I will go with the Chevy 302.
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I will go with the Chevy 302.
For looks and sound, I like flathead Fords. For looks and GO, anything with hemi heads, with the 241 Red Ram being my favorite. For daily driving and longevity, you can't beat a 318 Mopar.
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Originally Posted by DennyW
Cause I wanted to start another Chevy 302 thread, silly.
Uuuhmmmmmm, NO. If this one even strays just a bit and starts to get ugly, it's gone. PERIOD!Quote:
Originally Posted by burty
You must know that 90% of the answers are going to be some sort of SBC................Do you really have a 302 SBC?......they are quite rare. I had one traded to me around 1974........needed work......rod, piston, crank....Should have kept it I quess.
I had an L78 396 back in the day...(396/375hp)........that thing would run. I actually preferred it over my next engine....LS6 454 (450hp)
Nope never had a 302. Thought about having one built for my 65 Nova though.
I guess it would be my favorite because of all the stories you here about how they were the baddest (back in the day). When you are in high school and you here stories about bangin' gears at 8,000 rpm and your 4 cyl. pinto aint' gettin it done...yada, yada.
For guys my age (39) we all heard the stories from our uncles, or fathers, or older friends we met through the hobby. I guess for lack of a better term it is "romantic" to wax nostalgic about the motors we didn't witness but only heard about. I guess for those of you that were there it is the equivalent of now running out and buying a Dodge pickup "cause it's got a Hemi". You of course know what a "real Hemi" is, but the youngsters figure if it's got the sticker it must be BAD!!!!!
Don't know if this made much sense but there it is. Burt.
P.S. Don't worry mister moderator I have my shock collar on.....I'll be a good little fella....tee hee....
I AM A SB CHEVY GUY all the way . 350s are my top pick always loved that 1970 LT1 350 370HP . Also like Pontiac 389 to 455 great street engines . But All USA fast street/strip cars are COOL!:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by poncho62
A tunnel port 427. They make gobs of torque and are probably one of the most rare FE engines ever built. Not sure on the production numbers, guy once told me there were fewer tunnel ports made then the 427 SOHC engines?????
Here's an old ad, sure do wish we could buy them for that. My local Ford parts guy won't honor the advertised price!!!!!:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
anything that does not say MADE IN JAPAN. Parts are expensive and they are impossible to work on.
:3dSMILE: big block chevys any thing from 396 to 731**)
Dave that 427 ford photos are great . I have a 1965 Mustang . I would like to see one of these 427s in it ! Is this the 427 side oiller ? Look at the ports in those heads !
GOOD CHOICE DAVE :D
Now I know some of you may find this hard to believe, but up at the top of my list are Hemi's and FE Fords. :eek:
409 Chevy's, Buick nail heads, 455s (BOP), 500 inch Caddys, and either flavor of Max Wedge engine. All have a well earned reputation.
A SBC is ok as long as it has at least 6 barrel induction :LOL:
Side oiler was a variation on the 427, not sure if the tunnel ports were or not... Maybe G will be along and tell us both! I've seen the tunnel port heads show up occasionally on eBay, they get really spendy!!! The ports were huge and flowed great! Having either a cammer or a tunnel-port would definitely have to be my dream engine!!!! If I could ever find and afford one, think I'd have to buy me one of those "brand new" '67 Fastback shells those guys in Az. build and build me one awesome Horse!!!!
Got to go with the ZL1 myself :cool:
It was similar in design to the most-potent iteration of the aluminum-head L88, but it was the first production Chevy engine to also have an aluminum block. It shared the L88's 430-bhp factory rating, but actually had over 500 bhp -- making it likely the most powerful engine Chevy ever offered to the public. And it weighed just 500 pounds -- about the same as Chevy's 327-cid V-8.
What Pat say's here does it for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by pat mccarthy
Speaking of which, have you seen this:Quote:
Originally Posted by viking
http://wardsauto.com/ar/block_revived_scrap/
You guys find some of the greatest photos . Was there a 1965 396 425HP that had aluminum heads ? One guy at work said he had a 1969 Nova that had a 396 425HP and it had aluminum heads ? THANKS COOL:cool:
Hands down the ZL1 for all the reasons Viking gave + it was a sign of things to come.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tango
There was a 425hp 396............not sure if it had aluminum heads. There were aluminum heads available on certain engines in those years. Most of the square port big block engines....396/375hp......427/425hp and 454/450hp....were seriously underrated, mostly to keep insurance companies happy.
Well, if a Factory Motor. 440 6 pack Mopar
Quote:
Originally Posted by poncho62
A L78 was a 425hp 396 but I don't think it had alum heads.
A L89 was a 375hp 396 with alum heads.
yes ill admit i like 283's 302's and 327's but if i could build any motor right now, i would build a 343 or a 390 amc , or a 421 pontiac, or a 406 ford or a 427 side oiler. those motors just caught my eye ever since i was a little kid. and of course the beloved 427 bbc and the ls6 454, ive got a finger int he cookie jar in a little of everything
Cammer
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Cammer is the name pinned to the little known, amazing engine produced by Ford starting in 1964. The 427 cammer was amazingly powerful. The secret behind Chalmers factory rated 616 horsepower (@7500 RPM) with a single carburetor or 658 horsepower (@7500) with two carburetors, lies under the abnormally large valve covers, namely, a single overhead camshaft. There's two camshafts in the 427-cammer (the reason this big V-8 can get to 7500 RPM).
By now you may have guessed that the cammer is based on the multi- application 427 block. One of its various forms. I wish I could remember them all. Side-oilers, top-oilers, high-risers, medium-risers, and low-risers, among others. These mills came in various vehicles, including Galaxies, Fairlanes, Mustangs, Cougars, Mercury Marauders, Mercury Comets, AC Cobras, GT-40's, etc (Mike Greene). Regardless, the cammer itself was intended for racing only, but there are a few which have made it into the "street", making life a nightmare for, in many cases younger, but less vital, hemi's, LS6 454s, and even the boss 429.
http://cdnclassics.chevelles.net/68_72opt.htmQuote:
Originally Posted by viking
http://www.holisticpage.com/camaro/camaros/ss.htm
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/classi...n/engine.shtml
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656798/posts
There seem to be conflicting numbers on this subject. The way I read it...In a Corvette, they seem to be rated higher whether they have iron or aluminum heads. Like I said earlier, these engines were rated lower to satisfy the insurance companies. In a Vette, you were paying the extra premium anyways..............I guess.
i cool engine but i think you would not find one round to many Us street but if you had deep pockets you could have one or if you were ed pink or home&moody BUT over the counter you could get the LS7 454 One Bad Engine . there were the CanAm all alum blocks that could go well over 502 cid that could hold there own but for the blue collar guy the lower hp 396/454 with headder intake and the l88 cam would do a good job and sweep the streets . gm big blocks.. heads were some of the best flowing heads and the Oports did very good job . the big 3 HP heads were not much better then them. i was thinking this was more what you could find out on the streets but ? i would take a Can AM engineQuote:
Originally Posted by cnile64
1970 Buick 455. 400 hp 10.25:1 compression. It was in my mom's puke green 4 door LeSabre, and i inherited it when I started driving to high school. It chewed up and spit out a few of the new 84 Camaro Belinetta's that the rich kids were driving.:3dSMILE:
A good friend of mines parents had one of these.Quote:
Originally Posted by falconvan
It would just smoke the $hit of the tires without even trying in fact his dad was so mad at him he made buy new tires for the car one year.
The other thing I remember is the car had a very good heater in it.
Although we hot rodders rib each other regarding one brand being better than another, the truth is, pretty much every brand has some great engines they have created. Over the years I have played with Pontiacs, GTO's, Chevys (even raced a 301 smallblock for a while) , Fords, Oldsmobiles (both pre-65 design and post '65 design) etc. Never played with Mopar, but they certainly have some great engines to their credit also.(BTW, I hear Chrysler has re-released the 426 Hemi and lots of original speed parts like intakes. FANTASTIC...........LOVE THEM ELEPHANT MOTORS!!!)
American rodders have been blessed to have such great foundations to build upon, and I think this brand loyality thing comes about by what our Father had, or what we have had good luck with. However, I honestly can't say that one engine stood out head and shoulders above all the others in performance or dependability. I loved each brand when I was playing with them.
But for personal nostalgia reasons, I have to say I like pre-65 Oldsmobile engines the best. I just like the looks and brute stock torque of a 394, although I know there are faster engines out there. It's just cool to me to see an Olds in a hot rod.
Don
contrary to what you`ve heard size does matter ( wait a minute !!! a man mite not need to be saying that ) i was a 289 freak for 15 years before i stepped up to a 429/460 .. never will i go small again ..though if ford had built the 351 cleveland years before and later the chevy small blocks popularity would have deminished a great deal i think
Well, I am going to buck the nostalgia trend people have replied with so far and say my favorite factory motors are the current LSx motors from GM. They are a masterpiece IMHO. All Aluminum, 6 bolt mains, great flowing heads, work well with either EFI or carbed, infinitely tunable. Folks are talking about the ZL-1, one person mentioned it is the most powerful factory Chevy motor. Not any more, the new LS7, all aluminum 427 at 505 hp will out do it. And it is a real production motor, not a COPO. Back in the day I had a couple different 427/425 L72s. They were awesome, but finally 40 years later they have been surpassed. I love my LS1 and if I was going to build another car, it would have some variant of the LS2 for power.
Pat
I guess my favorite motor would be the little 340wedge that came in my first new car in 71. It had good power as long as the tranny held(about a week at the time) and it would eat alternators but when it ran it ran hard. This was a Plymouth Duster and it was just great to drive. I sure do miss that little car. The only thing that came close to outrunning it was a (you gussed it 68 camaro with a 302.) It outran everything else around. The local Plymouth dealer threatened to do everything but shoot me and probably would have if there had,nt been so many witnesses. JUST THINKING ABOUT IT MAKES ME WANT TO BUILD ONE LIKE IT!
Exactly! I did the same thing with mine. This thing also had the the toughest transmission I ever saw. I lost count of how many full throttle, valve floating nuetral drops I did with that old Buick over the two years I drove it and it refused to break.:3dSMILE:Quote:
Originally Posted by erik erikson
Although I will always stay on Pats team with Bb chevrolets cause you just cant build power cheaper...Ive always been quite partial for Ponitacs 389 and 421 with the 3x2 sets up. Just always liked the way they looked and that 389 sounds so damn good at all RPMs
I'm partial to BB Chevys, but I must like Pontiacs as I drsigned and manufactured aftermarket Pontiac blocks.
Tried to include block pictures, buy wouldn't take them.
One more try
And one more try
I am one of them "youngsters" getting into cars at the age of 6, i am now 22, and i absolutely hate imports, my first car was a 1969 Camaro RS Z28 with a DZ302 engine and a Muncie M-22 4 speed with a 411 posi rear. Going through high school, my friends and i would make jokes about stickers, saying each sticker a rice burner put on its car added 5 horsepower, and the bigger the sticker, the more power! I am finishing my first hot rod from scratch, a 1923 T Bucket, and i know a lot about cars, so please don't ASSuME that being young makes us dumb in car knowledge. I dont mean to offend you, i just hate it when people think that "youngsters" are stupid and think a 1987 honda civic with a spoiler, APC stickers, and a trashcan muffler is cool.Quote:
I guess for those of you that were there it is the equivalent of now running out and buying a Dodge pickup "cause it's got a Hemi". You of course know what a "real Hemi" is, but the youngsters figure if it's got the sticker it must be BAD!!!!!
That comment was meant to be pointed at myself and my friends. For believing the "hype" we were handed by our peers in the hobby, since we weren't old enough to have experienced it ourselves. As I got older I learned that a 302 Chevy would have to have it's guts rung out to keep up with the big blocks of the day. In my opinion nothing more fun than a screaming small-block. But common sense tells me more cubes at less r.p.m. is cheaper on the pockets down the road. But I would still rather have a 302 with a 4-speed and pay the bills along the way........so no offense meant. Have a good'un ya'll........Burt.
all i need to make me happy with my car is to dump a 4 speed into it, or go back a few years a hydro stick! :EEK: