Ralphs old truck is back alive

My former BB truck is also Chevy-powered now. It makes sense, though, when they cratered the Ford motor, a Chevy motor would drop right in since the Blue Thunder heads had Chevy exhaust ports. Assuming they wrecked the heads along with the rotating assembly and block, it would be significantly cheaper to put together a BB Chevy than a Ford.

😢

And being you built the bbf I’m surprised your saying a Chevy is that much cheaper to build. I feel like if all parts are equal and purchased new it would be really close. Heads, blocks, rotating assemblies, valve train is all close from bbc to bbf. The people that switch are either misinformed by a Chevy guy or get a killer deal in used junk imo.
 
My former BB truck is also Chevy-powered now. It makes sense, though, when they cratered the Ford motor, a Chevy motor would drop right in since the Blue Thunder heads had Chevy exhaust ports. Assuming they wrecked the heads along with the rotating assembly and block, it would be significantly cheaper to put together a BB Chevy than a Ford.

I was looking for the original thread from when you got that BB truck....
 
Just a quick search for comparable crate motors shows about a 25-30% price difference between a similarly equipped ~600 inch, ~800 hp big block. However, looking at high zoot ~600 inch, ~1200 hp motors, they're pretty close in price. So, I guess it depends on what they went back in with. If it was another high effort motor, then it probably didn't make any difference to change from Ford to Chevy with the money that was also involved in the torque converter and transmission and such. But if they just put in a solid mid-level motor and threw a little boost at it, there could be a significant price difference.

Who knows. One of the guys involved with it was supposedly an engine builder, the other was the money man. I don't even know how they could have hurt that motor unless they tried to spin it way too hard.
 
My former BB truck is also Chevy-powered now. It makes sense, though, when they cratered the Ford motor, a Chevy motor would drop right in since the Blue Thunder heads had Chevy exhaust ports. Assuming they wrecked the heads along with the rotating assembly and block, it would be significantly cheaper to put together a BB Chevy than a Ford.


I feel like if all parts are equal and purchased new it would be really close. Heads, blocks, rotating assemblies, valve train is all close from bbc to bbf. The people that switch are either misinformed by a Chevy guy or get a killer deal in used junk imo.

Several years ago,.....putting together a BBC might have been a little less $$ than a comparable BBF (385 series) engine. BUT,....these days,....the aftermarket companies have really stepped up and the cost argument is pretty much a moot point.

IMO,...I think a lot of boils down to the fact that more machine shops/engine builders are better equipped to build a BBC,....AND,.. more familiar with them in general. Plus,...like Joe said,....used Big-Block Chevy parts are a lot easier to find than BBF stuff.
 
Several years ago,.....putting together a BBC might have been a little less $$ than a comparable BBF (385 series) engine. BUT,....these days,....the aftermarket companies have really stepped up and the cost argument is pretty much a moot point.

IMO,...I think a lot of boils down to the fact that more machine shops/engine builders are better equipped to build a BBC,....AND,.. more familiar with them in general. Plus,...like Joe said,....used Big-Block Chevy parts are a lot easier to find than BBF stuff.

Yup and the bbf guys don’t sell stuff cheap either from what I’ve seen. Luckily 3 shops near me aren’t afraid of bbf’s and 2 of them have the dyno attachments for them as well.
 
Back
Top