Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #30 – September 11, 2005, 08:04:48 PM QuoteAnd who cars if a 32 ford has a chebby engine? Most of us would kill to have a car the exact way that we want it.A few weeks ago I made the short trip up to Ric's neighborhood in Cleveland for a car show. In the lot was a stunning old pearl white Lincoln Zephyr. A few of the details were a little gawdy to me but overall this car was just long, mean, slammed and gorgeous. I'm taking photos of the car, and a guy about 50-60 years old looks under the hood, and says, "Now why the hell would you put all this work into the car and drop in a Chevy motor?"And I laughed. Why indeed....I can tell you why. A Chevy 350 is just like a Dell computer...reasonably priced, available widely to near everyone, does a decent job, good bang for the buck. It is not so much an engine as it is a commodity in the hot rod world. Is there anything wrong with that? Not really. If people want it, Chevrolet will still keep building it.That still doesn't excuse anyone from being a plain old cheap . "Well, let's see, I bought the car for $5G, paint and bodywork were $8G, wheels/tires/suspension was $3G. What motor to go with? Well, why make it difficult...I just go to the grocery store (aka Summit) and pick me up a nice, cheap 350 with a chrome dress-up kit."*yawn* Next....The cars that stand out in your mind will ALWAYS have something different when it comes to the engine. Let me bold this for ya: The 350 is not different. It is now a "me-too" engine, not the trend-setter it once was. It is a 50-year-old engine that has been ported, beefed, hacked, rehacked and done to death (just pick up HOT ROD magazine sometime). Some people find comfort in the old-school design and I guess that's alright if that's what makes them happy. But just imagine what something different would do to snazz up an otherwise "ordinary" car.Hot rodding, in the truest sense, means taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary. Using taillights, headlights, door handles, engines. etc. from another car, tweaking it, sweating it out, using your BRAIN POWER to solve a problem, to come up with the ultimate solution, to make something mundane into something slicker than piss. To go the extra mile because it's NOT easy. To be a pioneer. To be the person that will not believe "it can't be done."Putting a 350 in an old hot rod is NOT hot rodding anymore.Putting an LS1 into a Mustang is.If you don't know the difference...it's never too late to learn.PS: The LS1 is not a 350...it is a completely different motor than the old 350, and it shares nothing with it.QuoteI don't have anything against GM engines and have had several SBC's myself, but I do get bored looking at them. MM&FF magazine is almost as bad, though, with its 100 pages of ads to make your 5.0 exactly like every other 5.0 in the magazine...So true...sad but true. It's starting to be difficult to be different anymore. That just makes me work twice as hard to be different. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #31 – September 11, 2005, 08:16:59 PM Ls1 engines are one of the best engines out there. While I wouldn't put one in my Cougar, I would consider it for about anything. It is the modern day small block chevy. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #32 – September 11, 2005, 10:30:39 PM I think it all comes down to how brand loyal you are. I wouldn't put a Chevy in a Ford but if all you want to do is go fast by all means put what ever engine you want in your car. I do agree, however, that the small block Chevy isn't anything new any more. Every time I go to a cruise night I see 4-5 old (ie repo) 30's Fords hot rods. What do they have for power? Why a 350 ofcourse. Once I did see something that made everyone take a second look. A guy pulled in with a 32 Ford with a 460 Ford in it. Yeah that's right it had a Ford big block. That was one of the coolest cars I have seen in a long time. Now if I could only afford to build one....... Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #33 – September 11, 2005, 10:44:15 PM Quote from: thunderjet302Once I did see something that made everyone take a second look. A guy pulled in with a 32 Ford with a 460 Ford in it. Yeah that's right it had a Ford big block. That was one of the coolest cars I have seen in a long time. Now if I could only afford to build one.......Nice. I remember at Fords@Carlisle in 1997 there was a dude that parked a C3 Corvette in the infield. Everyone was like, WTF? Until you waded through the crowd surrounding the car and saw the Ford 460 stuffed very nicely under tha hoodie. I think the 350 thing is about money, first and foremost. You gotta remember, most of those older guys have these wives that keep nagging them about how much money they're spending on their "toy", and won't "let" them spend money on a really big or expensive engine. Now the crafty guys, they find ways to get around all that nagging and get the engine they want. But for a majority, they're probably lucky to just get a 350!BTW, the father of the dude that painted my car has a '29 Ford that he restored. It's a 4-door with a wood roof, and the car was carefully and painstakingly crafted with a few nice custom touches. For instance, he took the middle section of a 1992-95 Mercury Sable taillight (the reflector part that stays on the trunklid, like the MN12 cars) and made it into the taillights, down way low between the fenders. And he even went through the trouble to lengthen the front end 6", specifically for the fitment of a 351W. Sure, they could have just dumped in a 350 and called it a day...but they chose not to. The car is just sweet, unique, detailed, and ALL Ford. It takes some time, commitment, creativity, and money of course, but it can be done the correct way if you want to.But I think the notion of using an LS1 in a Cobra is just insanely creative. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #34 – September 11, 2005, 11:17:26 PM I'm sorry but a chevy in a 96 Mystic Cobra. No. what the hell.Brand loyal is still important to some. Creative, creative imo would of been a ford single overhead cam 4.0 liter v6 twin turbo, or a 400 plus hp svo turbo 4 cylinder but a chevy not creative . :flame: Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #35 – September 12, 2005, 12:30:22 AM Quote from: 88foxtI'm sorry but a chevy in a 96 Mystic Cobra. No. what the hell.Brand loyal is still important to some. Creative, creative imo would of been a ford single overhead cam 4.0 liter v6 twin turbo, or a 400 plus hp svo turbo 4 cylinder but a chevy not creative . :flame:how is it creative, theyve both been done numerous times, ive even seen a 4.0 twin turbo in an EXPLORERthe LS1 in the mustang has reason, i look at it as function over form, he was blowing up 4.6's left and rightlets think about this, how many of you actually know anything about an LS1? guys that will do heads, cam and intakes on the cars, with the other bolt ons can hit 10's! ive never seen a stock displacement, stock rotating assembly Ford small block do that without forced inductionfor a race car, the idea is greatfor a street/show kinda car, i feel slight brand loyaltya big thing with the chevy 350, you can flip through summit, buy a 400hp small block, have it tuned, and ready to drop in, even with some pretty valve covers. Not everyone has the know how, or the money to build their own engine, so why not have it done? Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #36 – September 12, 2005, 01:06:24 AM Hey Mr, Dess, do you want some insanely creative ????Put a 350 Chevy in a Fox Cougar Convertible........ Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #37 – September 12, 2005, 01:17:41 AM Man, anybody who thinks it's "OK" to put a 350 into an old street rod should pick up a copy of Street Rodder magazine sometime, and you'll see why I am vehemently against it. I used to have a subscription to Street Rodder and I cancelled it. Why? Because every month it was the same old shiznit in that magazine. '32/33 Ford, 350/350, Mustang II IFS, Ford 9" rear, blah, blah, blah. I can understand the suspension maybe, since the Mustang II IFS/9" rear have the most parts available for them (hell it's hard to find anything else), but the engine category needs more variety in it these days. I mean, these guys are usually spending $20K+ on these street rods, I think they could afford to get a little more creative in the engine department than a carbed 350. At our county fair back in August, some guy had a '39 (I think) Chevy coupe, painted flat black with a big block under the hood and side pipes. Suh-weet. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #38 – September 12, 2005, 07:26:27 AM I would take an old flat head anyday over a chevy in a street rod/rat rod. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #39 – September 12, 2005, 07:27:58 AM I would take an old flat head anyday over a chevy in a street rod/rat rod. Doesn't matter if its a ford. hudson, what ever.As for the 350 chevy into a fox seen it done already there is a guy here with an 87 Mustnag with a 350/350 combo that drag races. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #40 – September 12, 2005, 09:21:59 AM Quote from: MexCougarHey Mr, Dess, do you want some insanely creative ????Put a 350 Chevy in a Fox Cougar Convertible........I don't want to hammer out my firewall. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #41 – September 12, 2005, 09:35:43 AM Quote from: EricCoolCatsI don't want to hammer out my firewall. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :rollin: IE big fat GM HEI distributor that gets installed in the rear of a chevy 350 motor :giggle: i'll pass i'd rather shove a 460 in my cougar which might happen one day :evilgrin: if there ever would be a motor that was'nt a ford motor that i would put in my cougar. it would be only 413 or 426 max wedge or a 426 hemi !!*edit* or do what someone else did on this message board..a caddy motor :evilgrin: to this day my old time friends bust my ball$ about getting rid of that motor.. big time HP with out boost!!i still sometimes miss that car.. i wish i had some good pictures of it to show everyone :disappoin to see other motor heads faces when i used to race it was funny as hell!! :giggle: Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #42 – September 12, 2005, 10:01:54 AM Quote from: EricCoolCatsI don't want to hammer out my firewall. Ah come on it would be "Creative" :D Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #43 – September 12, 2005, 11:10:55 AM It would be creative, yes...but in my case, the only part of the car that's holding the car together is the firewall. Quote Selected
Re: It's Just......Wrong! Reply #44 – September 12, 2005, 01:36:09 PM i see it two ways. 1: if it is a race car.. sweet, that engine is mad powerful.2: show.. if it was put in his mystic.. ruins show value for a fairly rare vehicle..eitherway. it is his car, if thats whay he likes, then it is all him, though personally, i would have tried to get an '03/04 cobra motor.. Quote Selected
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