Most Ford "Chop Rods" Use Chevy Drivetrains--Why?

savatage1973

Addicted Member
It's coming up spring, and I run with a crowd that collects/restores/shows classic cars and street rods, so everyone is waxing and polishing and tuning for spring--generally the car shows/gatherings start around Easter in these parts (weather permitting).

I was over at a buddy's place the other day, and he was prepping his '34 Ford coupe chopped street rod, getting ready for spring. After a few adult beverages we got into a discussion regarding the fact that most of the old Ford chop rods are running GM drivetrains and suspension/steering/braking components (his included). Even the ZZ Top "Eliminator" (chopped '33 Ford coupe) used a relatively stock 350 Chevy crate motor. I actually got to drive that car around the block back in the 80's :D

We both got to thinking about it, and the bulk of the Ford chop rods and the Mercury chop sleds that we see at the shows/gatherings are using small-block Chevy-based drivetrains (in various forms of tune), but Chevy-based, nonetheless.

It's not like Ford hasn't produced a lot of suitable drivetrains for this application, but for some reason (unknown to us), the bulk of these cars are using Chevy drivetrains.

Thoughts???
 
I have no particular loyalty to any marque or brand. However, I HAVE always enjoyed ribbing Ford guys (ie, 'piss on Chevy', 'piss on Mopar' types) over this exact phenomenon. It is a rare thing to see a Ford chassis with a Ford engine. 90% + GM. I've never seen a GM or Mopar chassis with a Ford engine though.

I should make up some stickers. "Piss on Ford (with non-Ford engines)!" Has a nice ring to it...
 
Wide availability of aftermarket zoom parts may have something to do with it. Of course, that begs the question which came first, the availability or the demand?

Somebody else take over. :)
 
Two generations ago I was hot rodding an olds.
Tremendous waste of money for a poor youth.
My friends that built chevys saved a lot of coin doing the same things I did with more variety and availability.
I suspect it stems from this. I'm no expert but Zora Dutov got more right than his peers.
Hemis back in the day were rarer, more expensive, and harder to shoe horn in many applications.
Probably more to it than that still:idea:
 
I have no particular loyalty to any marque or brand. However, I HAVE always enjoyed ribbing Ford guys (ie, 'piss on Chevy', 'piss on Mopar' types) over this exact phenomenon. It is a rare thing to see a Ford chassis with a Ford engine. 90% + GM. I've never seen a GM or Mopar chassis with a Ford engine though.

I should make up some stickers. "Piss on Ford (with non-Ford engines)!" Has a nice ring to it...
Back in the day to improve the Corvette a Jaguar rear end was installed, take that Chevrolet lol.
 
Very cheap horse power is the biggest reason.
The beginnings of hot rodding was in fact to be resourceful and make the car go fast. That was accomplished by taking as may parts off the car and adding a big engine (enter Flathead Ford)

Then there was the big blocks Hemis in the late 40s, but they where very heavy

Chevy and ford started to develop a light weight small block for smaller cars. Chevy generally had more CI than ford so the hot rodders latched onto it. It got more support from the aftermarket for speed parts, and really it was needed because chevy wasn't developing anything for racing (enter Chicken Shit here)

Today hot rodder builders don't want cheap, they scrapped the cooky cutter boring engine. Hemi Head Flatheags, 427 SOCH, 427 FE, 426 Hemi, is the name of the game
 
1955-Ford-Thunderbird-Hemi-1.jpg

1955-Ford-Thunderbird-Hemi.jpg


HEMI Thunderbird
 
Short answer is building a Ford with a Chevy engine is mating the best of both worlds.
Most of the replies have reasons Chevy engines were and are so popular. The early Fords bodies all look so cool, even Chevy diehards wouldn't blink at the chance to own one. I don't know production numbers but they most likely sold way more than any other make, so there was a lot of them. The small block Chevy was no doubt the most powerful and durable mass produced engine of it's day. It only makes sense to mate the two.
The current builds with Chevy engines may be because most of us grew up lusting after Chevy's. There were Chrysler guys and Ford guys, but way more GM lovers. Another reason, as mentioned above, cost for performance dollar.
Most of the Fords at the drag strip have Chevy engines. Even the Mustangs.
 
With modern builds, you just have to look at the Ford Coyote motor next to an SBC to know why. The SBC crams the most displacement into the smallest physical package. That makes it a doll of an engine to drop into places it wasn't originally meant to go.
 
The traditional chop rod guys were going for the most bang for the buck.

The flathead V-8 gave way to the small block Chevy. The small block Chevy V-8 predated the Ford Windsor by seven years. In the mid-60s, you could get a used chevy V-8 much easier and cheaper than a used 289 Ford.

From then on it was just sort of tradition.

Just my .02.
 
The old Y block Fords just didn't quite have what it took to compete in the old days..late 50's, very early 60's. They got out-engineered.
Hardly:no:

For starters the Y block Ford was discontinued in 57, The Ford FE took over big time in 58 and started winning at tracks and on the water everywhere. Ford 352 HP, 390HP 406 HP, 427 High Riser, 427 Medium Riser, 427 SOCH, 428 PI, 428 CJ, 428 SCJ, you might have heard of these, production 1958-1968.
 
Back
Top Bottom