Projects flathead vs sbc engine in a ford coupe

I think I just threw up a little.

 

Heads are new, funky looking valve cover breather thingy, bet its got a electric fan?????

 

Ford TUFF with CHEVY STUFF. SBC is the way to go for me. I think Flatheads are cool but I've bin working on SBC since I was a kid that everything else seems foreign to me. Easy and cheap to work on, dependable and a good payoff and return in horsepower.

 

the valve covers are genuine Corvette items and the breathers are vintage Moon parts.
No electric fan.

 

Traditionally styled hot rod. This should be all in the other section. Beautiful car by all means. This crate motor talk and all doesn't belong in here. When someone says: Flatheads are over rated in this forum a red flag should raise. 800 parts should be elsewhere.


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If you carry that philosophy to a logical conclusion then wouldn't only vintage parts originally installed by the factory qualify a car as being traditional?


The 276 FH for my roadster was not installed in a car at the factory...it was a replacement (crate) engine at one time, as were a large number of FH's now seeing hot rod duty. Plus it has Brookville body...Not traditional?

The stock 99T in my sedan was a factory installed engine in a '40 1 ton truck and I can count a total of less than 25 parts/components on the car that were made after '48 including paint, upholstery, glass, wiring, tires/tubes, steel brake lines and hoses and also includes coolant and oil, and even the new, store bought rebuild kit for the 94 carb. so I'm definitely aware of the theory of staying true to the era. I just don't view it as that big a deal in all cases.

The 283 in my '36 is a '58 that i took great pains to restore back to factory specs, including using as many original factory nuts and bolts as was reasonably possible. But....I have it mated to '66 Mustang C4 and the banjo rear has been converted to slip in 28 spline axles....concessions made because it's my wife's truck. No longer traditional?

I don't really buy into the whole definition/categorizing business anyway....I'm building the same kind of cars I was building as a kid.
They weren't "traditional" then and, as far as I'm concerned, they aren't traditional now.

They're just Hot Rods

They're fun to build and drive.

That's the only real criteria I have.

 

I think this is really splitting hairs. With that logic NO reproduction parts should be used ever. Throw away that Drake catalog, it aint real!

283, 265 or crate 350 dressed properly, there are more important things in life to worry about.

 

Thank you, Dan

 

Just to get my whack in on the dead horse, would the scat 4.125" stroker crank for the flat head be considered traditional?? Think I really care if it isn't?

 

I'M going to throw my 2 cents worth in. Flathead would be great if you have plenty of cash. 289 ford would be nice and reliable make plenty of power and put old 60's stuff on it and it would look great. sbc is hands down the cheapest way to go. reliable too. choose any motor that runs good and dress it up right (old valve covers, old air cleaner, etc. needs oil filler tube also. )be great to drive around. Now if you really want to go hog wild and have a real trick 40, put a vintage hemi in it. Nothing looks better , but it will cost you lots of cash.

 

Reasonable question, quit whining, get some @%& cheese???...really.

Your question may be the most asked on here. Had you done as outlined in the rules, you could/would have been reading for days. The post below was taken from the rules sticky.

5. Was your thread something that has been covered over and over again? Try searching next time. We've had countless threads through the years on bias tires vs. radials, the definition of "traditional," and many other topics. We don't need to rehash what the bulk of us already know.

 

Wow . . . 9 pages!

I've searched on Google -- not the HAMB -- "Model A V8" and ended up here! And I've actually read every single post. So allow me to add a new twist to it, as that the reason I was searching for it.

I have a "stock" 1931 Model A Roadster. Nice car, well running and driving, but it's the opposite of matching numbers. The VIN is the engine number which is a replacement engine from Long Beach Ford from God knows when (LBxxxx). My car has juice brakes all around, F-100 steering, '39 Ford transmission, Borg Warner overdrive and stock 4:11 rear end, as well as '35 wire wheels with 6.00-16 BW Firestones on all corners. The body was on a hot rod once, which I can tell by seeing that the rear wheel wells were once cut. So it's really healthy and quite attractive car, but it's not a preservation candidate in the traditional "stock" sense.

The car runs great, and will do 55 or even 60 on the freeway, but that's really stressing the engine and me out. So I would like a bit more power, so that I can roll the 110 miles to the L.A. Roadster show and some other events without fear to blow up the engine. I figured, if I can get 100hp, I am happy.

So here are my options:

1) have my 4-banger redone with B crank, insert bearings, fully balanced, then spend big bucks on Riley head or something similar. Cost?

2) Find an affordable, good running flatty which translates in a 21-stud engine, and mate it straight to my '39 3-speed tranny. Cost?

3) Find a really old 283 or even 265 Chevy SB and rebuild it with low compression and a 2-barrel.

I do NOT want to box the chassis, and I do not want to race the car., so I do not want lots of power. On the contrary! I want just enough power to cruise relaxed on the freeway at 65 or 70mph. So aside from affordability, I need to consider what it would take to install the engine in my car.

What's your take on it?

 

283, and box the chassis.

 

Again... like I said it all boils down to how much money and knowledge of flatheads you have, most guys today have very little of both.

I'd go with number 3 and you shouldn't need to box the frame.

 

Sounds like you have a decent drivetrain as is......as an alternative to engine swapping you might first consider changing to 3:54 rear axle gears. That might get you close enough to 65-70 without all the work needed to swap engines.

 

N/A? Hamb fairy dust...

 

I have both a 327 and a `38 flattie. Love them both ... albeit for different reasons. What you really need to do is what you want to... the costs will sort themselves out. I'll guarantee you in only 2 years, regardless of which way you go, the $$$ won't mean jack shit!!

 

Best post yet!!


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Rich Wright, I am enjoying your posts. Great! Given the what-is-traditional-and-what-is-not comments, the one that got me laughing was the comment about electric fans. I saw electric fans on flathead Fords in the late '50s and early '60s - heater fans mounted in front of the radiator in the (vain) hope that it would help against Kansas summer heat, I admit, but electric fans. I tried it once with an XK120 in the late '60s myself. Didn't work, of course. Hot rodding is about finding ways to make things work and the most interesting ideas come out of guys' garages. Just do what you want with your car and enjoy it

 

We all know its gettin' a SBC. Don't fool yourself.
It will be for good reason too.
I had all kinds of feelings of romance and sentiment for flatties, Visions of cool-guyness. Crusin lonely desert hiways as the sun was going down. Being "one" with hotrodders of the past.
Untill i had a ride in a nice flat powered coupe... (pedal to the floor). Hrmmmm. wait for itttttt.
I'll be honest, Big block chevys have spoiled me.

For my money, i'll take the best ratio of $$$:fast i can get, I dig hot rods and I'm cheap and i also like seeing something other than taillights around town.
They are SUPER COOL engines, I like them for the same reason i like L6's, They are neat. BUT for my hotrod...gotta have alotta GO, while not breaking the bank.
NOW my feelings may change later on, when i have bountiful cash and don't care how who beats me to the next stoplight and brags to their friends about "This old hotrod they smoked today".

Just thought i'd throw in another useless opinion that wont matter once the OP decides to build his car.

 

I'll help

Page 10 yet?

 

page 10 here we come

 

I have had the pleasure of owning both of them. I still have SBC's and pound for pound the best engine ever made. Having said this they do get a little plain to the eyes. A Flathead is very high on the cool factor and if you can live with the power they posess at a reliable state stay with one. They can be made to cruise at 70 for years to come. But if you ever think you are going to win a race against an OH after second gear or plan on driving fast/beating on your engine you better put an OH in there. I had a great running early F'head in my Sedan and it got alot of really good comments. But Boring! Man oh man I'm just not happy unless I have power to spare. But also Boring is a SBC, and I'm ok with that on a full hood car. After all they Haul Ass. But for the best of both worlds and more torque you cannot beat and Olds or Caddy. Caddy is easier for the steering, but harder on the speed parts. Both are a common and TRADITIONAL swap. For a cool read look up the Hot Rod from June 1953. It'll inspire you.

All the best,

Tim

 

Why I now drive a flathead.

 

Wow!!

 

What are we looking at? I super sized the image but it's just a blur.

 

...LQQKIN' like a butt load of tickets to me...

 

Oh......... Fast,but not fast enough to outrun the cops

 

back when i was involved with racing i heard a statement many times......a Ford engine takes twice the money to make them go half as fast as a Chevy