Re: '38 tranny to 53 patrician, will it work?

Posted by Rusty O\'Toole On 2010/2/23 23:22:53

In all seriousness, your friend should stick with the stock engine.

This swap is interesting to talk about but way too much trouble and unnecessary. The stock engine has plenty of power.

Remember we are talking about one of the most powerful cars on the road at the time, well able to keep up with modern traffic up to 70 MPH or so.

Don't let the advertised horsepower fool you. Don't think "Oh it's only 120 HP" or whatever.

The horsepower of the old motors is quite different from what you get in say, a 120HP 4 cylinder Honda.

The old long stroke motors do not have a high advertised horsepower but they have a strong powerband practically from idle speed. This allows them to idle down to a walking pace in high gear and pull away without changing gears, and accelerate smoothly up to 80 or more.

In other words if the motor is in good shape, its over the road performance is a lot better than the advertised horsepower suggests.