History Home made Hemi

Lets face it. This is not going to happen. It would be enormously expensive to do for an engine that people were willing to buy the head for. For a 250-292 Chevy 6? You can buy the Sissel/Duggan head for them now. Ever seen one? I have. Just one.

 

Ken Veney made billet hemi heads in his garage on a Bridgeport with no dro.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/top50/k_veney46.html

 

It would be one hell of torque engine - I don't understand going all out on
it a dream can become fact - I like a inline 6 but I am lost on this.

 

You think you could design it?? and you dont seem to
understand the basics of a hemi to begin with!!!!

 

Come on, it's all in fun. Haven't we all daydreamed about some far out project we know can never be built or that makes no sense in reality?

 

And don't forget, the "new Hemi" isn't one.

 

Nice Chicken!

 

Aren't you the same guy who was going to build this super duper, crank started, Pinto engined wonder as well as the 4 valve flathead? What's next, an F head Wankle engine?

 

Yeah I daydream now but I'm north of 50. At 17 years old I was out in the garage getting my hands dirty and learning stuff from the old guys. Don't see how asking questions like this is going to get him anywhere. Now isn't it time for your homework?

 

Well I'm over 60 and I haven't forgotten how to dream, or to learn new things either.

 

that is a damn fine picture of a chicken indeed sir! well done

 

There is a lot you are missing.

Sam

 

what's that henwiegh?

 

The small block Ford has just received the hemi head treatment from Shelby. Looks like a scaled down Boss 429 head. The full size Boss 429 heads have been improved and reintroduced by Jon Kaase for the big block Ford as well. Feast your eyes....

 

I don't know about the engine study you've done, but the blah blah blah part , well of that I am certain.

 

Not sure what you're trying to do, but I want a pair of these heads for my 400 . . .

http://www.stagev.com/pages/hcheads.html

 

O/T I know, but the Ol hemi is really making a comeback. New Arias heads for Chevy LS...

 

You may be thinking of ARAO Engineering - castings as porous as hell so I hear. I saw a Model A pickup fitted with a pair to a SBF a few years ago.

www.araoengineering.com

Leo Lyons in Riverside CA produced about twenty sets of hemi heads for the SBC around 1965 - basicaly an Ardun head adapted to the Chevy SB.




Weslake Engineering produced 10 pairs of 32V heads for the SBC in 1974 of which four were destroyed in testing - not a true hemi but could have been machined to a full hemi configuration.

 

Only a few grams, it's drawn on lightweight paper that was wrapped around a dickfor I bought a while back.

 

It can be done. I have not made a hemi head but have made a over head for a Model A engine. You would need some machinist skills or get some one to do the machining. It took me about 80 hours to make my head. Yours would be a little longer for one head. A CNC could do it much quicker.

 

The chicken is the very best part of this entire thread. Well done, sir.

Brian

 

I've been watching this thread. I was curious where it was going to go and when/if it was going to turn into a "You're crazy, kid!" type of thread.

I have to say, your enthusiasm is impressive. Just the other day you were asking about building a car from scratch. That's WAY better than some 17 year-old kid playing video games all day. Nothing wrong with a "hot rod geek", but don't forget about the chicks and all that too!

Anyway, all these question threads on various topics you start are really good... as long as you're listening and learning. I think people are genuinely trying to help you. And just like hanging out with "older guys" in the garage, you're going to get a wedgy of sorts, every now and then to keep you in line. BUT! The moment you start calling people an "ass" (and whatever else) is the moment you will lose all of us. Wrap your mind around that for a moment. You want respect, treat us with respect and ignore the occasional "wedgy". It's ONLY THE INTERNET!

Now, with saying all that, the topic of building your own Hemi is a good one. And like any engineering situation you have to ask questions like:

- what is the definition of the problem
- what are the various ways this problem can be solved
- is manufacturing and budget a factor
- what testing will be done
- who is the end user (if it's a product to be sold)
- what is the marketability

But the main questions are... Why? Why should a Hemispherical configuration be placed on an engine not designed initially to accept this type of configuration? Will it improve the performance? Will the performance of a Hemi type head out-weigh the cost factor associated with development and testing to peak performance? Blah, blah, blah...

Let's assume you have unlimited wealth at the moment... OF COURSE it should be done. That's one way to get dirty with some hands-on experience. But if you really are going to do this, you shouldn't be focusing your research around an internet forum that can provide answers that could be mis-informing you. Not saying there's not helpful or factual information here, just implying that you need the hard facts from research and development papers and test results. Look at the history. There has been a TON of people out there who HAVE made hemi conversions for various engines (as you've seen). Find those people. Talk to them. Learn from them...

...But certainly don't call them an "ass" if they say something you don't like.

Good for you! Keep learning and keep asking questions...

 

Yes I have thought about it several times. My idea was using steel. start with a flat plate maybe 1/2". Cut out the cylinder holes from the plate. For the hemi combustion chamber you could machine it out of round stock and bore holes in it for the valves. try to machine as much of the water side off as you can leaving it 1/2-3/8 thick. Weld the combustion chamber cup to your base plate. For the ports you can use bends or fabricate your own. For the port/manifold face use 5/16" thick for the intake and 3/8" for the exhaust side. Machine up a valve guide and spring holder and weld it to the ports. Install some pushrod tubes and head bolt risers. For your top plate you have to machine out all the holes for the valve guides, pushrod tubes and head bolts. Slide it over everything and weld your top plate on. Once everything is welded you can make your end caps out of 1/8-1/4" and weld them on. All you need is: Plasma cutter, lathe, welder, milling machine and die grinder. Oh and of course you made all the coolant passage holes in your base plate before you start welding it all together. You can cut down on your metal thickness if you add small amounts of extra material to areas that need to be threaded or neet extra strength but no less than 1/2" for the base plate. If you can make it this far you can definatly tailor your head to accept a valvecover of your choice or fab your own. It would be alot easyer with aluminum.

 

Those SBF heads are a work of art. Wish I had the $$$$$ to put a pair of those on one of my motors.

 

Thank you, I just got really hot headed. Thanks for the advice, I'll keep with it.

Oh, and that is a pretty chicken.

 

I thought M/T had done this back in 71 there was a pic on the front of hotrod and there was one of the motors in Smokeys shop for the big sale after his passing, but I am old and forget now and then

 

This kind of stuff is way out of my league but I have read a couple things. First off what the hell would you want to waste all the time doing it to a little chevy six banger? Just to spend a lot of time and money to (hopefully) have an engine that might keep up with a small stock V8? Ok, now that you know what I think of your base engine, have you thought about cylinder bore spacing? Do you know what it measures on your engine? Checked any existing Hemi's with the same bore spacing? You might think about taking an existing set of V8 heads, whittle them down and furnace braze the 2 halfs together. There were some heads for Ford 300 sixes made from 351 Cleveland heads by using that process. Probably the best heads anyone ever came up with for that engine, including some elusive ones that are supposed to be produced but never have.

 

dickfor?

 

Scooter, very well put. Thanks for that.

 

Just wondering, after making your own body and then making your own Hemi do you plan on molding your own tires?