Not 100% sure...but I know it was pretty common back in the 50's to put a 'bigger' Buick nailhead V8 into the Ford duece coupes. Sure went faster than what Henry Ford offered!!:Brow:
Back in the 50's, it was quite popular to swap the "new" OHV V-8's into the Fords that still had the flathead. Since Cadillac was out in 49 with their OHV (along with Olds), many Ford shoeboxes (that means the 49-51 Fords BTW) had the Cad engines swapped in, the name for them became "fordillac". Later when other mfrs, like Buick in 53 came out with their OHV's, they were swapped in to the Fords, hence the name "buford". Earlier year Fords have also been swapped with the later OHV V-8's as well. I think over time that the original meaning of a Buick engine in a Ford has been distorted, and many people refer to Buford as a slang term for any Buick engine, or even car.
