Putting a Chrysler Industrial Hemi in a 52 Dodge truck

I have a friend with an industrial Hemi. The town had it hooked to an emergency generator. He has had it on a stand "studyng it" for about 10 years, waiting to put it in his '49 Merc. I'll see what he has figured out.

 

....I'm glad it all worked out for you....my steering wheel would not return to center by itself...sharp looking truck !!

 

I'm not sure it would be but if you catch me on a weekend when I'm not using it you can have access. I've changed all my springs using jack stands. If you plan it right, you might not have to remove the steering or anything else. Just jack it up to the right height, take the old one out and put the new one in. An impact wrench and air ratchet would be helpful.

 

Struck out with www.springsNthings.com
They don't offer springs for the old Dodge pickups.

Still looking around online to see if I can find a place that can make up a new set. If I can't find anything, then I'll have to try to find a used set have have them checked out first or see if mine is salvageable.

 

dan what spark plug tube seals and stuff are you using? I want to rid mine of the cover just like you did..
if you got em off the web you got a link or part number

thanks,

 

I too was wondering about the stress of coil overs on the upper shock mounts. Can you put airbags between the leaf and frame?

 

I needed new springs on a pick up a few years ago and used a place called National Spring. They just happened to be right here in my town. They made up new springs for me while I waited.
Great build BTW. That Hemi looks great in your truck. Gonna be a great truck after the bugs get worked out.

 

Dan, this would be my go-to spring shop, but distance may be an issue...

Here is a list of leaf spring folks that I found.

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After a few phone calls, I found a shop that is making me a set. I got the contact info for this shop from a guy at the Pilothouse forum.

They have the specs and should be shipping them out tomorrow.

St. Louis Spring Company
Hand-crafted Leaf Spring Suspension since 1945
http://SaintLouisSpring.com
314-533-2132

 

Couple of observations & questions:

1) If the truck sits for a while (close to a week), when I start it up, I will have a tapping on one pushrod. After the engine warms up, it stops. If I start the car more frequently, this doesn't happen.

Is this happening because the oil is draining from the pushrods or lifters. Then when it warms up, it goes away because oil is flowing again? From the sound and rhythm, it sounds like it's just one pushrod.


2) If I get stuck at a light for a while, the engine temps will climb. If the temps get over 220, the truck runs like crap until it gets down to 195 again. It feels like it stumbles when I give it gas pulling away from the light. Will carb tuning fix this or are the high temps causing fuel or detonation issues?

I'm going to try to block off the gap at the top of the radiator to get more air pulling through there, but don't think that will be enough.

I might need to try to work out a fan shroud...I just don't really have the room for a full size shroud. I see some guys running these types...do those help with airflow at all or just help keep you from taking off your fingers?


How many amps do I really need to run an electric fan? I have room in front of the radiator to put one and it would be mostly hidden from view.

 

Grandma's '86 Diplomat would make the same noise and heat up the same way in traffic when she didn't drive it very much. When I started driving it more than once a week, and took it up to highway speeds for more than 30 minutes at a time, the noises went away, and the heating problem went away too. I figgered the lifters were draining out verrry slowly, so running the engine kept them lubricated. The heating I attributed to a sticking thermostat; once the thermostat got a workout on the highway on a regular basis, it began functioning normally.

 

I'm running a 195 degree thermostat and it runs right at 195 except when stuck at a light.

Is 195 the right thermostat for this engine or too hot to start with?

 

Dan, although hot, 220 is not a 'critical' temp.
Yes, a full shroud would be very helpful as it will better direct air over all of the radiator surface, not just the small patch in front of the fan. Since you have space limitations, can you fashion a shroud in multiple sections?

Yes, excessive internal clearances can allow a lifter to bleed out when under spring load.

As to the runability issue, perhaps a phenolic spacer under the carb would help. My CRS is acting up...By chance, did you use a ss shim between the double intake gaskets or ?? If a shim was used then a new one could be made to block more of the exhaust heat....leave a hole about a ½" dia.

Gary

 

Thinking maybe when it gets that hot the fuel is starting to boil in the float bowls - a thick isolator gasket may do the trick for that - but i think you need a full fan shroud, that one won't do anything to help you. Where is your timing at BTW? if it is late it will heat up.

 

Gary...I didn't have to use a shim...just doubled up the intake gaskets. Not sure what you're describing. I could fit a phenolic spacer under the carb. Think a 1/2" one would do the trick or do I need a thicker one.

AJ...timing is at 10.5. I thought 10-12 is what's recommended.

 

Timing sounds about right - I have had people bring cars to me "not running right" with the timing right at 0 and turning the manifolds orange - not good.

yeah, try that spacer under the carb and see if it makes a difference for you. 1/2 inch will do it for you I believe.

 

On some applications we have cut a thin stainless steel shim, in the 26Ga range, and sandwiched it between the double gaskets. The hole size for the exhaust cross-over can be made any size. We have also installed 'plugs' into the face of the manifold's gasket face to restrict gas flow and cut the amount of heat getting to the carb.

Try the resin spacer first since it is easier at this point to access.

.

 

Ah...I see what you mean. In retrospect, I wish I had the exhaust risers blocked off when I had the engine apart.

I thought about having some manifold gaskets made out of copper to take up the gap between the manifold & heads, but not sure that copper would last long-term if I just blocked off the exhaust crossover ports. I was thinking we'd use a soft enough copper so they would crush a bit and seal (thus not needing paper gaskets too).

What do you think? I have a file for spacer and a friend with a water jet that could cut them out.

 

I don't think that I would use soft copper to retain exhaust gas, although, in your case, it will be quite thick and would likely give years of service. Using a solid gasket, even very soft/annealed copper, would require that the two surfaces be exactly parallel.

Tin will also work for a long time if you want to build a sandwich. Mopar used tin on the later LA engines and all of the B-RB engines.

I have counterbored the face of many intakes and pressed in a plug, some with a small hole, some solid, but of course it requires a milling machine.

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Could be the changes that have happened in the gas is causing a problem. The 331 in my '48 has the OEM intake & I have an Offy squeeze plate under an Edelbrock carb. Never had a problem with it. The current (& recent) 331 was set up the same way. Never wants to start the next day w/o a little gas dribbled into the carb or a bunch of pedal pushing. Added a phenolic spacer above the Offy plate, a little better but not a whole lot.

 

I think I figured out one factor that's contributing to the temperature issue at stop lights.

I have a pretty good sized gap above the radiator.

My hand is in the picture to give a size reference.


I was checking out the airflow at idle last night. A paper towel will stick to the front of the radiator, so I know the fan is pulling air through. Maybe not a whole lot because I have a stock 4 blade fan on the pulley (not much room for anything else). But if I hang a paper towel in front of the pictured gap, it pulled forward into the space and down to the front of the radiator.

I suspect that the airflow in the engine compartment is pulling air from the hot engine bay toward the front of the radiator and recirculating a good amount of hot air through the radiator (instead of all cool air).

It might not be the only reason, but it can't help.

I'm making a filler panel to cover up that gap and will see if it helps.

 

great place to start, but I am thinking you will need a better fan, or an electric on in front like you said before. Better fan and a shroud would be the best bet, but I know you don't have much room there.

 

Dan, without going back through 27 pages of posts...why the 4-blade fan?
Is there enough room for a 7-blade and clutch?

...a full shroud would definately help control the air flow if you can fab one.

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With the current 4 blade fan, I only have about 1" of clearance to the face of the radiator. If there was a 5 blade fan that didn't have monster sized blades on it, I could make that work, but I couldn't find anything. I don't have room for a fan & clutch.

I've read some posts on making shrouds. It will be a tight fit and I'd have to make it out of at least two pieces, but I should be able to get one in there. That would be my next step.

An electric pusher fan would probably work just as well (and be easier to install), but I need to figure out how to read the Amp output for the generator. I have a multi-meter, but haven't figured out the Amp setting (and which wires to connect too)

 

Shroud is not too hard to make if you can find a food service steel tray about the same size as your radiator. Slide that in place, work out the mounting. Mark where the fan hits on it.

Then figure out where the fan surround fits and more importantly how to get it in place. One install I saw had the whole left part of pan plus bottom left quarter of surround; a right side part to match, both were put in separately and fastened in. Finally the top part of the fan surround slipped in from the top and fit into slots in the pan and screwed to the rest of the surround. No pulling of anything, not a hose or fan blade or belt was removed.

 

man i thought i was nuts putting a 440 big block in my 49 dodge truck, but a hemi, you have to be coo coo

 

No kidding! If I'd have known up front how much work it was going to be, I probably would have just hopped up the original flat 6 instead.

But it's done now and just working out little bugs. it does look cool when you pop the hood though.

 

Dan, you're too modest. It is awesome!

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It's worth it every time someone walks up, looks in & says "Holy shit!"

 

Regarding your climbing engine temps while at a stop light - do you have a vacuum advance distributor? If so, try hooking up the vac line to a full time source, so it pulls the vacuum advance fully at idle. Depending on the advance can spec, this will add 14-16 deg more advance to your idle timing. You will need to adjust down your idle speed.

I did that method to my car because of the big cam. It smoothed out the idle & also brought down the eng temp around 15*