Art & Inspiration The Ultimate Hot Rod Motor

When I was in high school (1960/64), you could get old flat head race parts for really cheap. Same with flat head engines. It was easy to knock a beat up’40 Ford together and run it hoodless and be cool. It’s pretty much like that with SBC now. And even better, the SBC is much lighter.
But if the question is which vintage engine looks best, when all detailed with finned valve covers and valley cover, I have to go with the Kettering Olds and Caddy.

 

If I was shot in the ass with money, I would have one of EVERYTHING! And 2 or 3 of the ones I really liked. Let’s face it, they all, with few exceptions, have their accolades and drawbacks. It’s personal preference. Me? I’m a SBC guy, had a bunch, easy to make hp, not really that cheap anymore like it used to be. But lately I’ve been in the early 60’s Ford 6 cylinder camp. Learning a lot about them, and I kinda like them. But no engine looks better than a dressed flathead, and no engine sounds better than a split Chevy 6. Just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions.

 

Back in my teens I was a Ford man. The cars I could afford had Y blocks or early FE's. Most of my friends were playing with SBC engines (they were hard to beat). I did have a 52 Ford for a short time, but the flathead was slap wore out. However, I agree that the flathead is the nicest looking engine dolled up and they sound great.

In my late 20's I bought my first sprint car which put me in the SBC camp. I always thought that the little engines had poor low end torque. My driver didn't like to wind out the engine. He wanted the car geared to almost bog as you accelerated off the corner. I watched this "no torque" small block pull the front wheels coming off the corners. Seems they do have some bottom end torque.

The other deal with the SBC was that they were cheap to build. You could go to your Chevy dealer and order an LTI short block for about $1500.00. We would get one of these, open up the rod side clearance, bolt on all the sprint car stuff, and go out and win the feature.

By the way, my Model A has a nailhead in it.

 

I think top on the list just for universally being the best bang for your buck the SBC takes the cake .
Easy and cheap to build , reliable and can make tons of power . And you can dress them up 8 ways from Sunday .

the ford flathead v8 is the granddaddy , grand poo-bah , god father of all hot rod engines , but it’s finicky , under powered for its weight and now expensive to build and dress properly .

Any nail head , Pontiac , olds or caddy mill is inherintly cool , intrinsically hot rod and sexy , hard to beat .

big blocks are big blocks , big fat easy power , nothing sounds like dialed in big block .

Hemi ? Well they are just cool , expensive and cool .

inline 6 engines get my motor running , just love the power and sound from one and dressed up they sure look sexy .

to me , and I hate saying it . But the ubiquitous small block Chevy in its many variations is the hot rod motor .simply due to availability cost and numerous ways you can extract power and looks from one .

 

I feel all engines can look good if detailed properly, even Fords!

 

My 2 cents or no sense…

 

I love engines. I have started quite a few projects with the engine and built a car around them. And to me there's the difference, you drop a SBC in a car to increase performance without breaking the bank. You build a car around a Hemi, blown flathead, Nailhead, Caddy, etc. Like I said IMO.

 

That's it in a nutshell. Yes, the flathead will be forever enshrined as the original hot rod motor, deservedly so. The SBC is second, basically due to its cost/benefit ratio. But there's lots of other choices, all with various pluses and minuses. While I'm a Ford-blue-runs-in-my-veins guy, I always liked the looks of the 371/394 Olds, a motor seldom seen these days. But I remember its glory days, slugging it out with the Hemis in the early '60s gas classes.

I'd be curious to see two lists; one a 'cost no object' list, what you'd buy if you won the lotto. Second would be 'best bang for your buck' and that list would be much different. It's pretty obvious that the SBC would be #1, with the SBF probably #2, then the big blocks would start showing up followed by the 'vintage' entries.

 

A Blown Baby Hemi or a 409!

 

Bill
That is precisely what I did for my roadster, decided if I started to run low on funds I at least wouldn't be forced to get a cheap crate motor to finish it.
So yeh, my Rodeck small block is kind of the focal point.
Now I really hope the moderators are gentle with me!



Actually though, the very first part I bought for my roadster project was a Top Fuel connecting rod for the column drop, got that in the swap meet at the CHRR Famoso.

 

Since 1964, I have built and raced cars with Flatheads, 331 Cad, early Olds, small block Fords (Boss), and blown early Chryslers. The three I currently have under construction all have small block Chevys. I guess I am getting lazy in my old age !

 

the flathead can have a very pleasing sound
like in this video captured at a local get together 17 years ago

 

and sbc's can be made to look cool with the right stuff bolted on

 

There is no winner in this game as we are comparing apples with oranges and someone tosses in a box of grapes in the mix.

Power gained with mods for dollars spent = Ford flathead right up to the day that small block Chevys became availble.
It always amazes me that in the 30's 40's and 50's high school kids with maybe were building fast for the time flathead engines in their what ever a hot rod was called in their hood at that time Not a lot of skill, not a shop full of special tools. Mix and match parts, spend money on the cam and induction system. For those who have Mickey Thompson's book challenger it also for some meant scrounging in the scrap bins of shops in the area for parts and pieces that got thrown out during rebuilds. His wife at the time bought him a boring bar to fit the pistons that they found to the blocks that he had. Now flatheads are expensive because they are too time consuming for job shop machine shops to want to work on and you end up at specialty flathead shops.
Along comes the Chevy V8 in late 1954. One has to wonder how long it took before one hit the wrecking yard and a local hot rodder snagged the V8 setup out of it for his hot rod. A whole industry developed around parts to modify the Chevy small block just as they had for the Ford flathead. Not only were the guys who were hot rodders who put the engine in an early body modifying the engines but guys who were buying new cars off the showroom floor were changing cams and intakes and carbs right off the bat. It may be a 30-30 Duntov off the dealer's parts shelf or a cam from Isky or Crower or one of the others that got put in in the first weeks of ownership of the car. You wanted that edge on the other guy in town with the 283 Powerpack that was just like your 283 power pack.
Now manufactures still sell so many parts for sbc on a regular basis that prices are friendly. That and the used parts market is full of parts if you hunt a bit. Performer manifold = 50 bucks or so used and a little dirty. Someone's old hot lick heads that they replaced with the new hot lick heads for less than the cost of a valve job on your stock heads.

Buick nailhead, Early Olds, any hemi, Early Cad . All cool but back in the day a lot of them in hot rods were pretty stock as far as mods went, They had enough power to push a Model A or early V8 ford a lot faster than a flathead with a ton of mods could stock and would outrun a lot of well tuned sbc in the late 50's and early 60's when stuffed in an early chassis. Speed parts for them weren't cheap or plentiful then. Go looking for a nailhead, Cad, olds or early hemi aftermarket intake now and they ae hard to find and spendy. Outside of sbc you can still find more flathead intakes at swapmeets than most anything else for what amount to reasonable prices.

I've got a 56 Desoto 330 hemi (2 barrel) languishing in the shed in pieces that I have had for 30 + years that I finally decided needs a new home but it will need a full rebuild to be usable. engine, bellhousing, clutch and 3 speed overdrive trans. The cost of the engine kit to redo it is just beyond my budget now. High bubba factor if if you have the $$$$ to build it right.

GMC sixes (248, 272 & 303 are cool until you start looking for common rebuild parts. You can find some of the speed parts easier than you can find the pistons and rod and main bearings and oil pumps. We see where can I find parts threads on those every week on here. Even the guys who have raced them for years at Bonneville have a challenge getting parts.

Still it is what your budget allows and what you want your hot rod to be and you go from there. That be it if it is a pro built flathead, a pieced to gether with swapmeet and discount parts 3 fiddy chebby or one of the high bubba factor early overheads that has goodies made of unobtainium on it.

 

I'm ok with the occasional Olds too

 

You nailed it ,well flat headed it, the flathead is the Grandaddy of all , never owned one maybe someday. I forgot about the W motor had a 348 way back - never finished All the engines listed here are awesome and each has its place.
Dan

 

@Moriarity is right. Caddys are the most visual pleasing, especially with multiple carbs.

 

HEY NOW!!!
Now that I think (that far back) about it, I saw that Boss motor in action.

 

When you're right, you're right. Although I love the bumpy Olds valve covers or the early Rocket valve covers with the cool plug wire dividers on them.

 

Recently I’ve fallen back on leaving the “bling” under someone else’s hood. I like multiple carbs and stock air cleaners today along with painted rocker arm covers with stock decals. If the intake was aluminum, keep it clean and “as bought” the way it was.. Exhaust may be the hardest to replicate but Eastwood cast iron brush on is pretty good.

 

I agree for the most part. However, there are a few things that I find acceptable not remaining "AS SOLD ORIGINALLY".
The top of that list is brakes. Decades ago I was driving one of my 1962 Chevy Novas down the road and suddenly had no brakes AT ALL! I was pumping like crazy and still nothing. Traffic was stopped in front of me so I turned hard, jumped the median and pulled off the road. Come to find out the c-clip holding the rear axle in broke. The entire axle snuck out of the housing including the brake drum. If I'd had a master cylinder that had two separate chambers I would have had brakes in the front. Those early Chevys, and other makes as well we're like that.
Soon after that, I had my lower arms modified on that Chevy II to accept the commonly available ball joints from other Chevys with disc brakes and all the other disc brake parts as well. This was years before anyone else had disc brake conversions for those first gen Novas.
So, at the top of my list of acceptable modifications is brakes.

 

But, on a positive note..........your Novas' brakes were as good as the front suspension.

 

Whatever fits.
Fits the car, budget, goal, vibe….. or what’s available at the time

all just chunks of iron with holes punched in em

I dig em all.

 

Best bang for the bucks and be able to look good definitely a Small block Chevy
overall appearance Buick Nailhead

 

If they are done right they can all look good.
I'll decide what I think is done right.

 

I’ll have to look up that song he he. Someone on this site has a Sbc with a Man-A-Free set up that makes the small block a contender in the looks department.

 

Small block Chevy was made for all this,,,,,,General Motors was smart to keep so many parts to interchange between sizes,,,,almost everything will swap between two piece rear seal models .
I feel 283 and 327 were the best,,,I know,,,,it’s a crazy thing to believe but I’m that way,,,,lol.

I’ve always liked a lot of engines,,,,and I think all are fantastic,,Ford,,,Buick,,Olds,,,Caddy,,,all brands .

Flatheads are really cool,,,,,but it takes the same money or more to build a nice one,,,,,and the power will still be a third of the Hemi .
Besides,,,,,Mr Zora had to make the Ardun head to really make the Flathead power equal to a SBC,,,,a fairly stock Chevy at that .

Forgive me,,but,,,,I’m slightly prejudiced,,,,Hemi’s Rule,,,,sorry man !

Tommy

 

"Way Back Story"
Those who know me,also know,I built an raced very well,SBC's on oval tracks for nearly 40 years,many wins.
But for those who will be up-set by me pointing out,the 265 SBC when new, was a pile of "leaking oil", with "blow by" crap box WITH LOW POWER./My Dad got a brand new 265-SBC in his new Nomad ,had to return to dealer many times.> Ya,it got fixed,only by replaced with a 56model 283 V8 engine BY DEALER. But should of been better to start with!!!,After copy the best parts of as many OHV's that came before that Chevy could copy from{ it was a late comer in OHV V8s}.
Well,I never really like long winded talking. So getting to the point is cool,yet what is used to make a point can be full of missing info,that's not known or over looked.
I started building hotrods in the mid 50s,giving me a perspective, that all my buddy an I had then.
V8 Power pick for us kids,with out a golden spoon; Was more what V8 we could find for free or close an ran,vs what was the most wanted. At the mid 50s,that was not a SBC tell late 50s. The Flatheads had been out dated bad power wise by the end of the 40s< There were some hard core{ Or hard heads}"Flatheads for ever"guys, it was not a big group.
I was not a engine brand is best guy! They were looked at by me,as all nuts n bolts!
I still think from those I knew,and I knew a lot of hotrodders,thats the way it was.
Today many look back,with a lot of history they have found=good info,just not as complet as being there at the time.
Hope that put a little extra perspective an fun thought into this game !!
Happy hot rodding,no matter how you like thinking about;Zoom zoom.