I hate when ppl put other makes motors in there cars if its a ford it should be ford powered

 

Amen.

 

I completely agree.

Duane the Mopars that get sbc's are pre 1955 from what I have seen.

Locally we have an old guy that loves stuffing the front suspension, and power train including the rear end from 80's Dodge Diplomats and Chrysler Fifth Aves into old GM cars prior to 1955.

 

I figure with the amount of money they drop into street rods to begin with, they should go the rest of the way and put a Ford engine in a Ford. That's just me though.

 

They use GM crate engines because they are cheap. It cost twice as much to build a Ford or Mopar than it does to build a sbc.

 

They put tens of thousands of dollars in these street rods and then cheap out on the engine? Good for them, I guess.

 

A lot of guys think that a crate sbc is like getting the holy grail. You get what you pay for.

 

There is nothing wrong with a small block Chevrolet engine. The design is about 50 years old and it would have been used for nearly 40 years by the General itself in their performance cars and pick up trucks if it was not a solid,reliable engine.

After about 150,000 miles or so they get kind of prone to whipping the camshaft because the lobes aren't very big on them. And I always thought it was neat that they get that much torque with that short of a connecting rod.

 

Don't mistake the term 'cheap' with unreliable. The SBC has been around forever and proven time and time again to be very reliable. The reason they are so 'cheap' is because it has the biggest aftermarket support. With so many companies offering parts for them the price comes down to remain competitive. I wouldn't sell the SBC short. I put quite a few big block Fords, Mopars and Chevys to shame out at the track with my '72 Vega wagon and it was powered by a (self built) 383 SBC stroker.

 

There is a difference between cheap and quality. I have heard more than one story of a crate sbc grenadeing soon after the install because of poor build or part quality. If you do a quality build it will be cheaper than a Ford or Mopar but not a lot cheaper.