Thread: SBC, the Generic Hot Rod Engine

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Once upon a time I put my 462" Buick powered roadster up for sale.
Didn't make the price so I still have it.

Got more than a few questions about why didn't it have an SBC under the hood.
Probably the funniest comment was one guy didn't like the Buick engine, cloth top or the roll bar.

I told him that if he bought it, he could feel free to swap engines and get it upside down sans roll bar.

Funny stuff and I have no problem with the SBC being the generic hot rod engine.
They're good little engines, I've run em & built em, but prefer the big Buicks.

I realize as well, the reasons that many use them.
Light, physically small, fairly big in the CID dept and best of all, they breathe well and make lots of HP for not a whole lot of money.

Something to be said for the Buicks 530# of low compression torque and a fairly low rpm top end.
Runs on 87 octane year round.

Anyhoo, my pal and I were talking about selling the 32 and I mentioned that the big Buick was a stumbling block for some.
He recommended tossing in an SBC crate engine.

My thinking was - if I decide to sell - pull the Buick engine, T-400, headers & exhaust and use them in the new project.

Not really sure if an engineless, drives great roadster with all the good pieces would sell.
I hate to tear the car apart though, part of it due to its history and I feel like I ought to leave it as is since it was featured in a book a few years back.

And . . . I really like driving the darned thing.

Just thinking out loud I guess.

Anyone ever sell the car and keep the engine?







As noted, just thinking about things and if I decided to sell the 32 will show up in the classifieds....

With or without the SBC I can not see it not selling at the right price. If I were in the market and had the asking price I know I'd buy it. Roadsters are immensely poplular, can't understand how someone in the market could pass it up, even with the Buick.

It looks like it would make a nice home for my Olds 371 J2. Just the thought makes me smile. Unfortunatley I'm not in the market.

I think the Buick engine is what makes the car stand out from the Deuce with 350/350 combo.... You will of course limit your market to the people who actually can see the car for the quality of the build and driveability of the car and eliminate the potential buyers who don't want a Deuce that is just like all the others..... hmmmmm...... I guess that would be a good point????

Anyway, there are so many Deuce Roadsters around, I wouldn't change a thing on the car if I were contemplating a sale.... The engine makes the car unique!

C9x I think your car is great . I am more of a SB Chevy man as you may know all ready . But them ( Buick / Olds / Pontiac's ) are still GMs and that's COOL . Your car is one of the finest street rods in the World . Just the way it is really . And the best thing is . It doesn't have a generic HEMI in it

Jay, my first instinct is to recommend against trying to sell engineless, as Dave said, it will slim down the prospective buyer field. True, as your previous experience has shown, the Buick narrows the field too, just that without the engine it would get even smaller. Of course, if you some how managed to stumble across that "just right buyer" right off the bat we'd all be proven wrong. On the other hand, a few years ago I had a built 440 mopar sitting on an engine stand. As luck would have it I got a call one day from a buddy who had a lead on a '64 Savoy that the owner had blown the engine, pulled it out, and was now "mad" at the car and just wanted it to go away for a modest price!

If it were me I'd try again to sell it (if you end up making that decision) as is. It would be a good way to test just how prevalent that oft spoken notion about not wanting a "cookie cutter" engine really is. It will be all about exposure. Given the number of forums you're on, how long you've been around, the respect you've earned, and to some degree your geographical location, your odds should be pretty good.

IMHO having something different is a plus not a minus. There are others out there that think that way too. If a potential buyer looks funny at the big Buick, take him for a ride and peel his eyelids back. Maybe he will see the light!

Pat

Originally Posted by DennyW

Yeah !! what stu said....

Man, if you have problems with people like that, imagine what they will say when I get mine on the road...

They will say WOW What kind of Truck was that ? It must have one of them 383 SB Chevys in it

Them 383s seams Like the SB Chevy engine to have . I never Liked that set up . I do fine with 350s . And I have a 406 that will work just right at the track . C9x your car is just right the way it is . If I was able to buy it . I would not change that BUICK engine .

C9
I am really tired of belly button engines in deuces and other Fords - and quite frankly, that's what a SBC has become in my humble opinion. In my area I'm starting to see more and more of the deuces and other Fords with .... gasp....a Ford in it. Your car is unique in that it dares to be different. I like that. If I was to be ever in the market for a '32 Ford roadster, and yours was one of several, and the others all had the 350/350 combo as well as similar equipment plus priced in the same range, yours would very quickly rise to the top. Now, if it had a Ford in it.......

I would not try to sell it incomplete. People will expect an "unfinished price".

Maybe you could offer it "as is", and if they don't like the odd motor combination, offer it for about $3,000 less, with no motor & trans. That way, they can drive it, and then buy it however they choose.

(I would not be surprised that some might think about the trouble of the swap, and want to use it immediately, so they end up buying it with the motor, anyway.)

It's amazing how many people turn up their noses at anything other than a sbc. I don't know if they are just uninformed, afraid of something different or want to fit in so bad that they want what everyone else has. I sold my '47 Ford coupe after removing the '56 Firepower Hemi because the guy had something completely different in mind. He set it on a '68 442 chassis that he had stripped the body off of. It was a rusty work car but a real 442. Several years later I ran into the car at a show and told the currant owner that this was my old car. He was dissapointed that it was not a sbc and was thinking of selling. He could not understand why anyone whould mount the car on a Chevelle chassis and put an Olds in it. I explained the whole story to him and he then understood that he had a '68 442 with a '47 Ford coupe body. He wasn't impressed at all and still wanted to sell. People are just crazy.

tell the prospective buyer that he can easily sell the buick for more than enough to get a sbc and have some cash left over in his pocket after the swap.

Let him judge the validity of the statement. All you gotta do is sell him on it.

i wouldnt change a thing if people dont like it forget about em!!!!!! ive always wanted to stuff a 400 pontiac into my nova

First off, that is a beautiful Deuce, and you have done it right.

Now, this is in no way meant to knock the vernerable sbc engine, I am running one in my T and have gained a whole lot of respect for the looks, compactness, power, performance, and dependability of them. There is a reason they are the most used engine in hot rod history. However, when someone says to me "what engine is in your T?" I sheepishly say "just a 350 Chevy."

The reason I am not shouting it out is because, as good as they are, they are sort of a "like everybody else in the world" engine. I don't know if "overdone" is the right term, but there is certainly no uniqueness about having one in a hot rod any more. If I had an Olds, Buick, or Hemi in there my car would be different and in my mind a little cooler. When I would take my '27 to a show people would walk up and peek at the engine and say "Oh good, it's not a sbc, you actually put a Ford in it!"

So the bottom line is that real hot rodders would appreciate the Buick engine in your '32 for those reasons, whereas the people you are getting are evidently not as saavy to the fact that some engines (like your Buick) are generally held in high regard by those in the know. You just have not met the right buyer yet.

The other aspect is that the market is horrible right now, not only for hot rods, but new cars, homes, and retail sales in general. Hang in there and advertise it in other venues, perhaps with a sign at some major events. Somewhere out there is a guy who is looking for exactly a car like yours.

Don

C9
'Twere mine, I couldn't sell it - too nice and it would be a part of what I am. And your new project car? it wont take the deuce's place either. It will become a shoulda, coulda, woulda car forever to you. But then I'm reasonably sentimental - even about some inanimate things