I have a chance to pick up a 276 Hemi with extra parts for $400. Is this worth it? Is this thing even worth building? Or should I look for a 331 or 354?
Is it a running motor? If so grab it. If it needs a rebuild I'd say wait for 331 354 or 392. They are all pretty pricey to build.
Id Buy It If It Were Close To Me ........ I Aint Scared :d If Ya Need To Ask This Question .... You Should Stay With The 700 Club ..... Ya Know .... 350/350 Cus Its Easy & Cheap !!!!!!!!!
I was going to say 400 is core price on about any hemi. The 276 isn't a bad mill, if its not stuck. I doubt you'll find much in the line of hop up pieces for it but intakes and headers can be made and cams reground. You'll have to come up with some sort of a tranny and adapter for it I suppose. Be easier to adapt if its already a standard with clutch and so forth. If I was after a hemi and didn't have an outrageously heavy car I'd go for it.
"any Hemi" ?? try $2500 and up for a 392 core. I think $400 is reasonable even if it is stuck. Yes, Intakes are an issue. I offer custom forged pistons and reground cams. All pre 1962 Hemi, Poly, and A series (excluding the 51-53 331) use the same trans adapter. In moderate hot-rod form, expect 1hp/inch. .
I had a '54 DeSoto 276 that turned over and I sold it for $500. I thought that was a pretty fair price. There is a lot more aftermarket support for the Dodge and Chrysler Hemis though. I'm sure it's different up here in Wisconsin where there are tons of engines with the bodies rotting right off of them, but I've seen quite a few early Hemi engines for sale around here in the $500 range, there's a '56 Dodge 315 Red Ram for $650 and another pair of unidentified Hemi engines (one looks like a Red Ram, the other one I can't tell) and the guy wants $525 for the pair. I'm starting to think I should round these up and stash them away for the future. I just bought a 354 Power Giant that turns over smooth and has very little ridge in the cylinder, should be runable without being rebuilt, for $600. Has the blank valve covers and the 4 bolt manifolds even. I consider that a once-in-a-lifetime score, but still, a way better deal than the smallest DeSoto hemi needing a rebuild.
I recently sold one that was frozen for 2000. It was a hot rodded late 50s motor with some specialty pieces on it that drove up the price. I think 4 bills is a good number!
no i want a cast aluminum 3x2, nothing special, something that doesnt look out of place/to modern, heres another thread on the same subject http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161204
They were offered from 52-54. A '54 would have Powerflite for a transmission, the earlier ones had Fluid Drive. I think the bolt pattern is the same for both though.
i thought i paid too much for my running 291 and trans 10 years ago. i remember when multi-carb intakes went for 300-400 bucks. you guys are driving up the prices. leave the hemi stuff to me.
I paid $500 for mine which was suppose to be a runner. Well I'm glad I stripped it down. Broken rings and a couple flat lobes. Everything else was OK. I ended up rebuilding every bit of it . EBay still has some good deals. I got all NOS valves for under $40, NOS Mopar Pistons and pin kit for $169 etc etc. I'd buy it and start collecting parts. They aren't cheap but they are by far better than a Chevy as far as a Hotrod engine.
more and more intakes are being made for the desoto eelco 6x2 for both low and tall deck vintage speed 4x2 for low deck new aluminum 4bbl on ebay for both low and tall deck there's also another new player to the game. occassionally you see his stuff on ebay. 2x4 with other multi-carb intakes in the works. 73rr for pistons and cams
Right. I asked him if the one he's looking at came from a '54. I have been told by the Hemi HAM crowd that in '54 they lost the troublesome cast-in tail shaft, making the '54 easier to adapt to various trannies. That's why I asked.
I'm pretty sure the cast-in trans piece is a Chrysler-only phenomenon, I don't think Dodge or DeSoto ever had the extended bell. So he should be OK there.
Thanks, guys, for wising me up. There is nothing worse than passing over a good buy because of a misperception or misunderstanding. And help me here, Squawblow & George: Was even that Chrysler tail shaft discontinued after 1953? Thanks!
In 1954 Chrysler intended to use the short tail 4 bl engine in the New Yorker deluxe & Imperial, the long tail 2 bl engine was to be used in the standard New Yorker. Ref books show a lot of standard NYers were built, but '54 2 bl engines seem to be rare, maybe they didn't sell well & the 2bl engine was dropped quickly in favor of the 4 bl engine in the NYer.
I talked with Marty at Eelco today, they have abandoned all of the 'other' DeSoto intake projects except for what they currently sell. .
so i wonder how far along their molds were on that 3x2 low deck desoto intake, maybe they will sell them?
somebody here on the HAMB has a 4 carb weiand for a low deck desoto for sale... I think it's wheelkid
3 carbs would be my choice... If anyone has recently won the Lotto there are plenty of quality foundries that will trade finished manifolds for 100g...at least that was a quote I got a couple years back. .
if i made my own molds i know a foundry who would cast them for about $75, i have had some experance with making cast aluminum match plates used to cast woodstove doors, the doors are cast iron, so you have to allow for the shrinkage of the match plate casting and then the door casting, both at different rates of shrinkage, so in the end you get a door the size you need, the foundry is very helpful and seem to really like interesting new projects, i have them lined up to cast some woodstove doors of my own, i own the "Fisher" woodstove trade marks in the US and Canada.
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