Thread: High Power Flathead

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was there a price limt ? i did nail head last year very $$ and some parts can be pick up thru T/A for it on the older engine s some bearings sizes are hard to get less you want off brands .cams .pistons. rods. cranks. all can be made for any engine but $$$ as for the caddy i work on a 55 engine $$ and price out a build on a 63 390 about the same at $3800+ with parts and machine work as a nail head stock build... so the older and more off the path the more money it would be .this is Ez for me it would be a bbc or a sbc or in line 6 if you want a older look they all fit the bill for small T a chevy 4.3 v6 would work as well for 1/2 the $3700 you can build a very nice small block with would make great power. and a $3700 price tag mild big block that would make much TQ and hp .that would beat any thing listed so far and make more HP for the money and take hard use very well

Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

was there a price limt ?

For the Engine? I'd like to keep it under $14,000.

Originally Posted by Maxb49

For the Engine? I'd like to keep it under $14,000.

well for $14,000 i can build you two bbc and you can rap a chain coupler around the fly wheel side to the front hub and have a V 16 and 992 CID or a talldeck for a CID of 1050 now i will tell you not many have any thing like this

For that kind of money, you could use a gas turbine from a helicopter and really wow the troops.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

For that kind of money, you could use a gas turbine from a helicopter and really wow the troops.

I guess I should be more specific. I don't get the chance to write a very long post because of everything going on around the house. I've put away money for the past several years to build the best engine I could that would outlast anything. My desired purpose is to have a great, fast car that will perform well on the track and for my own pleasure not really to impress the guys at car shows. Do you think $14k is too much to build a powerful engine? I really don't want to waste money, but from what I gathered building a big engine costs a lot of money.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to offer help and advice!

Well you could buy a french flathead block and look for some Ardun heads but I doubt that that could be done for even $14,0000. For unusual nostalgia I think the Ardun setup is the top of the line but that is more expensive, although I would be glad to get 250 HP and add a main bearing girdle and extra large aftermarket main caps and take what I got with 3 5/16" x 4 and an Isky cam. Save some money for a good transmission since I don't think a stock Ford three speed would last long behind that engine.
(http://www.oogabooga.ca/oogaboogapag40.htm) A hemi would be in range but this goal is apparently for a powerful but unusual engine. I would look for an early Cadillac engine ('53 or later) and end up with what would be an expensive version of what could be done for far less with a 383 SBC crate engine but the Caddy would be unusual. In my memories of the mid '50s no one I new ever saw an Ardun setup outside of pictures in Hot Rod Magazine but on the street a '53 Caddy engine with chrome valve covers was the creme de le creme even after SBC 327s were available just because of the Cadillac name and if you added Caddy hubcaps what more could you want?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Originally Posted by Don Shillady

Well you could buy a french flathead block and look for some Ardun heads but I doubt that that could be done for even $14,0000. For unusual nostalgia I think the Ardun setup is the top of the line but that is more expensive, although I would be glad to get 250 HP and add a main bearing girdle and extra large aftermarket main caps and take what I got with 3 5/16" x 4 and an Isky cam. Save some money for a good transmission since I don't think a stock Ford three speed would last long behind that engine.
(http://www.oogabooga.ca/oogaboogapag40.htm) A hemi would be in range but this goal is apparently for a powerful but unusual engine. I would look for an early Cadillac engine ('53 or later) and end up with what would be an expensive version of what could be done for far less with a 383 SBC crate engine but the Caddy would be unusual. In my memories of the mid '50s no one I new ever saw an Ardun setup outside of pictures in Hot Rod Magazine but on the street a '53 Caddy engine with chrome valve covers was the creme de le creme even after SBC 327s were available just because of the Cadillac name and if you added Caddy hubcaps what more could you want?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Don,

You're right, the idea is to build a strong, dependable engine that isn't a Chevy. Can the Hemi be done for under $14k?