Time period?

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Ratrod94

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Dec 28, 2012
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North Bend, Nebraska
What would be the "fast" engine they would have put in my 51 Chevy back in the 50's or 60's I want to go for a total rockabilly theme with it. but i want it more of that time period. Engine Trans how ever they did it back then i want it to be old school. I dont want to just stuff a 350 in it. but like a Buick nail head or a Cadillac in it... something they would have done. Any answers would be great
 

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Hot 50s motor

The 50 OLDSMOBILE and it's hydro tranny pushed/pulled some pretty cool wheels back then. It sure fooled a lot of people too ! :)
 
the olds and the caddy where but just two. you gave a wide range of years, by the time the 60's got here it was anything goes. early 50's would have been olds, buick, caddy, and studebaker. by the mid 50's you could add the chevy, pontiac, ford, and linc/merc to the list, as well as all the mopar products. by the time the 60's got here you even had amc/rambler to the list as well.
 
Mid 60's GM came out with the big blocks (other than the 348 or 409) too.
This started a whole new direction of engine swaps.
What you're looking for is most likely the BOP (Buick, Olds Pontiac) and caddi swaps sorry lets not forget Fords Interceptor engines of the 50's and 60's
 
50's to 60's is a wide spread of engines.
Flatheads ruled in the early 50's even aganst the early Caddy and Olds motors as those motors were still to new to be to be affordable to the averge hot rodder.
By the mid 50's you had the Buick nailheads as well as the then 2-3 year old Y-Blocks. and the just out Chevy V-8. Mid 50's still saw some great flatty built as well as GMC 6's and a lot of Cadddy -Olds -Nailheads motors
By the end of the 50's pretty much any overhead valve V-8 would be the motor of choice. And as we went into the 60's as was mentioned you had the Ford FE motors as well as the 348-409 Chevy's vs the 401 nail heads and of course the Chevy 327's.
Pick a time frame and choose your motor from that but if money is an issue stay away from nailheads and caddys as the rebuild cost on these are very large plus you choice of trans is limited. Unless you got a great deal on a running one..
I would look at going with a 283 and an aluminum powerglide. Run a generator and the right valve covers and it will look "old school". The aluminum power glides are damn near bullit proof and seems like only the drag racers want them. And the 283's seem to be about the cheapest small block out there as most people want a 327 or 350. Pulled out the tired 6 banger and put a 283 into my daughters 60 Chevy with a 2 speed aluminum PG and that was a real runner.
Torchie.
Torchie.
 
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If you think about it, in the mid 60's the SB Chevy wasn't the 'bellybutton' engine that it is viewed as today, having only been on the scene for 10 years. Small, powerful and light, it was indeed the 'fast engine' to swap in your car. By then the early Caddy, Buick and Olds engines were already on the way out of favor due to their size, weight and greater difficulty to swap in, plus the aftermarket had really geared up to support the new SB Chev.
It all boils down to getting more bang for your buck...
 
I have parted out many Ford/Chevy/Dodge pickups of that vintage with Early Olds V8s, seems to have been the popular swap. I shoehorned a 270 Jimmy into a 49 AD once but had to butcher up the front sheetmetal to move the core support forward. It was a torque monster screamer.
I'm pretty sure any Flathead or Y block Ford would be just wrong in an AD.
 

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