Francisco's 40 Chev

I bought the motor, a late model 250 inline six, in the junkyard and rebuild it using 4” pistons, Isky cam, ported and polished heads, 9.5:1 compression ratio, HB intake manifold, Weber 44 IDF carb, holley pump, custom 6x2 headers and a Bosch electronic ignition. It runs very strong and sounds great too!

This engine is very popular among the Brazilian rodders, because it’s relatively cheap and simple build, delivers tons of torque, and has enormous racing potential.

I bought this 1940 Chevy in 1993. The previous owner installed a Chevy four banger (similar to a Nova motor) in it but was broken, and the front suspension was the stock  rigid axle/ leaf spring combination. My brother, my father and I, started to disassemble the car in our garage, took that awful engine off and started to work in the car. 

We cut the stock  front end off, then welded a new, Z’d front clip made of 2x4 rectangular tubing, and welded the crossmember for the Brazilian Chevy Opala (Opel Rekord) I.F.S. The rear suspension is stock, using  2” lowering blocks.  The head had the intake bosses removed to improve flow. It's pretty fast on the street! It has a Clarck 4 speed trans, out of a Brazilian Dodge Charger R/T, and a racing clutch by Sachs (1200 lbs), and the rear axle is a  Dana 44.  I sent the car to the body shop, and had the entire body stripped to bare metal, then it was repainted black.

GM of  Brazil stopped to produce  this engine in 1992, but in 95 they started to make a  updated version with aluminum head and multi-point fuel injected to use in the Omega, a luxury sedan, and in  light trucks. Here in my Country, the cost to import parts is very high due to the taxes, so V8’s aren’t so popular, although Chrysler and Ford had produced their small blocks here.

The car was featured on a Brazilian magazine, "Hot Rods"


E-mail Francisco