Opinions wanted...

[qbrown]

Ok, so my 1932 Ford Roadster (pic below incase some of you have never seen it) has a problem. One rocker arm has broken (luckily the valve did not drop into the cylinder and damage a piston) we have not taken the intake off yet to see if the lifter jumped out of the hole into the valley or if it is still in there. I know that the cam could be toast but we do not know for sure until we tear apart the motor. I know that it will be by far cheaper to fix the motor that i currently have, but I started thinking is this the time to do a motor swap. AKA swap in a LS1. I feel fairly confident that I can find a low mileage LS1 for cheap. What has set this off is that I have never been in love with the motor in the 32, it has way too high of compression, too big of a cam for its own good and it has a carb on it which I hate. All things that can be fixed in this rebuild. But would I think if I fix the 350 that is in it and sell it to someone, then take the money that I get off of that motor plus some of my own I could get in a ls1 fairly cheap. Should I just fix what I have or should I man up and put a ls1 in it?

[Sieg]

Find a buyer that wants all the things you hate about the current motor?

Change the pistons, cam, and add Fast EZ-EFI?

I still like the more traditional motor look in hot rods.

[kennyd]

I know you have had that car for a few years ( because i have seen it ) , so change it up and do the ls1 .BUT do the ls1 with a " retro look " oldstyle smallblock valvecovers , carb style intake with injection ....

[GregWeld]

I stewed over this very dilemma myself... since I had to replace a poorly built 383 stroker -- and have a LS6 laying around unused...

So here's my thoughts = that I had with myself:

LS motors just don't belong in '32 Fords. It's just all wrong... even though they're great motors.

A simple small block chevy is worth just about ZERO - trade in or otherwise... so forget recovering any money from the "current" motor.

A cam change -- and the addition of the super simple FAST EZ EFI and for $1500 bucks you're golden. Have a nice running little motor.... and EFI to boot!

You'll spend FAR FAR more than that on headers - and exhaust changes - and the radiator hose placement is different - and the accessory drive system won't fit the nose of your '32 and on and on and on. So while the actual motor might be "cheap" -- it won't be a cheap swap.

[GregWeld]

Just wanted to say --- the "LS motor doesn't belong in a '32 Ford" statement is pretty tongue in cheek....



They're the killer motor! But I agree that it would need to have the coils hidden - and the right valve covers and ditch the plastic intake etc.

I have the "spider" intake for my LS6 -- (which is actually for a carb) -- and it would easily take the EZ EFI throttle body... and would look kool.

You will have some "work" to do trying to figure out the accessory drive!


Follow up with what you do! Very interested!

[DEIGuy38]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Just wanted to say --- the "LS motor doesn't belong in a '32 Ford" statement is pretty tongue in cheek....

I would have to agree with Greg on the LS in a 32, To me it doesn't belong.

[qbrown]

Originally Posted by kennyd

I know you have had that car for a few years ( because i have seen it ) , so change it up and do the ls1 .BUT do the ls1 with a " retro look " oldstyle smallblock valvecovers , carb style intake with injection ....

LOL. Yeah, I built that car when I was 16 and I am now 26, and it has gone through some changes over the last 10 years. I know that you've seen it as I know exactly where you park when you come to the NSRA show in Springfield. I always drive by where you guys park but am always to chicken to stop and introduce myself.

Originally Posted by GregWeld

I stewed over this very dilemma myself... since I had to replace a poorly built 383 stroker -- and have a LS6 laying around unused...

So here's my thoughts = that I had with myself:

LS motors just don't belong in '32 Fords. It's just all wrong... even though they're great motors.

A simple small block chevy is worth just about ZERO - trade in or otherwise... so forget recovering any money from the "current" motor.

A cam change -- and the addition of the super simple FAST EZ EFI and for $1500 bucks you're golden. Have a nice running little motor.... and EFI to boot!

You'll spend FAR FAR more than that on headers - and exhaust changes - and the radiator hose placement is different - and the accessory drive system won't fit the nose of your '32 and on and on and on. So while the actual motor might be "cheap" -- it won't be a cheap swap.

You know I have been really surprised by the response I have gotten to this thread not only here but a few other boards I am on. I thought the general consistence would be do the ls1 swap. Not so much. It seems like a lot of people like the idea of changing the sbc over to a efi setup. I have been reading about the FAST EZ EFI setup and I also know that some one makes and efi kit that looks like 3x2s but I can't seem to find it.

Thanks for all the opinions guys I appreciate it.

[GregWeld]

Not sure it's still available........

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/eng...ion/index.html


But I think this is what you were thinking about.

Or...... You could just do the Inglese 8 stack EFI with the FAST EZ EFI controller!

[Blake Foster]

32 FORD!!!!!!

FORD!!!!

why is it always a CHEVY motor????

don't get me wrong i love the LS SBC yawn what ever

why not a Mod Motor??

you can pick them up reasonable.
we did a factory 5 33 a couple years ago and put a Cobra SC 4 cam motor in it the car was flat black and we did all the motor flat black and it looked SICK!

oh by the way the car looks great!!

[qbrown]

Originally Posted by killer69

32 FORD!!!!!!

FORD!!!!

why is it always a CHEVY motor????

don't get me wrong i love the LS SBC yawn what ever

why not a Mod Motor??

you can pick them up reasonable.
we did a factory 5 33 a couple years ago and put a Cobra SC 4 cam motor in it the car was flat black and we did all the motor flat black and it looked SICK!

oh by the way the car looks great!!

Thanks for the compliment on the roadster.

To answer about the small block, for me I built this car when I was 16. I bought the chassis from Pete and Jake's and it was either a you can have this chassis for x amount of dollars right now or you can wait for us to build you a chassis with another engine and trans mount option and pay X + a little extra to have this done. Also a friend of my fathers had this motor sitting in his garage and was willing to sell it to me for cheap. So for me it came down to timing and cost. Now for the next car I am going to build (yet to be determined) I am most definitely going to look in to other motor options.