Mopar In a Mopar, please think about it

Uhhhh.....that's pretty f#*ked up.

 

Hmnnn
............my AMC Rambler - mopar powered
............my Ford Truck - Mopar powered
............my Rail -you guessed it - Mopar powered
............my Plymouth coupe -naturally Mopar powered

I guess I am a little biased towards them Mopar motors - at least the Early Ones.


Of course I remember the one time I took my Rambler to an AMC/Mopar show - not one single "mopar guy" stopped to check it out or even BS with me - mopar folk are a strange breed - from what I can tell the "Mopar or No Car" slogan is a way of life with them. It takes all kinds. Build what you like!

 

and old...

 

yawn

 

I thought I had expressed myself pretty well the last time, but since Ron brought it up again, I will try yet another tack.
This is a traditional site. That means 4's up until the ford flatty, and not much else except the jimmys until the OHV V8s started hitting. That sorted itself out by the late 50s to the SBC for early fords due to HP, cost and that they fit. Sure, there were other motors, but that was the most common. There were very few rods that weren't early Fords. Then the SBC also took over the musclecars. It also got a lot of help and backing in racing. It is the most common it almost every form, from stock ma and pa cars to off road, to rods, to drag and circle track racing. It is the most available and the most common. Mopars were traditionally a breed apart. They were also-rans, low powered and different. They were not cool, not coveted, and didn't have much history in rodding. The 50's hemi was revered for it's power, but didn't fit easily into the earlier Mopars. The hemi was jammed into everything, and the rest of the car was tossed aside. Again, no respect. The thing is, no one except us diehard Mopar guys cared. We appreciated less wood in the bodies, juice brakes from the late 20s, independent front suspension from the mid 30s, more interior room in just about every case, and a solid frame. The only thing lacking was an easy motor swap. The same thing that made the SBC such a nice fit in a 32-40 Ford. There were a few groundbreaking swaps, and it became okay to have a mopar. There has even been special areas in NSRA shows for decades for the 'different' Mopars. Prices and availability have driven most to what were formerly 2nd and 3rd tier cars. Years ago, rodders would stumble over A's to get to deuces and Model 40s. Now A's are hot. There is a new group of people that compare 40-50s cars across makes and see a good deal with the Mopar steel, without the stigma that they formerly held. That's good and bad. It makes information, new reproduction, kit and repair parts more likely, but drives up the price of the cars and the old parts due to demand. The old hard core Mopar guys may be griping partly due to this, but it's more likely due to seeing that same engine that we all tend to see as boring, overdone and the easy way out, the engine that has the same appeal as Walmart VS the corner hardware store to us being installed in one of 'our' cars. Sure it's really YOUR car, but if you want to go mainstream, just go get a Ford or a Chevy and stick that thing in there. Leave the Mopars as unique, different, special cars. You won't hear this cry nearly as much if you wanted to drop in a Buick nailhead, a GMC 6, or a Olds Rocket. You may get some flack from those who revere those makes. The SBC is like a state religion; they are the majority. They think everyone has the same views, and when they see someone who doesn't, they try to force their views on them too. The SBC has pervaded the landscape, and it's a less appealing place because of that.

 

Looks good to me. I also like the battery there where you can get to it. Don't see a lot of that anymore........

 

Well said! Most people don't know that Ma Mopar was way ahead of their time and most of the other auto manfactures.

 

Give em Hell Ron.........to many SBC's in my opinion.

 

yeah, I'm turned off every time I get into my 49 Plymouth and start that ole 350 up. apparently my face must be permanently red from slapping myself. It will only get worse when my 350 powered 53 dodge truck is done. I will probably have to knock myself out when that happens.

 

Balls to the wall.

 

MoparMan4GZUZ

you just dont get it do you, I said it's a slap in the face to the mopar guys.
see I'll explain the difference to you
lets say you own a willys or a anglia or a studybaker and you put a chevy in it then your a chevy guy (and theres nothing wrong with that)
if you put a mopar in it your a mopar guy.
if you put a chevy in a mopar your still a chevy guy, you just happen to have a mopar car. that does not make you a mopar guy.
a real mopar guy runs mopar engines in their cars....

I have not insulted anyones car, or said I hate anyones car.
I just asked that anyone that finds a mopar body at least concider a mopar powerplant
and keep their mopar a mopar.

 

I get it alright, I consider myself a mopar guy, just more open minded.....LOL

 

Not to take Mopar sides one way or the other as the whole issue doesn't concern me too much one way or the other. But, have to disagree with this logic. I am putting a 392 hemi in a Studebaker. It is still a Studebaker first, just happens to have a hemi in it. Its not a hemi that just happens to have a Studebaker wrapped around it. Therefore, I still strongly consider myself more of a Studebaker guy and no way more of a Mopar guy than a Studebaker guy. Not even close, no way. Additionally, I have 3 other Studebakers all with the Studebaker motors still in them, plus a few extra Studebaker motors laying around waiting for projects to boot. Popping 1 hemi in 1 Studebaker doesn't all of a sudden make me a "mopar" guy.

Again, not that I care one way or the other. Mopars are totally cool with me. So are many other makes - interchange names as necessary. I just can't agree with your logic on that.

What if you have 1 Ford with a Chevy motor and 1 Hudson with a Mopar? What does that equal out to?

 

I'm open minded to you could use a 318 or a 360 or a 383 or a 440 or the one I like best a HEMI so theres all kind of engine to use

I'm sure you enjoy your car and thats great
I enjoy the ones that I build too.... Ron....

 

He is right... like it or not. If you put a Chevy in a Mopar, you are a Chevy guy with a Mopar car... *especially* if it's 60's and up. No Mopar guy would do that willingly... this is unique to the fanatical Mopar guys who foam at the mouth over fender tags and build sheets. And within that Mopar cult...er, group... unless the distributor is in the front, it ain't ****. I've been shunned at the gas station by a perfect stranger when I told him my Blue Goose had a 360... almost like I had to apologize for it or something.

Putting a 350 in a Mopar, in a Mopar guy's eyes is like putting a Honda motor in a '32... or fake flat heads on a 350... you just don't do it... This doesn't mean you can't stuff a Mopar motor, big or small, into any other make, of course you can... that will just make it that much better.

 

I think there is plenty of room for matched makes and mis-matched makes of any sort. No need to bother with what is better, etc. Either can work out great and either can **** just as much as anything.

The only thing I would say that if the car is somehow extra special and the particular engine is a critical part of that, then not a great idea to switch out the motor to something else no matter what make it is. Not that great to take a hemi car and drop in a Mopar 360 for instance - even if it is a totally kick *** built 360. To me, doing that is more "not getting it" than maybe even switching motor brands entirely.

There is plenty of room on the farm for all the animals. Even the weirdo ones.

 

study trucks OK I wont call you a mopar guy, BUT if you went to a mopar show with your hemi powered study you would be welcomed.
if somene went to a mopar show with a chevy in a mopar I would not like to hear the comments.

I don't know any mopar guys that would ever put a chevy in a mopar. but I do know some chevy guys that think thats no problem.
thats what I mean by a mopar guys and chevy guys Ron..

 

Guess thats why I built my roadster ALL FORD!!!---------------Don

 

One last comment I will say to contradict myself to some degree. Is that is was a bit of hard decision for me not to just keep a Studebaker motor in my truck instead of something else. But, this particular truck came with the very small 170 ci flathead 6 and that just wasn't going to cut it for me for this project. It is a truck and I plan to use it as such and wanted more low rpm gross power and torque than high rpm hp. The best Studebaker ever made was a superchared 289 that is a very, very impressive motor, but more for racing and high rpm power, not as great for my particular needs.

So, I am thinking what else can I go with. I need cubes and torque and needs to be vintage an cool. When the hood gets popped, there better be a good enough reason for me to have not used a respectable Studebaker motor. Chevy and Fords are just too obvious and popular. I need to have somewhat of an odd, but kick *** motor to feel right not going with a Stude 289. I know, what about a supercharged 392 hemi? That will be get the job done, yet enough odd to make it feel right.

So anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking with it till morning anyway. Maybe there is some purpose to the story in there somewhere.

 

392's are like Cragar mags... they work on anything.

 

You guys have got to be F'n kidding me right??? Of all the narrow minded ******** I've listened to, this has got to take the friggen cake by far! If you want to come over and donate a good running, 300HP 340 with a nice automatic, then BE MY GUEST! If not, get a grip! If you are that bothered by this mismatched make stuff, go to www.P15-D24.comso you don't have to look at this anymore. They will love you over there.

This 50 Coronet was purchased with NO MOTOR. Easiest thing to do was find a good running original motor. Then we have the Gyromatic issue's. Let's face it, sure it was a novel idea but it ****ed then and still ****s now. So now I have the fun job of driving all over gods creation looking for a yard that still has an old Plymouth in it so I can lay on the ground and pull the 3spd out of and hopefully it will have OD. Oh, while I'm at it, grab the bellhousing, flywheel, etc... But wait! Almost forgot, Dad can't drive a stick anymore for a long period of time and he wants to drive his car, A LOT!

After ditching the boat anchor idea, I pitched the RedRam Hemi idea to pop's. Sounded good on paper but financially, my dad can't afford that anymore. He is disabled with a small fixed income. I am divorced and paying childsupport and alimony so I can't foot the bill. This leaves one option, use what you got and that is hot rod ingenuity and V8 chevy's... No the car isn't getting butchered... It's a rare car, why ruin it? Sure, 318's ans such ARE good motors but Mopar Mania has taken over around here and they are non-exhistant. If I could find a suitable cheap donor car at the right time, then life would be great!

Moral of the story is this, at the end of the day, I could give a rat's *** what anyone thinks of me or my car... Opinions are like ***holes, everyone has one and some stink more than others. The only thing that matters is that WHOEVER'S car it is, that THEY like it. Consider it one more on the road...

Now, as I said above, IF YOU HAVE A NICE CLEAN 340 YOU WANT TO DONATE, FEEL FREE TO PM ME! I WILL GLADLY DROP THAT IN THERE.

 

amen!!!!!

 

That works fine as long as you don't drive an "oddball" car. Last time I checked there are no factory Es*** V8's.

 

Myself, I like them all Chevy, Ford, Mopar, AMC, and I have owned them all!

-------------BUT!--------------

With people like myself, its often comes down to economics. The facts are that building a Ford motor costs twice as much as building a Chevy, and building a Mopar motor costs twice as much as a Ford, and building an AMC motor costs twice as much as a Mopar.

They are all good motors if done right, but alot of people are just cheap/broke *******s who like doing things the easy way, myself included.

 

bad71burb, 340s don't grow on trees, but you can still find donor cars with 318s or 360s. If you just want to do an aerosol overhaul, you can. If you want to build a rompin' stroker, there are companies out there for that too. I see that you are a part of the great northeast. You should be able to find plenty of drivetrains that were pulled out of rusty cars back in the day.
If you want to swap in a mopar, here are some for you. No 340s, but that's like asking for a big journal 327 with double hump heads.
http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/926105318.html
http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/925230720.html
http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/924428738.html
I'm not against mixing and matching parts to build something cool. I'm not against a nice early vette fuelie motor in a traditional 32. Chevys have there place. Heck, they are all over the place! The SBC is similar to Blue jeans; they work and most people have them. I don't want to come off as high handed, it is your car, your decision. If you are happy, great. However, I hope you can understand why when someone sees your fairly uncommon Mopar and wants to see under the hood to view some real ingenuity, interesting work and problem solving, maybe even see something they have never seen before, and what greets them has that same look and style as the last 10 cars before. BTW, I've seen a number of them lately that swapped in 305s. About the only thing worse would be a 262 or 267....

I'm just saying that if someone is going to swap in a 350/350, Ford 9 inch and a MII front suspension, you might as well buy a repro frame, a 'gl*** body, paint it Red and have a matching lawn chair.

 

I will say AMEN to that. I am still up in the air on what engine I will run in my wifes car. But like I said in the first part of this post, I am willing to accept donations. bad71burb can have someone give him a 340 and someone can give me the 318, that way we get a free motor and the "mopar guys" are happy.

 

I started building mine 15 years ago when I had 5 kids in the house, my friend was a s****per and I got the parts for free. It just so happened tht the parts were Chevy, so the build wound around those parts. It could have gone all mopar if the right donor car would have come up, but it didn't and with 5 kids, the budget dictated that free was good. This car was built on the narrowest of shoestrings and cost just over 6k to build. I am a mopar guy with enough sense to know how to be frugal and still have fun. And I stay away from all mopar only events out of respect for the fanatics. Bud

 

....what he said.

I read the ***le of the thread. It implys reason. So, being a reasonable person I have THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
I can't imagine myself looking upon somebody elses' car that they spent all of that time and energy on, and being so presumptious as to question their choice of motor. That's beyond me. To be so, I think, is a silly premise. I can prefer, without insulting. I can appreciate their effort, give my opinion if asked for it.

Of couse we all have preferences about just about everything in life, but I don't have a covered stable of a thousand different cars, or own a brewery for an unlimited supply. I work with what I got and have fun with it.


MOPAR ONLY? ? ?


Silly premise. Silly logic. Silly, silly, silly.

"Ma! Billy said his dad can whip my dad! I told him I don't have a dad, I'm a *******, but I told him that I can whip his dad!"

 

I have a Nash with a chevy motor. Does that put me in a box? Hell no, I ain't a 'chevy' guy or a 'nash' guy. I'm a car nut and work with what I got. I didn't "choose" the chevy 292 motor because it was my only preference. Yes, I like L-6s, but I might have ended up with something different. When the guy told me he wanted a hundred for the motor, I didn't say, how's about that other motor you got for the same price.

The motor I ended up with came along at a good time for a good price, provided by my guardian angel.
I'm proud of my work, my hot rod, and it's fun. It ain't fun to hear some dullard tell me I shoud have used a nash motor. Motor choice could have been a zillion different, with no qualms as to origin. I don't even stoop to presume to question somebody else's motor choice.

 

I represent that remark. ALL MoPar dudes are not crazy, just crazy about MoPars.
Jack