Projects 1957 Hillman Husky 392 hemi build thread

I've been trying on and off to put a 1957 Chrysler 392 hemi in to a Hillman Husky. Figured I'd get it up on here to document what I've done so far. You can see additional photos of this and other Rootes cars (Sunbeams, Hillmans and Humbers) on www.dougscars.com

My project started out with a 1959 Hillman Husky. I quickly found out there would be many challenges getting the 392 in there. The 59 has a rise in the frame that would interfere with the exhaust manifolds so I began looking for alternatives. I'm not that experienced so my skills limited what could and could not be done. What I can't do was farmed out to local builders or fab shops.

Here are some photos of what I started with. The ultimate goal is not a trailer queen but a car I can drive anywhere and not be worried about it getting a scratch or ding. Current plans call for the body to remain as is with faded paint and primer showing through the worn paint.


These pictures are of a the 59 Husky body I started with. Found it just north of San Francisco.

 

I found an NE57 Chrysler for sale in Southern California so I went to have a look at it. It was in a Jeep CJ hooked up to an aluminum T-10. It had farm implement tractor tires all the way around. The motor was purple metal flake with white valve covers.

I bought it and loaded it on the trailer and brought it home. Sure enough at the gas station a guy asked me...."that thing got a hemi in it?" I laughed and said it did. The motor was all there but stuck. A little PB Blaster freed it right up. Do you know how far you can shoot that stuff out of a spark plug hole? I got it all over the stucco on the side of the garage. What a mess. Glad it wasn't my house

Here's the motor on the way to Kodenko Automotive in Santa Paula. The 260 is also going to be rebuilt for a friend's Sunbeam Tiger.

 

I bought one of those plastic replica blocks from Pyr. I figured I didn't want to be lifting 700 lbs in and out of an engine compartment. It's nice because everything bolts up to it as if it were a real block.

I soon realized the 59 Hillman was too rusty so it became a mock-up car to see if it was possible to get the 392 in there. I know it can be done because I've seen pictures of it. I wanted to know if I could do it. Here are some shots of the plastic motor in the engine compartment. Like that pvc sprinlker pipe as a crank? This has the old water pump on it and it still fits in there. As you can see I've removed most of the sheet metal in there.

Interesting side note....I had previously sold this Hillman on eBay for $261. The buyer sent money but never showed up to collect it.

 

Since the first body was too rusty I began the search for another. I found one in Fresno. This was the panel version so it was extra cool. It had been in the same family since 1968. I soon had it on the trailer on the way home to Morgan Hill. I love the steering wheel.

 

Not long after getting it home I discovered that it was going to be too much of a challenge for me to get the 392 in that engine compartment. A chance encounter with Steve (The Soda Jerk Works) who had a 56 Hillman Husky revealed that the earlier husky had a flat frame and a longer engine compartment. The flat frame would make fitting an exhaust and front end much easier and would allow the 392 to sit lower.

I now was searching for an earlier 1954-1957 Mk Husky. I'd seen many of the later cars but hardly any of the earlier variety.

 

After months searching Craigslist I found a Husky in a desert in Southern California. I went to look at it a few days later....trailer behind truck so I knew I would probably come home with it. It was rough but I made a deal and loaded it on the trailer. The story goes the previous owner put a Volvo motor in it and ran around town with it. Some kids stole it and ran it in to a tree.

Check out the custom rear end. This proves a little bailing wire, chain, and some wood can fix anything. Not sure what they were trying to do though.

 

I began the long process of stripping the new body. It had a Volvo motor that had to come out of it. Once that was done I stripped the rest of the parts. After looking at the car for a few months I decided it was just too rough to use as a platform for my 392.

By now my 392 was done so I had to find something to put it in. I had looked at a 57 Husky years before but couldn't remember where it was located. I hadn't paid too much attention to it because at that time I was looking for a 59 Husky.

I searched the internet for the ad for the 57 but couldn't find it. I remembered the car was in Alameda so I started looking at Google satellite maps with the hopes of finding the car in a picture. Sure enough after about an hour I found what looked like the car. The satellite image even had the name of the business. I called the guy and told him how I'd been trying to find him for years. When I told him how I found him he said you're not a stalker now are you? At that point he still had the car but had grown fond of it and didn't want to sell. He had it suspended on one of those Home Depot type racks and liked to look at it. I offered him my panel Husky in trade and he went for it.

A week later I trailered the panel Husky to Alameda and met up with the guy for the swap. Before starting the forklift he offered me a swig from a bottle of Jack Daniels. I declined as it was only 11 in the morning. I had to hold out until at least lunch time. He turned and poured some of the JD in to the carb of the forklift. I knew the color looked off..it was gasoline in a JD bottle. I'm still not sure if he would have let me drink it.

Here are some shots of how I found the car.








Motor done by Kodenko Automotive ready to go!




Timing cover, valley pan, and intake manifold from Hot Heads



That's a Ford 260 sitting next to the 392. The Ford looks tiny. You can see the nose of my American Bantam Speedster in the background. A whopping 45 cubic inches of power.

 

When ya' gotta have a Husky...nothin' else will do...!

 

I got the blue Husky home and started taking inventory. It was full of junk. I found out why it was off the road…..there was a large hole in the block. The more and more I looked at the car the more I realized that this one was no better than the previous Husky.

 

I decided to plow forward with the car since there just weren't any better cars out there.

I test fit the engine before any cutting. It looked like a better fit than the later 59 Husky. Strange...the 392 mock up motor doesn't look too big or out of place between those frame rails.

 

This was the level of rust I was dealing with. The gas tank was gone. So was the area around it. That pile of debris on the floor was a lot of rusty metal. It was time to find a new body.

 

While I was looking for another body I had been busy trying to find other parts for the build. The wheels I decided on were AR magnesium 15 x 8 for the back and 15 x 6 for the front.

 

I know it's not traditional but I found an IFS for the front and soon found the 15 x 6's wouldn't work. The 15 x 8's wouldn't work either because I was going to use an IRS and didn't want to have to tub the wheel wells. I gathered all my spare wheels and worked a trade with Greg Shelton. I think I traded 10 wheels plus cash for 4 good wheels.

Greg had a set of 15 x 4 American Racing 200S wheels that were perfect for the car. He also had a set of 15 x 7 of the 200S wheels for the rear end.

 

Subscribed

 

The IRS was from a Maserati. Very much like a jag rear end. It was a 3.54 posi unit so it would be perfect.

 

GO HAWKS...my dad went there.

 

After a year long search I found another Husky for sale. This was in Washington....about 800 miles away. I didn't have many options so I hooked up the trailer again. It looked ok in the pictures. I left at 4 in the morning and was in Washington about 4 in the afternoon.

The car looked pretty good but wasn't perfect.

 

Well I wasn't going to drive 800 miles and come home empty handed. I made the deal and loaded the car up for the long return home. I got home around 5 am. Never slept...drove straight through so the total trip was about 25 hours.

 

A few more from the day I brought it home.

 

Yes! Great story so far and looking forward to this build. And especially the 392! Subscribed!

 

These are some shots of the initial clean-up. Lots of junk to clean out. Even rubbed out the paint a little to see what it would do.

 

Now that it was cleaner the motor had to come out. This one didn't have a big hole in the side.

 

I learned you start a project with the wheels you intend to use. That way you can figure out how much everything gets narrowed. I started taking measurements of where the original wheels were located so I could put the AR wheels in about the same spot. This meant I also had to get measurements of where the fenders were. I used the garage floor to make all my markings. It seemed to work.

 

I found a Heidt's IFS at an estate sale. Got the complete unit for $500. Getting it on the car was beyond me so I took it to Pacific Fabrications.

 

more IFS shots. When I called Heidt's to see how much I could narrow the front end they told me to call a guy named Doug Lyle...because he could tell me how to narrow it for the Husky. I told them that I was Doug Lyle. I had put a 302 in a Husky before so they did a web search and found me and assumed I could help.....I wish.

I think we ended up taking 8" out of the front end crossmember. Fatman fabricated a rack also narrowed 8"

 

Here's the positioning of the wheels. I knew it probably would have been simpler and smarter to go with a complete frame from Art Morrison etc....but this is the way I choose to do it. Like they used to in the old days of making it work with what you had.

 

Now that the front was done it was time to concentrate on the rear end. I needed to figure out how much it needed to be narrowed. I went down to Home Depot and got some 1/2" pipe and some flanges to try and figure it out. I came up with what I thought looked good and took some measurements. looked like the rear would have to be narrowed to 48"-49". This is about at the limits of what you can narrow a Maserati/Jag IRS.

 

here is a pic of my Hillman rear end, ford shortened, the car has a buick v6 and a Toyota frt clip

 

So....... How many Hillmans do you have now?

 

lookin for nice rims like yours