That old Chev/Ford chestnut

[Keith Webb]

This morning I decided to attack the wheel cylinders in my C60S which were sleeved by the previous owner some years ago but had become stuck due to a build up of gel-like oxide from the pistons... anyway to get to the point, my dear wife was sitting chatting to me as I worked and asked the dangerous question:

"Why do some people prefer Chevs over Fords?" (or vice versa).

I gave her my perspective which at the most superficial level is I like them both. Ford seem to have designed and manufactured each part with a little more fiinesse, while the Chevs are a little more workmanlike, and often stronger. Then you get into the more esoteric things like the sound of the V8 over the 6 (I know which I prefer there), but as I said, I like them both.

What do you chaps feel? I know many are totally partisan about it, but having driven both over a great number of years I find good in each...

[Jon Skagfeld]

Jeez, Keith...do you really want to talk about those preferances?

That topic, surely, is a minefield waiting for an errant foot to land, the result of which will be an explosion of catastrophic comment, both pro and con.

Me Chev...You Ford...Kill!!!

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

One, you can resonably understand the distributor.

One, you can tune without removing the distributor and being lucky enough to have the timing contraption.

One, you can realistically find motor electical parts without paying through the nose to some American exchange service.

One has a pretty 8 cylinder rumble, but one must keep half an ear cocked for that valve tap which means a major, head and valve cover operation.

One needs to pull the motor to change the clutch.

Not quite, but alost the same for the water pumps.

One runs hot and craps out as a result when it's the most embarrassing.

Cosmetically? They're both butt ugly, that's why I love them.

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Personally I've always preferred Fords to GM products and you certainly can't get past the sound of a Ford V8. However with my instrument restorations I must admit that the GM stuff is more robust, easier to restore and simpler in the faces restoration. The GM half-moon speedometer and instruments were basically the same over many years whereas Fords had Waltham, King-Seely and Stewart Warner speedometers and a brown faced and silver faced series of gauges plus at least four different types of ampmeter/voltmeter.

Bob

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Bob Moseley
you certainly can't get past the sound of a Ford V8

Exactly - that's why I promised myself a Ford V8-powered truck one day.

H.

Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Exactly - that's why I promised myself a Ford V8-powered truck one day.

Hmmmmm, you must have the go-faster, after-market, boy-racer exhaust system. The real one emits a mere zephyr of continuous gas from its titchy small-bore pipe with no discernable, loping, V8 beat at all and is several tens of dB down on the horrendous fan roar.

Even with the LR/Ballard viscous fan modification the V8 beat is still largely overshadowed by the now audible and very prominent purring of Trak-Grips on tarmac.

R.