Everyones' of the opinion I'm strictly Mopar....but

[Hajo]

I'm not......I've been around awhile and recognize a lot since the beginning of Hot rodding and Muscle.

I favor Mopar but here are some observations from many years of experience.

Best small block:  327 cu inch Chevy.  Ya.....many will say 302 Chevy, 302 Ford. But the most versatile
........................and differing HP ratings of the 327 and the reliability of the 327 make it a favorite of mine.

Most Versatile ground up powerplant for hot rodding:  Yup....again imho the 350 crate engine.  Easy to
work with fits into most everything and parts abound.  Easy for quicker builds.

Best Big block:  Hemi   was in the 60s and still is today.  The old stock blocks could take up to 1000 HP
with few problems.  427 Chevy best GM big block, 428 best Ford big block.  I was around when Ford and Chevy
got down on their hands and knees and cried FOUL to NASCAR about the Hemi and how unfair it was..LOL.
I didn't forget about the Ford 429...it just wasn't as good as the 428 imho.

Difference between then and now NASCAR:  This is why I like drag racing. Then it used to be about engine builders
and crew.  Now NASCAR wants parody. Who wants parody???  NASCAR = Boring.  Drag racing encourages innovation            
so that crews within class can tweak more.

Best American Race Car of all time.  Shelby Cobra Daytona. Hell they beat Ferarri! The World Champion!
Only 6 of them built and to me the most under appreciated automobile of all time.
This is where Ford lost me forever. After the Shelbys won the world championship Ford refused to pay for the shipping
to be brought back home! Because of that I will never ever purchase a Ford product.....the cheap bastards.

OK....what are your opinions???                                                                    

[VonMessa]

[uptown]

I've been a die hard Mopar fan my whole life but I do agree with your take on the 327s and 350s. But my favorite BB would have to be the 427 Ford...gawd I'd kill to get my hands on one of those badboys. The 396 Chevy, Ford Boss 429 and the Flathead Ford V8 are way up there on my fav list too.


Also I agree with you on Nascar. I've been watching it since the late 60s and it's just not the same sport as it was back in the day. The influx of massive amounts of money/corporate funding have ruined it.
Favorite car for me would be the 1970 Hemi Cuda or Plymouth Superbird <--in Petty blue ofcourse  .

[ink]

best small block ever is the 340

best big Block 383 magnum



 best cars of all time.....thats easy




























MOPAR

[gyrene81]

have to agree with the 327, awesome engine back in the day.
never was much of a fan of the 350 though, to me the ford 289/302 was more versatile and stable when beefed up.
my favorite big blocks were the ford 428 and the pontiac 455 but the 426 hemi was seriously amazing.

back in the 60s-70s i looked forward to every nascar race of the season, now it's painfully boring. the cars don't have any personality like they used to. it used to be interesting to hear the back story for each car and the drivers, now it's nothing more but a run down of car manufacturers. just glad drag racing is still around and mostly unpolluted by coporate politics.

[ink]

have to agree with the 327, awesome engine back in the day.
never was much of a fan of the 350 though, to me the ford 289/302 was more versatile and stable when beefed up.
my favorite big blocks were the ford 428 and the pontiac 455 but the 426 hemi was seriously amazing.

back in the 60s-70s i looked forward to every nascar race of the season, now it's painfully boring. the cars don't have any personality like they used to. it used to be interesting to hear the back story for each car and the drivers, now it's nothing more but a run down of car manufacturers. just glad drag racing is still around and mostly unpolluted by coporate politics.

nascar sux arse now bigtime.

[VonMessa]

Out of all the Mopar posts, nobody mentions the Max Wedge?  

[gyrene81]

Out of all the Mopar posts, nobody mentions the Max Wedge?  

wedgies are a bad thing... 

[mbailey]

best small block ever is the 340

best big Block 383 magnum



 best cars of all time.....thats easy




























MOPAR

Id vote for ya!!

[uptown]

There's no doubt the max wedge motors made awesome hp and torque, but in the case of the 426 the parts are hard to find, expensive and you had to constantly tune on them to keep that "top" performance. That and they weighed a ton. I think all in all the 440 was better then the 426 as far as reliablity.... less headaches.

[VonMessa]

There's no doubt the max wedge motors made awesome hp and torque, but in the case of the 426 the parts are hard to find, expensive and you had to constantly tune on them to keep that "top" performance. That and they weighed a ton. I think all in all the 440 was better then the 426 as far as reliablity.... less headaches.

Actually, the first Max Wedge was a 413 and was not a hemi.

They went with a wedge-shaped combustion chamber instead of the Hemi or poly-spherical (semi-hemi if you prefer) and went with a 3.75" stroke, both of which dropped a lot of weight from the engine without affecting performance  

[CAP1]

I'm not......I've been around awhile and recognize a lot since the beginning of Hot rodding and Muscle.

I favor Mopar but here are some observations from many years of experience.i already gathered, that like me, you're just a hot rodder...just that you prefer mpars. 

Best small block:  327 cu inch Chevy.  Ya.....many will say 302 Chevy, 302 Ford. But the most versatile
........................and differing HP ratings of the 327 and the reliability of the 327 make it a favorite of mine.i think if i had to pick the best commonly used small block, it'd be the 260/289/302/5 liter. tons of parts avaliable for any of them, and it ran basically the same from 1961 or so right up till 1994.
 i think the best chevy small block, was indeed their 302, and had i driven one of these when i was a teen, i'd probably be a chevy nut right now. i think chevy made a BIG mistake not keeping up production of this engine, and feel it is one of their only small blocks that's not over rated.
mopar.....318 or 340...either one from back then would wipe up the street or drag strip with its ford or chevy counterpart. chrysler lost it in the 70's, along with everyone else. difference being, that ford and chevy came back, and they didn't.

Most Versatile ground up powerplant for hot rodding:  Yup....again imho the 350 crate engine.  Easy to
work with fits into most everything and parts abound.  Easy for quicker builds.i would agree here. the problem is that people don't realize just how easy it is to put a ford engine in just about anything though....or a mopar. keyword=marketing/

Best Big block:  Hemi   was in the 60s and still is today.  The old stock blocks could take up to 1000 HPoohh..you may have dropped the ball here. 427SOHC/
with few problems.  427 Chevy best GM big block, 428 best Ford big block.  I was around when Ford and Chevydid you miss when chevy and chrysler cried foul to the point that the 427 SOHC was banned from nascar? if i recall, it could wipe up the track with em.
got down on their hands and knees and cried FOUL to NASCAR about the Hemi and how unfair it was..LOL.
I didn't forget about the Ford 429...it just wasn't as good as the 428 imho.there was never a good street version of the 429 in my opinion. if you're gonna note the 428, you need to pick a version....there were at least 3 performance versions.

Difference between then and now NASCAR:  This is why I like drag racing. Then it used to be about engine builders
and crew.  Now NASCAR wants parody. Who wants parody???  NASCAR = Boring.  Drag racing encourages innovation            
so that crews within class can tweak more.nascar sucks now. it didn't used to suck. but then again, that's when ford, lincoln, hudson, and mopar ruled the tracks.

Best American Race Car of all time.  Shelby Cobra Daytona. Hell they beat Ferarri! The World Champion!
Only 6 of them built and to me the most under appreciated automobile of all time.
This is where Ford lost me forever. After the Shelbys won the world championship Ford refused to pay for the shipping
to be brought back home! Because of that I will never ever purchase a Ford product.....the cheap bastards.i had never heard thisbefore.

OK....what are your opinions???                                                                    

 you missed the 351 windsor, and cleveland. both respectable engines. everyone forgets about them, and thinks of the 351m when you mention that engine.

 you also forgot about the high rise and medium rise 427's. they ruled the tracks too........and the side oiler 427's.

did you know that ford had more nascar wins than anyone? at least up till 2000.


 both ford, and chrysler have produced engines, and cars that flat outclass chevy on nearly every race track, as has already been hashed out here, and other places.
 want cheap fast easy power? build an old chevy.

 want better quality power, that'll be something a little different? build an old ford or dodge. 

[ink]

Id vote for ya!!

 

[Big Rat]

There was a test many years ago comparing the big blocks of all the makes( I believe it was HotRod that did it), it actually had a very surprising winner out of the bunch, and only a few of you probably have witnessed this engine.  The 455 Buick was quite the monster in the GSX back in it's day.  It was never a real popular car so it never got much publicity, and the engine never got tossed in anything light like a corvette, mustang, camaro, or E body, so it never showed any awsome 1/4 mile times in a 4000lb car.

Lumping engines as best in a size displacement is also extremely broad.  a 426 street hemi is far different then the ones of famed lore.  Same thing when people think of 427 chevys, they think of the L88's (over 500), L-71's (435), L-72's (rated 425, but early rated at 450), and the ilk, rather then the run of the mill L-36 (390) Gross numbers obviously (these are in just the corvette line, and impalas and the like and the range gets even bigger).   

327 chevy is an even wider ranger starting with 200hp or less 2bbls and going up to the 65 corvettes fueli 365hp.  Saying the 350 is a shadow of the 327 is also foolish, take a ride in a 70 LT1 (370hp) and tell me the 350 lost something. 

302 ford runs the same gammet from low performance 2bbls to cleveland headed boss 302's.  So if you want to pull up best engines of yester year you'll have to be specific as of your choices.

 
BigRat

[CAP1]

There was a test many years ago comparing the big blocks of all the makes( I believe it was HotRod that did it), it actually had a very surprising winner out of the bunch, and only a few of you probably have witnessed this engine.  The 455 Buick was quite the monster in the GSX back in it's day.  It was never a real popular car so it never got much publicity, and the engine never got tossed in anything light like a corvette, mustang, camaro, or E body, so it never showed any awsome 1/4 mile times in a 4000lb car.

Lumping engines as best in a size displacement is also extremely broad.  a 426 street hemi is far different then the ones of famed lore.  Same thing when people think of 427 chevys, they think of the L88's (over 500), L-71's (435), L-72's (rated 425, but early rated at 450), and the ilk, rather then the run of the mill L-36 (390) Gross numbers obviously (these are in just the corvette line, and impalas and the like and the range gets even bigger).   

327 chevy is an even wider ranger starting with 200hp or less 2bbls and going up to the 65 corvettes fueli 365hp.  Saying the 350 is a shadow of the 327 is also foolish, take a ride in a 70 LT1 (370hp) and tell me the 350 lost something. 

302 ford runs the same gammet from low performance 2bbls to cleveland headed boss 302's.  So if you want to pull up best engines of yester year you'll have to be specific as of your choices.

 
BigRat

a friend of mine that used to be a cherry hill cop has a 65 gran sport with a 455 in it. thing is monstrously powerful, but in all the years i've known him, that car's never made a single full 1/4 mile pass........something always breaks.