I'm in the process of picking up. 54' crestline Victoria that has the original drive train, but am wanting to p*** the flat head on to my mate for his 29 and run a sbc to keep cost down. What were some common/popular engine builds people were doing in the late 50's early sixties that would have found in a fun street machine?? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Another question were people swapping Chevys into fords in that era as well?? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The 327 was my first choice but wasn't sure if it would be some what period correct Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The weak underpowered flathead V8 was the best the world had and was king of the hill but hotrodders began using overhead V8s as soon as they showed up in the early 1950s. But these were in Cadillacs and other expensive cars in limited availability. As soon as the smallblock chevy arrived in great numbers in 1955 the hotrodders began using them in our old Fords. To recap, race cars are a different category. Street driven hotrods began with the Model T Ford, then the Model A 4 cylinder cars which outran the new flathead V8s until the hotrodders figured out how to hop up the V8s. Modern cars arrived in 1949 with overhead valves, independent suspension and automatics and air conditioning. 1948/49 has always been considered the dividing line. Cars made after 54 were considered street machines instead of hotrods. This continued until the Muscle cars in 1963. Interest in hotrods died down in the 60s and Streetrods began in 1971. And thats the way it was
I wouldn't really guess anyone was swapping out motors on a brand new Ford in '54, regardless of brand. By the time a '54 Ford got enough miles on it to be worn out, and used up, it would have been early 60's and a SBC wouldn't be out of the question. Go ahead and put a 350, or whatever you can find reasonably in it, and put some early camel hump heads on to make it look more period correct. That was a pretty common swap on SBC engines in the day. A Corvette dual quad intake or tri power was also pretty hot item, and often added to many SBC engines. There were other things done internally, but they don't show, so not as important as the look of the external mods. And don't forget the period finned aluminum valve covers!
Thank you guys for the input, I got 355 that would work perfect but I'm sure in that time period those weren't widely used that's why I was thinking a 327 using a few offy parts my friend has. What's the cost comparison for a decent streetable build sbc and early caddy or buick/olds motor?? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
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