Thread: Ford vs. Chevy?

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I am a VW/Porsche guy just getting into the American Streetrod thing. I started w/ VW's as a youngster because they are cheap to build. Now for my real project I am to build a 37' Ford coupe/roadster(one of the two). About 80-90% of the completed Ford's I am reading about have Chevy powerplants. I fully understand that either can be used on the chassis, what I don't understand is the apparent dominance of the Chevy engine. Can you guys tell me what you think? Is one better than the other, or is it just preference? I would greatly appreciate any input you might have for me. My 69' bug used to do wheelies until I wrecked it, oops. Don't ever wreck a unibody.

Chevys tend to be cheaper also. If you want your engine to be pretty you can buy every part you want with a shiny finsh. One persons logo doesn't mean that you have a better motor but it is cool to see a Ford with a Ford in it. No offense Streets.

Most people put chevy 350's in them. Chevy parts (especially the 350) can be found anywhere and are cheap. Most of the time it's personal preference and other times it's money and what is available to the person at the time. If you have a Ford engine already then I say keep the engine and keep it ALL Ford. I am not a Ford guy or nothing but that's just me.

I am planning on doing the opposite by putting a ford motor in a 37 chevy after I get my 55 ford convertible back on the road.

Denny, wanna just sell that 34 to me instead? I think that would be the smartest thing you have ever done. lol

Why aren't you ever on MSN Messenger anymore?

COST!! i used to race round track and built a ford because everybody else had chevs., this was back in the 60 & 70 when nobody run fords, but i was gonna be the man. i built a ford, won the points champ. that year and went broke doing it. at the time you could buy a racing piston for a chev. for about 25.00 and a ford piston would have cost you 75.00. everything on the motor was about the same way. ford has alot more Hi perf. stuff now, but the cost is still to much dif. with a st. rod deal id build what ever i wanted, hopefully you wont be blowing it up that much.

Remember, there are also differences between GM and ford as in production as well. Pontiac has its own V8, Chevy has its own V8, Buick has its own, Oldsmobile has its own, ect. Ford is Ford/Mercury/Lincoln. All of these cars share the same motors(usually, I realise that they used to make their own when they started). I guess the point is, if you want a GM motor, you have alternatives to SBC. If you want a ford motor, you only have one option. Ford.

AT Super CHevy Back in october I ran into an old friend who had built two 55 chevys in a row. His new project was a 39 ford 2dr coach.He ask me weather he sould use a ford or a chevy engine. My answer was, if it were mine it would have a chevy motor but he should do what pleased him. Within 30 minutes he was at the G M Performance trailer . He bought a crate 290H.P.-350 with all the serpentine front end including a new A.C. compressor for less than $2500.00. What do you think he would have paid for the comparable ford products? This is just my opinion,nothing to base it on but gut feeling. I think any old Ford with a chevy motor would be 10 times more easy to sell than an old chevy with a ford motor ,Because Chevy people are just not going to go that route.

Originally posted by drg84
Remember, there are also differences between GM and ford as in production as well. Pontiac has its own V8, Chevy has its own V8, Buick has its own, Oldsmobile has its own, ect. Ford is Ford/Mercury/Lincoln. All of these cars share the same motors(usually, I realise that they used to make their own when they started). I guess the point is, if you want a GM motor, you have alternatives to SBC. If you want a ford motor, you only have one option. Ford.

DRG84, you're half right. The different Divisions of GM used to have there own V8's But pon tiac/Chevy has used the Chebby V8 for many years. Olds used the Chebby too. (That's why I quit buying them in 78) They still made some motors but Delta 88's,etc had Chebby's. Later on Only Cad and the Olds Aurora V8's were different then Chebby's. My friend, Kurt Mardensen's 92 Buick Roadmaster had a LT1 or LS1 in it. Don't remember which they were. Too many different models to remember.

Your true to your point fordman. But the reason that oldsmobile was having a hard time keeping 307s in their cars during the late 70s was due to overwhelming demand. This actually lead to a NYC taxi company having a lawsuit. On the other hand though, Caddilacs have been seen with the Oldsmobile 307. Pontics had the 403. I guess the reason that GM compressed all their lines onto two or 3 motors was costs. Seems kind of impracticle to keep three 5 litres, 4 or 5 350s and a variatey or other 6s and 4s. But at least they made some amazing motors

Originally posted by Oldf100fordman
DRG84, you're half right. The different Divisions of GM used to have there own V8's But pon tiac/Chevy has used the Chebby V8 for many years. Olds used the Chebby too. (That's why I quit buying them in 78) They still made some motors but Delta 88's,etc had Chebby's. Later on Only Cad and the Olds Aurora V8's were different then Chebby's. My friend, Kurt Mardensen's 92 Buick Roadmaster had a LT1 or LS1 in it. Don't remember which they were. Too many different models to remember.

it has the LT1 Oldf100fordman. i also belive(if you can afford it) you can make more power with a ford motor than a chev, useing the same cu. in. motor. ive raced both. im sure ill get some dif. opinions on that, but that is my opinion.

Originally posted by lt1s10
it has the LT1 Oldf100fordman. i also belive(if you can afford it) you can make more power with a ford motor than a chev, useing the same cu. in. motor. ive raced both. im sure ill get some dif. opinions on that, but that is my opinion.

Iam with you on that one. The small block Ford stuff is getting cheaper everyday. Very Close to SBC pricing anymore.

Well I Can't Say Much Here Since I Own Both But I Will Say My Old Ford Does Have More Torque Then Both My Chevy's Of Course My 65 Chevy Isn't Built For Towing Either My Suburban That I Acquired With One Ton Running Gear It's Pretty Sad But Then It Only Has A Stinking 305 In My Opinion Is Only Good For A Boat Anchor But I Only Acquired It For It Running Gear Any Way I'm Thinking With My 455 In It May Give Me Old Ford Some Competitions Yeah Right!! But Serious Thee Only Thing Different Between The Two That I See Are The Price In There Parts But Too Say Ones Better Then The Other I Wouldn't Go As Far To Say That

Ever since I started rebuilding my first Mustang in 1966, a 65 coupe ,with a 200 -6 & 3 speed; I found out at that time & it's still that way! You can build 2 Chevy's for the same price it takes to build 1 Ford & 2 fords for the cost of 1 Chryler!
For instance, Scat cranks,-- I was needing a Billet crank for our Shelby 427 Stroker motor,a Std/Std 428 billet crank. called Scat, a billet 427 Chevy crank was around $700-900 but the Ford billet crank was $2800.00 . I ask the guy ,why so much differance and he laughed and said .( Your lucky ,you aren't building a Chryler!
You can't win for loosing!!!