Thread: What Kind Of Motor Was In A Stock 1948 Chevy Stylemaster?

Tweet

Well Zak, just a few biased comments. I am a confused old Ford fan who recently switched to the SBC way of thinking. First if you just like to work on mechanical things and bring back the old '48 that's one thing and the current price of gas is another factor. But ( ! ) reviving old attitudes from the '50s, the 216 OHV inline six was merely transportation at a time when flathead V8s were 239 cu in and so most of the youth market shunned the Chevies of that time. The neat thing about the rodding scene of today is that old Chevies can be upgraded substantially with a Chevie V8. That is the sweet development for old Cheivies, that they can be upgraded with a V8 and actually be the best in many ways instead of the old slow poke autos of the '50s. I owned a '54 Chevie convert. for several years and it had the Blue Flame 235 which was an improvement over the 216, but not much. In the '50s the neat trick was to replace the 216 or 235 with a GMC 292 truck engine which was/is only slightly longer. So my resonse is that if you want to restore a 216 OK, have fun but since you don't have a core to trade in anyway take a look at a rebuilt GMC 292 or an inexpensive 350 V8. Just my opinion, and admittedly I am still reeling from the continued success of the small block Chevie consistently over the last 50 years while Ford sputtered with the 221, and 260 before finally improving their small block to the modern 351 series. Just my confused opinion.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder