere around here, if I find it I could post some pictures. I think it needs to be done, it would blow minds , and its something somebody did back in the day.
By the way, there isn't a nickle's worth of difference in the way Fords, Chevys or Plymouths handle in the 49-54 era. They were great for the American roads and highways of the time, and not a lot of folks were puddling along at 40 MPH either. Just because every old car you(the posters with claims of bad handling etc) ever had were old junkyard, ,carlot backline, wornout, no shocks, bald-tired junk doesn't mean the cars were anything like that when new or well-maintained. That's as silly as saying mechanical brakes are no good 'cause Grandpa had one in 1959 and it didn't stop for nuthin'. It may have had it been maintained over the previous 30 years since bought new. I've never driven a mechanical brake car with properly adjusted and maintained brakes that wouldn't stop. They were just fine for the roads and highways of the time and on modern roads perform even better in every respect. Hogwash!
In the same vein, there was a fellow in Wichita Falls TX in the mid70s who built a V860 (with Offy heads, 2 carbs and dual exhaust) powered Chevy Vega with a Model A front end and a quickie out back. Didn't have anything else to do, told the gas station attendants ot was a Cosworth experimental.
i'd say don't. i love flatheads, but i can tell you i've been dusted by chevy 6's. sell the flathead or store it for a future project!
It's been seven years since he posted this... so I'm ***uming he has figured out which direction to take
Last year at a small local church car show I saw a 60 Chevrolet truck with a 289 Ford power plant and automatic transmission. The owner had a nice explanation of the swap on poster board. In 1970 or so he wrecked his Mustang and had no insurance. A friend gave him the truck with a bad engine. He mated the 2 together and had a way to go to his job. Some time later he parked the truck for many years and had just put in back in running order.
Best one I've seen, there used to be an early 80's Currvette that ran at Sears Point a lot, small slicks, ran consistant 10.50's like a slot car, and LOUD AS HELL So these two kids are there one night, and wander over to ask him why his car is so much louder than their high-dollar SS396 Chebbelle- so he opened the hood and showed them the 8V 427 High Riser. Two youngsters last seen skulking away mumbling I still have the Milodon rear-sump FE pan off that car out in the shop
That would have been the late Clarence Everett I believe. He also ran a 427 ford powered roadster. Also the late Tom Senter attempted to run an Ardun flathead powered Camaro at Bonneville but broke the crank while warming up in the pits.
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