New 57 Ford Project Should we go big block or small block? Pics added

We are picking up a new project this weekend. Its a 57 Ford Fairlane. two door sedan. It will be a cruiser for my wife and occasionally she will let me drive it. I have two engine options. I can de-tune my old 11 second 466 out of the race car or I have an 87 Mustang fuel injected motor. Which one should I go with? Anyone have experience with a big block in a 57 as a driver?.

Put the new 5.0 engine. Street mannered and 500hp to boot

Ace

powerstrokeace wrote:Put the new 5.0 engine. Street mannered and 500hp to boot

Ace

x2

That might be out of the budget for this project. I really would like to stick in the 460 but the practical side of me is saying 302.

I would use the 302 and keep it fuel injected. good torque, good mileage, lots of drivability, cheap parts

IMO Basic Street 460........ Factory Late Short Block with some Ported DOVE heads, nice Hyd cam and a RPM with a 750 Eddy.......

I have a 56 that I put a 5.0l in, AFR heads, hyd roller cam and carb. It runs like a raped ape but it has not bottom end. These cars are lighter then people think because they have no safety crap in them. Book value on my 56 is 3200#. The 57 is a slightly larger car however. I am swapping in a 460 in mine. I wanted to do a new 5.0 but by the time you buy the motor, wiring , & transmission it is darn right expensive. Maybe one day but for now it is getting a 460.

For having lots of room and great accessory part selection, I like the small block.
But.....I feel that a good 460 would be the best choice, considering the weight of the car.
A prior owner of my 58 had put a real hot 289 in it back in the early 1970s. It was a fast engine in a Mustang, but was a turd in the 58....probably due to a lack of torque.
Keith

460 would be great.

I was just thinking about my 57 Ford Fairlane convertable with a 312 runs pretty darn good. Very street friendly.

My 59 Fairlane has a 390/4spd from a 68 Cougar in it! It does pretty good for now, would like to put a straight axle under the front!

It depends on what your desires are ? The 460 will make it move ,but the 5.0 will get twice the fuel mileage.If was me, if i wanted a boulavard brusier and part time race car ,I'd go 460,if I was going to cruise the highways and wanted a little peformance and sound I'd go with the 5.0. A 5.0 with flowmaster is a sweet sounding machine.You can't go wrong either way

The 302 I have has GT-40P heads, Trick flow intake, mass air, throttle body, roller rockers, B-303 cam, etc. Its no slouch but you guys are right about the torque. It doesn't starting pulling until above 3000 rpm. Not a problem with a 5 speed and 3.73 gears but with a C-4 or AOD I think it would be a dog down low. It will get around 20 mpg on the highway with the T-5. I have all of the accessories and front dress so installation would be a lot easier. The 302's idle with the B-303 and flowmasters is pretty bad ass. The 460 has ported doves, stealth intake, KB pistons, crower solid flat tappet cam. I'd probably need to decrease the compression and maybe switch to a hydraulic cam. I've never had a car that I could do a "frame-off" restoration on and I don't know a lot about these cars yet so I'm looking forward to the project.

double post

My 57 2dr sd was 3770 with a 406 in it. Then I gutted it and put a straight axle in it and moved the read wheels forward 20" and it was 3020.

Id do the 460 or better yet stick a Cammer in it problem solved

Realy tho just put a 428 cj in it lots of trk. and get better gas milage to.

A little tech if you go that way..

Here

and

Here

Worthit

http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/websites/index2.php?username=colson43&page=4

Big block for this old guy.

when I get around to the 65 lincoln continental it's getting either a good rebuilt 462 MEL motor (which it has in it) or a very mild 429-460 motor. I thought about a 7.3 powerstroke diesel because the car weighs so much but I will keep it simple.

For an everyday driver, I would use the 302.
Get an aftermarket Fuel Injection ECM and wiring system then just go the normal route of small hop-ups with the engine; (good valve job, slight camshaft increasefrom stock, (B303 is too big), with decent valve springs, etc.).

Here are some pics of the project. It needs a lot of work but I think I have a good base. It came with a trailer load of parts from 3 parts cars so I have 6 bumpers, 4 grilles, extra doors, hood, dash, etc.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157628906470559/

512Fairlane wrote:Here are some pics of the project. It needs a lot of work but I think I have a good base. It came with a trailer load of parts from 3 parts cars so I have 6 bumpers, 4 grilles, extra doors, hood, dash, etc.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157628906470559/

Looks good

Use the 302 and here is what you'll need.

the parts
http://www.oldfuelinjection.com/?p=5

your wiring conversion
http://www.oldfuelinjection.com/?p=90

wiring harnesses dia.
http://www.oldfuelinjection.com/index.php?p=6

The Home page, go down the home page and it show s you how to Installing a 3G alternator
http://www.oldfuelinjection.com/?p=1

Use the 302 and here is what you'll need.


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Cool thanks for the info.

nice looking car!...

Man I just finished digging thru some of the boxes that came with this project. Found every single piece of weather rubber stripping, plugs, etc. Even glove box door bumpers. Added all the new parts up and they totaled over $1500.00. I am pretty satisfied with our purchase. Here is the pile of parts that came with this thing. I was going to repaint it but the more I look at it the green and white is kind of growing on me. Its not a perfect paint job but I think it would clean up to make a nice driver. Although as nice as it is underneath I think it could be made almost perfect if I could spring for a profressional paint job.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/sets/72157628920453201/

Building a crusier for the wife...5.0
For me...460.

A few years ago, I put a 460/C6 in my '57 Custom. There are issues. The C6 is big and the tunnel needs to grow. The 460 is longer and wider than most. Not much room for a fan between the radiator and water pump. The core support does not lend itself to mods for a bigger radiator. The heads will barely fit between the upper control arms. If you use an OEM cast exhaust manifold, the only one that I found to clear the steering box was a '70 CJ. All these issues can be over come and are well worth it. I did several frame modifications, Granada spindles and disc brakes as well as air bags in the front, power rack and pinion, custom fenderwell headers, custom radiator core support, triangular four link, disc brake, air bagged the rear with a narrowed 9, 557 with Mcleod Street Twin, hydraulic throwout, Lakewood, TKO600, and other fun stuff.
You can do it. It just takes a bigger pry bar.

Gary that thing is nice. I love the customs and I kind of wish ours was one but the wife loves the tail fins and we got a smokin' deal on this car. We go back and forth on the motor. It will probably get the small block. My 64 is a track only car and I really can't imagine sitting in traffic with the 512 or even the old 460 that I would be using in the 57. But it is really tempting. Thanks for the advice. What did you do for a brake booster? The car came with 3 and I'm not sure what any of them are out of but they are a small dia. We can't decide whether to go through the whole car and repaint it again or not. It has paint but it is rough driver quality. I am at least going to take the body off and repaint the floorboards and detail the frame. Should probably just redo it all while its apart but it would be on the road much sooner if we didn't repaint it all.