I think much of the problem with the Stovebolt was the fact that for the time, the GMC offered many advantages over it. The GMC had a better platform to build on with the 270 and 302 with more cubic inch. It was a fairly easy swap into Chevy cars and trucks. The GMC had full flow oiling on all its engines since they were created, while the Stovebolt had Babbitt rods until 1953 and after that finally offered a full flow design. But by then the V8 Chevy was right around the corner and the interest in inlines soon shifted to V8's.
