50 ply biz cp. 354 hemi info

[waterboy]

Second project down the line. 50 biz cp[ply]. from what I have been able to learn, 318s fit pretty nice, don't have to change steering or front end stuff. have chance at a 354 hemi. wondering if anybody knows block size difference.don't have the two together right now.the old hemi would fit my era goal better.don't paticularly want to change front end just some improvements[shock placement/ bigger drums.any info big help, thanks Waterboy..... ..

[katzenhammer]

Haven't tried, and I am not sure if my sources are correct but I hear the old hemis mate up the those old three speeds. Shit I too would like to know more about this installation.

Justin

[waterboy]

You mean the stock 6 three speed?

[wayfarer]

I bet you're going to have to recess the firewall to get it to fit. That old flathead is short. To put the 440 in my wayfarer, I had to recess it a bunch. The way the firewall comes to a point halfway down will probably cause problems. I know that the 354 is pretty small and I know that small blocks will fit pretty easily, so you may be ok. If you're looking for front end upgrade parts check out plydo.

[waterboy]

Hey Wayfarer, thanks for the tips. by the way Im in waterville.[close to wenatchee]have couple other old plyms.like to get you to our little show in july. drop a line to me at Mr@americancane.com

[katzenhammer]

yeah the stock 3 speeds so I have heard. An old guy told me that two years ago. He used to race them on the dirt track locally.

[Machinos]

'57 Windsors came with the 354 poly and some had a manual trans in them (although it's not terribly common). I'm pretty sure the 354 poly block was the same as the hemi block, and the manual trans option on Mopars was a 3-speed for quite awhile, so it's quite possible it'd bolt right onto the stock trans.

I don't know any specific stuff about 3-speeds from that era, but a stock 354 hemi had well over twice as much horsepower and torque than the Plymouth 6 did, so you might want to consider that http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[bulletproof1]

poly and hemi used the same block the big diff is the width.a 354 is 36'' wide and close to 700lbs,im putting a 331 in my 53 ford they are the same size outside.and they ARE NOT SMALL!!!!!!