I was at a friends converted garage/ apartment a few weeks ago and i noticed that in a unused utility room sat an old 'Red Ram' hemi engine, i offered her 100 bucks to get it out of there, she said 'no way' and that it belonged to her uncle. Well today i got a text message that read "Hey how much would you give me for that motor in my garage" ,, I'm not sure what size it is or if it even turns, Do you guys think its worth buying? I read on wikipedia that these were the first generation hemi engines and that they started in the fifties, anybody have any input ,, or interest?? I'd gladly flip it for someone that needs one, thanks
I thought you said $100. Did she miss that part? Tell her since you have had some time to think on it, maybe it is only worth $75 and maybe a little.... Unless it is complete junk, $100 would be a pretty sweet deal.
thats what i'm saying,,, 75 clams,, muahahaah, but then there goes my beer moneys! , are this style hemi's sought after?
They aren't that big or powerful, but still pretty cool and in a smaller car, plenty of motor. They can be fairly cheap to rebuild if you steer clear of the hemi hype and useless upgrade blah, blah, blah. Someone could have a pretty nice little hemi motor for a few thousand. Still better than a SBC in my opinion. Oh crap, now I have done it. Muttley, no, no, I didn't mean. Tell her your will take her out to a nice dinner for it and give it a good home. Then you will have a win win situation going on. Regardless, I am sure you wouldn't have much problem selling it for a couple hundred easily if it is in good shape. And if you part it out, maybe even a bit more.
Yes, there are people who want them. There are low-deck Red Ram engines, which are 241 and 270 cubic inch, and there are tall deck engines, which are 315 and 325 cubic inch. Obviously the bigger ones are more sought after, but the low deck ones have a following as well. Guaranteed if it turns it's worth $500 no matter what size it is, and even siezed up or blown up ones will bring $300 because the heads can be swapped onto Poly blocks. A D-500 Red Ram might be worth 2K+ if it's got the right numbers on it, even as a core rebuilder. Get some numbers on it and post them up, or just offer the guy $200, if he takes it, you won't lose. Are you sure it's not a Poly engine? They all said Red Ram on them.
Dang , now that you say that "Are you sure it's not a Poly engine? They all said Red Ram on them." , I really am not sure, I seen it once, in the dark, where can i find the I.D. numbers on one of these engines? and it didn't really look like junk, but then again you never can tell. Thanks for the headsup
Go for it, Baby Hemi's are way cool. Don't think you can loose on this one. Charge your buddies to come look at it, and boom you got your beer money back.
Don't worry about engine numbers, just worry about her numbers. You can tell them apart by the valve covers. The hemis are bigger and rectangular, the poly's are smaller and have bumps along the bottom side. this might help: http://classichemi.com/index1.shtml
Poly engine has a jagged or scalloped valve cover. A Hemi is more of a box shape. Either way its a good deal for $100 smackers
O', well yea then its for sure a hemi. The valve covers is what caught my eye. thanks for that website stude, and numbers, oh' she's gpt them numbers,, lets just say the first set is about a 34, a good D , yyyyeaa boi
All i can say is if your worried between $100.00 for a Dodge Hemi & $100.00 for Beer, YOU NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM CARS ! As for tall & short deck, The 270 short deck would be My choice of the Dodge Hemis. Biggest Bore & shotest stroke = REV's I know my old 291 short deck DeSoto would run circles around my 346 inch tall deck. I am sure anyone into Vintage Race Cars & Hemis Knows of the Williams Brothers Bonniville Roadster. Set Land Speed Records in 1954 with a Lil Dodge that held for alota years.
Red Ram..241 Hemi...Super Red Ram..270 Hemi and the two high decks 315 & 325 are Dodge Hemis..A HEMI is a HEMI..better then the boring SBC.. Duane..
I could be wrong, but I've always heard that the Super Red Ram designation was given to 4 barrel engines regardless of what type of heads they had on them. Fairly sure I've seen Poly valve covers that say Super Red Ram on them. My 2 barrel 270 Poly just says Red Ram. Kinda like how DeSoto Hemi's with a 2 barrel were called Firedome and the same motor with a 4 barrel was called FireFlite. There were 315 and 325 poly blocks too so even a blown up big motor can still be fixed using the hemi heads and a poly block. A low deck 4 barrel intake should be worth 3 or 4 hundred bucks if they're anything like the DeSoto ones.
Any Hemi in any condition is worth $200...................I would buy them all day. They do cost a lot to rebuild but you will have a very nice hot rod motor.
Go get it man! I had a 241 years ago and will soon be building up this 270 for my 25 dodge. I like the look and fit in the narrow engine bays of the '20s thru early 30s vehicles. The Ala Kart has a Red Ram in it - check it out in the Dec 2008 issue of R&C.
Yep ... In 1954, the Williams Brothers '28 Roadster set a new Bonneville record of 159mph with its '54 Dodge Red Ram HEMI (a 241ci block bored 0.0625, Chet Herbert cam, Harley-based roller lifters, & Hilborn injection). The December '54 issue of HRM reported that the little (alky fed) Dodge produced 290hp @ 5,600rpm! The car is currently in Tom McIntyre's collection: _________________________________________________ I'm pretty sure that the famous Markley Brothers #360 Belly Tank started out running the little Dodge HEMIs ... and later switched to DeSoto HEMIs: Post Card (text from '63 ... pic from '68) Bonneville 1968 _________________________________________________ The Markley Bros. record setting (E/FR: 207.206mph & D/FR: 222.201mph) #360 Fuel Roadster also ran little DeSoto HEMIs: : Bonneville Nationals 1984 Bonneville Nationals 1989 _________________________________________________ The Hoffman ~ Markley Blown Fuel Streamliner: Bonneville Nationals 1991 USFRA World of Speed 1995 ... with a single 309ci DeSoto HEMI attained a top speed of 382.165mph! ... and set the following records: * C/BFS (306-372ci) ... 365.433mph in 1996 (bumped up by 0.6 mph by Al Teague in '98) * D/BFS (261-305ci) ... 358.536mph in 1992 * E/BFS (184-260ci) ... 348.150mph in 1995 _________________________________________________
Re: "Harley-based roller lifters" For those reading this with interest, this is not a drop-in fit. The H-D rollers were not designed for that much spring pressure (although they will take 7,000 RPM), and won't last very long. There's also a size problem. The H-D lifter body is much smaller than the Dodge tappet (.731" vs. .904"), so the tappet holes in the block must be bushed down - precision and expensive. The H-D rollers are also bigger than the common automotive roller (.855" vs. .750"), and are too wide diagonally to be installed from the top - they must go in before the cam. Finally, the larger roller size makes the tappet behave differently (hotter), and also slightly extends the duration. It may work, but you won't get the timing figure the cam is supposed to deliver.
This Roadster used to live at the RON WILLIAMS MACHINE shop in Ventura California till the recent owner purchased it. Kinda neat that I got to sit in & Finger Fuck this car and watch them run the Dodge on the Engine stand the day Ron got it back together, But never got it back in the car before he died. Rons son Dennis still runs the machine shop today & is where i take my DeSoto stuff to have machined.. Hell, I have a 291 there now as well as my '57 H/D jugs & soon to have a 292 Y-Block Ford there. Sure wish that Roadster never left it Rightfull owners, But sometimes life & $$ make a guy do things he dosent wanna do.
I've been trying to get specs on the Markley's Dodge motor for some time now. Do you have any info on it?
Doc Fromader has a 315 build on www.webrodder.com Used LA roller lifters, just had to narrow the connecting bar.
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