Looking at the post on the HP, it doesn't seem like there's much Ford left on this "Ford." I just wonder what people are thinking when they drop SBCs into everything.

 

I wish I could tell you. I think it's just less of a challange for some. I have good friends and seemingly sane people who put chevy engines in old Fords. Their reasons are weak (to me) Cheaper to build, easier to find parts for, blah, blah yddad yadda. Yeah, so you saved 100 bucks over using a small block Ford, big deal.

 

My thoughts exactly. On a build like this, most of the money is likely in paint and body anyway.

 

I wonder hat that panel truck looked like before they wrecked it. Can't say I have ever seen a '40 1/2 ton panel. There has been a ton of time and money invested into that thing. As a business owner I don't think it would be possible to make any money building vehicles like that.

 

There was a '40 1/2 ton panel and also a '40 sedan delivery. This is someone's custom version of the latter. It has a the rear of a pickup cab on the rear.

https://classiccars.com/listings/vie...eva-ohio-44041

 

 

Here's a little history for you. GM had a deal made with Henry to buy Ford. I think Durant was the president of GM and they were buying company's just to get good patents (like Cadillac to get the electric starter) and other's just to get rid of competition A deal was made and a price agreed to but when it came time to pay, Durant and the board, in typical fashion, want to use mostly GM stock to pay Henry. Henry insisted on a cash deal, which of course GM couldn't swing.

 

I sold this finally a couple of years back but it was an un-restored panel from my home town.

 

Wow, I have to ask what your situation was that necessitated selling that panel?

 

Not so much so, some of the money will go to help fix my eyes though. A lot of people wanted that thing and it made me too nervous leaving anyplace too long. I still get calls on it occasionally, it went to a good home and I am on to other projects.

 

I understand. As soon as the title work is done on my 36 coupe, I have to decide stay or go. Sell it and get my garage floor poured, new door, eyes taken care of and some money for other projects. Or keep it and be spread too thin to have any money to do anything with it.

 

It sounds like there are a lot of guys here with no knowledge of history.
Ford cars and trucks were the most popular brand, the best looking and the least expensive. There was tremendous pride in owning a Ford. Fords were the most raced too. By the late 40s the Ford flathead V8 was no longer the fastest engine so Ford owners began looking at overhead valve V8s, notably Cadillac. Cadillacs were expensive. When Chevy came out with their smallblock in 1955 and began producing them at a low cost, these were embraced as the solution to the out of date underpowered flathead. As a bonus they fit into the Fords with minimum effort.
Historically and traditionally the SBC has always been the greatest solution to the puny flathead problem.

 

For more on this car, go to post 44 https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...1061995/page-2

 

We finally have another solution. Go to fordbarn and read the thread called 'new block'. You might also want to read some of the threads there by 'old henry' who routinely puts 10,000 miles a year on his '46 sedan which is still 6v pos ground and original cloth covered wiring. He lives in Utah, but travels regularly to places like Anchorage Alaska in this old heap. I love a good ol small block in a '55 chev. It's a great engine.

 

Actually, the Chevy small block was more compact and lighter than the early Ford Y block ohm engines. More importantly, they had a rear sump oil pan that fit in the prewar Ford chassis without modification.

The Ford Y block actually had a better racing record than the Chevy, but Ford stopped development on it when the FE series was introduced in 1958.