What are yout thoughts - engine etc.

[BMK]

Hi all.

I'm looking with my son Todd to have a go at a different project over the next year or two.

We have been around the Street Rod arena for years, having owned a 'T' bucket, 28 roadster and 37 convertible etc.. So the interest is still there....

Todd was looking at the 'FFR' Hot Rod kit recently and at '32 roadsters. The Foxtel programs featuring Chip Foose and the late Boyd Coddington don't help either.... with keeping the interest alive...

Power plants and running gear have us asking some questions....

What is the better way to go..

The arguement of Ford versus Chevrolet aside..... Would a quad cam motor and and 6 speed auto be better than a LS motor and auto..

Lets look at availability, cost, performance and set up in a '32 ford roadster.

The engine bay of the '32 will take either running gear and the chassis, engine mounts etc are ordered to suit from the start - hence this early question.

What are your thoughts...... Ford of Chev running gear. Keep in mind it is availability, cost not Ford versus Chevrolet..

Any thoughts or ideas....

[WKB]

Regardless if it is a Ford or a Holden powerplant you are going to use, if this new project vehicle is going to be EFI the the most cost effective way would be buying a written of car from the auctions. Everything you need to get the vehicle going will be in the donor car. You could also use the ABS, traction control and stability control if fitted. There are more late model holdens at the auctions than fords, but I think price wise they are similar for the year. Then you sell the left over bits from the wreck.
Aftermarket parts would be more available for the chev than the quad cam fords.
If you are going to use an automatic then the 6 speed ZF would the way to go. Arguably the best auto available in Australia from either ford or holden.

Warren

[767Jockey]

I don't know about down under, but here in the states a Chevy engine is almost always a huge cost savings over anything Ford. You can argue all day who makes the better engine but there is no way an argument can be made about cost. My 625 HP Ford FE will end up, when completed, costing somewhere in the $18,000 range. I can make more HP than that, and much easier, for about $10,000 in a Chevy. Of course in a Cobra, at least here in the states, a Cobra with a Chevy in it is rare, and a tough sell when the time comes to part ways with the car. In a street rod, I don't think the pedigree of the engine matters all that much. Personally, in a street rod I always loved the looks of the late 1950's 392" Chrysler Hemi's, but that's just me, I guess.....

[Jerry Clayton]

Another vote for the 392 hemi---see my gallery

[767Jockey]

Outstanding, Jerry - I always thought the old 392 Hemi's were the best looking engines ever made. Properly done they make lots of power, too.

[stiffy]

BMK,


IMO the chev is the only option.......



STIFFY

[boxhead]

Nothing beats a Hemi for looks.
Or you can fit a Buick Nailhead.
But if your looking at EFI choices then you need to decide if you want the old school look or the more modern look?

[sideshow]

at the end of the day the rta has the last say then yr engineer
id love to have a 62 63 corvette with an ls9

the chbip foose and boyd shops dont really show what is involved in building a car
basically they tell u that u can build a car in 5 days or so
like most reality shows they are sooo wanky all they do is argue and fight

yr best of buying some hotrod magazines from the usa to get ideas
ive looked at afew and there is so much stuff and ideas that u never hear or see of here

tiptronic autos are not so straight forward to get working properly
the hodlen a6 tip tronic needs afew diff mods in wiring and shfter compared to the std ve a6 tip tronic shifter

the ford auto has no speed sensor on the auto box so u need to replicate the speed signal from the abs and also use the ford auto shifter

so once u make up yr mind make sure u find out everything u need to get it working properly befored u start building it incase u need to pull things apart again

[Kanga]

No real choice, LS all the way, you can use a variety of transmissions, small compact and makes great power with minor modification. The 5.4 Ford might have been a good idea but it really is nowhere in comparison. The options will the LS in relation to stroking, cam selection, supercharging, turbo charging are many and varried both here and in the US. Plus it is cheaper and there is a lot more of them about.

steve

[Merv and Sharon]

Availability maybe a problem with the LS series soon?

Merv

[Aussie Mike]

Originally Posted by Merv and Sharon

Availability maybe a problem with the LS series soon?

Merv

I can't see how?

Ford haven't made the Windsor motor for about 6 years now and you can still get them fine. Even if GM goes under there's still going to be a ton of stuff around for years.

And don't forget you can now buy a completely aftermarket LS-X motor: block, heads, crank, rods, the whole lot without a single GM piece in it.

It's hard to go past the Chevy Gen 3 and 4 motors Bernie. Good power, light weight, good fuel economy and street manners with their well sorted factory EFI. Far more easily adapted than the Ford modular motors due to their engine management being separate the the body control management systems.

Cheers

[trularin]

Bernie, I have found that I enjoy the project "what ever it is" more, if I have to make something unique.

If you are just bolting things together, pick a car and go shopping.

But, if you are fitting the nose of one car to the body of another car...that seems to have more appeal to me.

Whatever you pick, you should factor in the "fun" element.

Just my humble opinion.

[LoBelly]

Maybe a flathead - triple carbs

I think this would look great



LoBelly

[mpanten]

The beauty of a ROD is that you can put anything you want in it and not get death threats.

[Merv and Sharon]

You could go really wild and and go for a hi-tech motor such as one of the Merc/AMG V8s. The latest is just amazing.

Merv

[sideshow]

they wont run out of ls3s too soon
i have 40 odd ls3s available for sale


what bout a viper v10

[*Cobber*]

I would go LS3, you can pretty them up quite a bit now by moving the coil packs and different more traditional inlet manifolds, rocker covers etc.

For a FF hot rod I would go LS3 supercharged with a Harrop HTV 2300 non reversed so the throttle body is at the back with a hilborn style air cleaner on top.
The same guts of the supercharger as they use on the LS9. Drop in a cam and dont forget to take a change of underwear with you.

Bullet proof
more power than you could poke a stick at
light
will look hot rod right

Those FF kits look very good value for the money.

[Aussie Mike]

I've got a Big Block Chev I'm selling. That would certainly fill the engine bay.

It's a lazy old oval port 2 bolt 402 but it'd look the part.

Cheers

[pezza]

[quote=BMK;960096]Hi all.




Todd was looking at the 'FFR' Hot Rod kit recently and at '32 roadsters. The Foxtel programs featuring Chip Foose and the late Boyd Coddington don't help either.... with keeping the interest alive...


I enquired about the 'FFR' Hot Rod kit and was told by the ASRF that it could not be built as a hot rod using the guidlines for the construction and modification of street rods in WA because it does not use a chassis that was used in cars before 1949.
It is a a modern chssis and therefore would have to be built as an ICV and have to comply with all the ADR's making it as difficult to get licensed as a Cobra.

[stephen low]

Pezza

Thats interesting advice as I understood the regs or it may be the guidelines to say if a hot rod was a pre 49 actual or replica it could be built to these rules.

Is the FFR hot rod a replica of a pre 49 model? If not then that's the reason but if it is it seems the WA road group is taking a bit of a different stand.

This whole area is currently under scrutiny maybe this is driving WA's direction.

Cheers