Hot Rods SBC into a 56T-Bird ?

I'm looking at a 56 with a junk YBlock. i've got a few SBCs w/TH 350. looking for any tips, problems etc. any guidance would be helpful before i pull the trigger and buy the car. thanks, mike

 

If the car is worth saving as a restored piece, it will probably be worth a ton more with a Y-block in it or even modernized with a Ford power train. I'm very not Ford in a Ford, but baby birds would have the most value that way. However if a Y-block fit, a SBC will fit. If you're going to do that, best to go full on wild with the build.

 

A special car like an early T bird deserves a more imaginative engine than a 350, surely?

 

We put a 5.0 with a C4 into a 57 a couple of years ago and it was kind of tight in a few spots. A SBC would have been easier.
Instead, I'd seriously consider rebuilding the Y-block and hooking it up to an AOD, T5, or even a 700R4.

 

SBC sounds cool. The th350 sounds kinda eh
I vote clutch

 

Trade The SBC For A 351 Windsor And Increase The Value Of The Bird As You Work...IMHO...

 

MEL....but FE would do if that's all you can find....

 

if this vintage T-Bird is one that you plan to keep for a very long time put anything that you want into it. check for oil pan sump location clearances. if you plan to flip it will get much more $ with Ford motor

 

i do a lot more talkin & figurin before i do any real work. for this car to be real valuable it's gonna need some serious money thrown at it. so far i'm only willing to toss a SBC at it.

 

Sell it to somebody who will do it Justice then.

 

It looks tight but...CAMMER

 

This IS a hot rod site ! Isn't it?

Do your thing. Sbc probably an improvement.

Ben

 

“It's your thing, I do what I wanna do
I can't tell you, who to sock it to”

 

If you're gonna put a 350 in it, then put a 350 in it. It's not rocket surgery. If you've done some engine swaps, you probably know the drill. If not, you'll get to learn...we'll be happy to show you the ropes.

 

Just be aware that it is illegal in Texas to put a Chevy motor in a Ford.

 

Lots of things that don't make sense are illegal in Texas.

 

I say just get it done, join the TBird group and hit up a show, lift the hood and sit back in a lawn chair with an umbrella propped up, sipping a some fruity drink and grinning like a possum eating shit

 

Valuable? There’s tons of comments here saying the opposite.
Unless its a factory supercharged or 2x4v bird.
We don’t restore cars here.
We modify em.
Put whatever makes it go
Dropped, gasser, kustom, custom, hot rod, road race………… who cares

there’s plenty of original examples. We need more modified birds.

 

i do have a 455 Olds, but that is just a headache waitin to happen. i havn't bought it yet, but if I do, SBC with a TH350 and a Gennie shifter, I know I can do it. Hell, I got a welder and a couple wrenches

 

Naw, bubble gum and bailing wire. You got this!

 

When I bought my 330 desoto hemi the seller had plans to drop it in his 57 t bird. I didn’t want the bird so I sold it to a friend that put a coyote in it. I often laugh about that t bird with a hemi.
Like @anthony myrick said, we hot rod shit here. What engine you use and what gun is on your nightstand is your call.

 

When I was in the T-Bird club here in Portland, we had one member with an LS engine in a 57 and another with an older Cadillac in a 57 Bird. They both came to events and national shows. The guy with the Caddy dealt in little Birds and had a restoration shop. He told me the Caddy engine and 400 transmission weighed something like 75 lb. less than the 312 and Ford-O-Matic.

 

Swap in the drivetrain from a Tesla, that way your wife can never blow it up because she didn't check the water or the oil.

 

Perhaps. Not as many things ILLEGAL though.

Ben

 

To help out just a bit, yes a SBC will work. The larger issue if there was one is the Oil Pan. just get an early Nova pan and that issue is behind you. In fact I just graphed together a front sump Nova pan to an LS rail for a Ford Swap. Easy Peasy if you know what you're doing. Make a bolt on plate to go from GM mount bolt bosses back to the stock Bird rubber mounts. The rest is a Cake Walk and will tell you what to do as needed. After all, it's just a Motor Swap.

 

Most of the modded 55-57 t-birds I see are Coyote swapped. More than likely I would follow suit. Stout engines and the car would have some resale value.
Without seeing what the car looks like it maybe better to just part it out.

 

Does that machine come with do it yourself welding rods? Back in the days before somebody figured out there was money to be made coating bare wire with a baked-on flux, the practice was to soak newspapers in water and wrap them around a bare wire, then let the paper dry. It worked, depending on the politics of the day .

 

Opening statement sounds like mr.chevrolet wants to use what he has, not cut the bottom out of his Wallet. Isn't that what Old School Hot Rodding is all about? Who gives a Ratz Ass about resale? Build it, Drive it however you can get it done.