Hemi ethics

[Tim]

hey guys

just a question ive ben pondering, say your looking for an old hemi and trani for your hot rod, finaly you stumble across a 53/4 imperail. parked in the garage 5 years ago but still runs fine the car is in perfect shape, even power everything.

you can get the car cheap but what do you do?

gut a nice complete car for the drive train and try to sell the rest to break even?

gut it and stick a -gasp- 350/350 in it with out mollesting the car as much as possible just so you can sell it as a runing car?

or buy the car, clean it up, and try to sell it for a profit and buy another motor to leave this car complete?


just wonderin

tim

[InjectorTim]

Take the motor, build your hot rod, then later on, put a new motor in the imp, and build a slick kustom.

[Greezy]

Tim if its the engine and trans your after grab it. Pull the motor and trans and sell the the lifeless carcas. Keep your sights on your rod project and dont get side tracked putting time and effort into something your just gonna sell anyway. If the price is cheap enuff youll come out on top anyway. My wooden nickels worth.

[buffaloracer]

I'd keep everthing. Maybe that's the reason nothing's finished.

[crush1776]

Get what you can get while you can get it. Yank the motor, put the car in Hemmings/ ebay/ whatever. A chrysler restoration nut will know just what to do with it, and you'll probably make money on the deal. Don't worry, your conscience will understand.

[Mutt]

If the car is that nice, you can probably end up with a free motor after selling the rest.

Mutt

[dehudso]

Stick a 440 in that imperial, there were plenty of em around.

Run that hemi in whatever you want.

[Brad54]

Get the car, clean it up and sell it. If it's that nice, it'll bring way more than what the engine and trans is worth, and more than what you'd end up selling the remainder for.
These cars in excellent condition aren't around every corner, especially if they're very complete.
You'd be stepping over a quarter just to pick up ten pennies, with the logic being there's more pennies on the ground than there are quarters.
Think about all the guys that yanked Hemi's from these things over the years--you've got a pretty rare find. Ten years from now, you'd be one of those guys talking about how you killed a pretty complete car for the engine, when you could have made a lot more one it.
Your conscscience probably won't forgive you, which is why you asked the question.
Different story if the car is rotting in a junk yard, or a rusted pile that's somehow managed to stay on the road all these years.
-Brad

[RileyRacing]

I'd yank the hemi, put in a 360/727 and drive the wheels off it, put the HEMI in the rod and be happy. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I wrote that last nite, and forgot the part about swapping back when you found someone to buy the car...oops! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jay

[hiboy32]

Buy it. Insert hemi in hot rod, who cares about the rest?

[DrJ]

Here's a '54 for sale for $10,000.
http://autotemptations.com/54imperial.html
Maybe he's a dreamer, but that's what you're throwing away if it's in similar shape.

Before I saw that I was gonna say, if it's a two door fix it drive it then sell it.
If it's a 4 door yank the engine, part out the rest, probabaly worth more in parts if you have the space and time to wait it out.
If it's a Limo, restore it, paint it black and rent it out to movies http://www.imperialclub.com/Movies/GodfatherOne/ or weddings (you can put a SBC in it to do weddings)

If it's a Convertible, restore it, sell it, buy a much bigger house with the profit.

[Machinos]

I'm with Brad54. Just get the whole car, sell it, and use the money to buy a few hemis without any cars wrapped around them. Probably all you'll have to do is the brakes and some gaskets and the car will be worth way more.

[swazzie]

I say turn it for a profit to some-one who will preserve it! keep the faith since these are the reason we are here. we need to preserve some heritage to create a trajectory for this thing we do.There are alot of hemis available that you could easily afford with the dough you net from this thing. seeya . swaZZie

[redmeat]

<font color="red">ETHIC????.....what are those?

R E D M E A T </font>

[Blownolds]

There are PLENTY of 331 heni's around!!! If that car is a nice 2-dr, then clean the car up and sell it intact to a Walter P Chrysler club member and you will make more money than if you sold the roller and kept the motor. And the difference in price will be more than what it will cost you to pick up one of these loose 331's that are here and there.

Unless you're concerned about having to do a quality rebuild on an engine, that is. If you like the idea of yanking the motor and installing it in your ride only to have the rope seal leak and the rings start seeping oil (blue smoke out the exhaust) within a couple years of putting it in your ride, go for it. But it's probably got a bunch of miles on it and those early engines really didn't last much more than 100K miles partly because of inferior piston rings.