If it were mine I'd go for the 394 Olds or the big block Olds (mainly because I have them).. I'd say none of these are "to heavy" the MEL's and the FE's are probably the heaviest.. You could go lighter if you ponied up some $$$ for an all aluminium 401 AMC... That would be wicked.. The thing that saves weight on most of the above engines is when you ditch the stock intakes and exhaust manifolds.. I know on my 425 Olds the intake was pretty damn heavy, and I've carried a 383 MEL intake to the s**** trailer that isn't a light peice at all.. I think I would actually probably would use any big block from the 60's... Ford, Mopar, BOP, Caddy, AMC, and as much as I hate to say it Chevy all have some serious big inch engines and they'd all probably give you some serious bang for your buck.
I have to agree 100% with go with what you know. You can run a 383 sbc with earlier camel hump heads, a 60's style intake and carbs to match along with a short water pump and the proper accessories and it will take checking casting numbers for 99% of the guys to know that it isn't a punched and stroked 283 or a 327. Other than that how much money and time do you have to spend on building one of the suggested engines that several of the guys threw out. The old engines are great but as I found out a stock full rebuild kit for a 56 Desoto 331 Hemi is several hundred dollars more than what I can buy a 383 stroker kit with crank for. Machine work is probably close to the same but a decent manifold and other trinkets for the 331 are going to be budget killers unless I stumble onto a yard sale deal by accident. You have to remember too that sometime in the early 50's guys running flatheads were catching flack for running common belly ****on engines that anyone could stick together while the would be hotdogs were running Cads, Olds or Hemi engines.
The "traditional" choice for your car ( both era, and style) would be the early, small cube, SBC as stated above. The "new traditionalist's" who for some reason hate the SBC have gotten in your head, who do you want to please ???
A 348-409 just screams nostalgia.A truck motor can be bought reasonable as compared to the car version.Also, a BBF,,460, is dirt cheap for the torque you get albeit kinda heavy.Don't forget that Mopar made some fantastic small block engines and great transmissions.Consider a 340 six pack.
I thought all Henry Js had 394s in them from the factory. The LS sounds like the way to go fast cheap. Have fun.
I'm listening and learning. Keep 'em comin'. Anyone have a weight chart? I did a search but didn't find one.
If this is getting track time you might want to figure RPMs. Older engines are typically not happy revving much over 6 grand often. You ask my opinion, I say small block Ford or Chevy. Dollar for dollar they are very close in cost, performance, both offer an array of parts to customize to your look, and are much more rev happy than big blocks typically are. Not saying you couldn't build an FE to roll 8 grand...same for 454...lots of money involved though. Again, this is all just my opinion. If you want to build an engine for performance AND wow factor, build a 427 SOHC. High dollar high performance engine. The 427 SOHC "Cammer" weighs approx. 680 pounds. With a single 4bbl they produce 616 hp at 7,000RPM and 515ft/lbs at 3,800...approx. These numbers change depending on where you go, but they all are pretty close
Of all the opinions I read here the only engine choice besides the SBC that seems "logical" would be the 401 AMC. They made very respectable power and could be made to sing high notes (7000RPM) but it comes at a price and lack of available parts when you need em quick. Let's say you're racing and you're in the semi finals and you need to buy or borrow a part at the track. There might be you and 1 other guy running an AMC, or in fact, any of the other suggested motors. Sometimes the SBC is the ONLY choice. You want nostalgia? Dress it accordingly and go bang some gears. Nothing dominates the racing industry like the SBC has. Nothing. Like what's been said above, what are you worried about? I too would almost expect a bowtie of some kind under the hood. The 401 would be just a goof since there's some inbreeding in the history of Kaiser and AMC. As far as a 348/409, if you have really deep pockets you can make some power. Otherwise in their stock form the rotating m*** is extremely heavy. Kinda why it's not a Chevy motor of choice for sportsman stuff. Even stock HIPO **** is pretty pricey.
Olds 455 is only 2" wider and like 25 lbs heavier, weighs the same as a sbc if you use an aluminum intake
I prefer smallblock Chevys, but we had a guy down here in the mid 60's that had a Henry J with a dual four 413, with a 3 spd. It sat back far enough that he could adjust either carb while driving. If I remember correctly, the driveshaft was like 12" long. Riding in it was better than an E ticket at Disneyland.
Mopar or Merc? An LS mill would be cool, you can get 'em to spin pretty quick, but the standard Henry J 394 would be my choice still... Nothing says torque like accelartion induced whiplash... I didn't put the 401 up because it was "logical", but mainly because it was different, the average person wouldn't know what it is, they are fairly stout, and they've been known to make some serious power even though parts are pricey one could have himself an insanly righteous mill... Yup... Same for all the Olds mills from 260 up.. I wouldn't mess with anything smaller than a 350 Olds though... My Cutl*** has a 260 and it's a turd that can't be polished. And if you somehow wind up going with a 350 Olds you may beable to find one cheaper by looking for an old 350 Diesel, and it would be stronger too... 350 Olds engines are cool... the big 'uns are cooler but a 350 would do in a pinch.. these guys can help push you in the right direction... http://www.mondellotwister.com/index.htm
Seems like only 1/4 of the people responding noticed that you want to try and stay within the late '50's/early '60's time frame. That being said, you are limited to the Hemis, Poly heads, Olds, Buick Nailheads, Cadillacs, Y-Block Fords, etc... There was a guy here in town that had a Studebaker Hawk with a Packard in it in about '59. The car ran deep in the 12's (remember this was 1959), so there is another option. If you want to go with a later automatic, its expensive to adapt them to the pre 1955 Chrysler Hemis, pre 1955 Cadillacs and the Olds Rockets. Im a fan of the Cadillac motors...they are pretty much the same externally from 1949 to about 1962, so alot of the speed equipment is interchangeable. Displacements range from 331 to 390 in these years. I just saw the Moon Rocket at the Sacramento Autorama. Its an unrestored 55? T-Bird fully customized show car/race car from 1960. The car had a blown early Cad motor in it and according to the display article, it clicked off 163 MPH at Bonneville in 1963(?), so the Cads did make some power!
Why not a big 351W with a **** 3.85 stroker crank?? A .030" over 351W would turn that Windsor into a 393 big small block Ford. Or with a stock 4.00" bore would turn it into a 387 ci motor.... And I believe those crank packages use off the shelf 302 pistons. You might want to look into it.
My first choice would be a non-stroked Mopar 383 with a Torqueflite. The short 3.38 stroke will live quite happily with those 4.10s, plus you get all that yummy big block torque!! If you're concerned about being "period correct" the big block Mopar debuted in 1958 and has great factory dual quad and long ram options in the early 60's. The 383 is usually fairly cheap, all the musclecar guys want a 440. The aftermarket is really supporting the big block Chrysler now, so when you want to go faster there are lots of parts available.
A very popular engine that was swapped into hot rods in the mid 60's was the 389 Pontiac engine. They were plentiful and while not as cheap as a Chevy it was still reasonable. Around town there was a 55 Chevy coupe with a 60 Pontiac engine/ 4 speed with tri power ... a 57 T-Bird with a 389 backed with a Vitar (Vinny Tartantola) Hydro ... plus Nick Krumenacher's 57 Pontiac that had a later 389 engine swapped in it with the original 3 speed transmission ... Elmont, Long Island ...
if you want power and a car that looks like it,s late 50,s only one is SBC but what do you like? it,s you money sweat and time if you like sbc,s go for it only boreing thing is the fools who tell you it,s boreing now make the popcorn
Did you say an OLDS 455 with an aluminum intake weighs the same as a SBC? Is that right guys? I was figuring at least a hundred pounds difference.
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