Back in 1965, My father was 16 and his friends were 17. One of his neighbors inherited a speedboat, with 426 in it with a blower! He asked my dad and his friends if they pull the engine out they could have it. For free. They tore that thing out of there in hours and stuck it in a completely stock 40' ford. They stole a unknown transmission (Probably a 727) out of a persons yard and put it in there. Assuming the car didn't last very long. What's your hemi story?
i believe the 426 Hemi came out in 64. Hard to believe there was a blown 426 in a boat someone inherited in 65 and gave it away.
Here is my hemi story: I wanted a hemi so I found one on craigslist. It was out of a Desoto. I found out the hard way that parts are practically non existent for Desotos and when you do find them, they are like gold. I have spent bundles on this turd so far and it still isn't done. I passed on a Chrysler thinking it would be too big. I shudda bought a Chrysler.........lesson learned.
My only Hemi, I bought a '54 Chrysler for about 25 bucks so I could get the engine. Tore it down for a rebuild and found the crank broken in half. After that, I stuck to the B motors.
When I was young I, I bought a 58 big car Chrysler with a bad tranny. I kept thtacar for over a yera and couldn't find anyone in my price range to rebuild the trans. I used to carry gas to it in a lawn mower can so I could set in it and run it. One day dad gave me two days to get rid of it. Not a very good story but the good news is I owned three 426s later in life. Loves me a Hemi.
Mine is a boat story too. I was about 20, had rented a house on the San Francisco bay and learned to water ski. Needed a boat and for reasons I no longer remember I ended up buying a Sanger flat bottom V-drive. It was actually a Sanger Jr., two seater about 16 feet long with of all things a stock 392 Hemi, chrome valve covers and Holley 4bbl. Beautiful boat, mahogany deck and when you launched it the heavy engine was just about the only thing still sticking out of the water. Terrible ski boat, no neutral so you had to make a circle around the skier and hit it when the line tightened. Even worse, after a couple of years the salt water took it toll on the chrome everywhere, rusted the beautiful prop and shaft, all the various brackets... I sold it and bought a fiberglass outboard beater. Not even 1% of the panache but a much better skit boat.
when I got back from Vietnam in late 68 I went down to the local dodge dealer and looked at superbees I saved every dollar I had while I was there to buy one. luckily for me the dealer was ex marine and Korean vet he sold me a hemi 4speed superbee for dealer cost. beat the hell out of it for the rest of my time in the marines and got back home and sold it to an idiot. he warped it around a telephone pole one night leaving the local bar. only hemi I ever owned.
Well, after a year of scrounging I guess I have found everything I need except a decent camshaft. Rebuilt parts like oil/fuel/water pumps are like hens teeth. I wanted a multicarb intake but they are rather scarce for the high deck Desoto. Nothing like the availability for the Chrysler version. The biggest problem is the cost. I could have built 5 Chevys for what I have in this engine and its still all apart.
In '70 a buddy rumbled his way into the yard one day in a ratty old '62 Econoline van. As he turned in we noted a host of mechanicals hanging quite low, and a beastly thump of exhaust note. Seems he'd been visiting the Bell Boys. They had built the van as a runaround toy, and Dennis had bought it. The van had a 6" long driveshaft, a tricked out Torqueflight, and oversize tube headers. Inside between a pair of light bucket seats was an expanse of 2B Finish aluminum plate, covering a massive engine compartment. Beneath was a punched, stroked, forged crank 392, w/a dominator carb on top. In 'street' trim, on sound pavement, when Dennis hit the gas, the front wheels bounced as it roared like a banshee. It felt like the seat mounts were about to rip up thru the floor, suggesting you wave goodbye, with an exit out the rear doors!
20 years ago when I started building my Hemi j it was suppose to be built with a small block chevy. A friend of mine who use to drive FED said if your going to build a gasser you have to put a Hemi in it! I said I don't know shit about Hemi's and where am I going to find one!!!! My friend said he had a guys # that was selling some at the last swap meet. So I called him and he said he would sell me one for $500 bucks. Soooo I drove over to his house and to my surprise he had 5 392 Hemi's so we picked one out and I handed him the cash. On the shelf in the corner was a vintage 6-71 Blower with a mag. Delta drive and Mag. Intake, I asked how much for the blower setup? The answer was " the only way I'll sell it is if you take everything " ok so I took a big breath and said How Much ! Well he said I'll take $2500 bucks for the 5 392 Hemi's including the stroked and blown motor ! That also included a 2 4's setup. Well I said lol keep the 500 bucks and I'll be right back . So I loaded my 5 392 Hemi's plus all the spare race parts into my v8 astro van and headed home with my butt dragging and a grin from ear to ear.!!! Sold 3 and that's how I got my free Blown 392 Hemi for my j.
I remember going to swap meets in the 80's and early 90's and seeing a lot of early hemi speed pars at bargain prices. I used to think : "I wish I had a hemi 'cause these neat parts are real cheap!" Now I have a couple, and guess what?. Luckily, I did score some decent deals in the late 90's, but those days are long gone too!
In high school in 65 my brother,2 friends and I got hold of a running 50's Desoto complete frame and terrorized our old back roads.We thought we could make a dune buggy.
no really neat stories of those that have passed through my hand or of those on hand....sad story of one of my Red Rams that I was finally able to get....after rebuilding it - they didn't put any antifreeze in the also restored more door car - blew a chunk out in the water jackets you could put your fist in....those fresh guts went into another block....
When I was about 15, a buddy brought a 331 HEMI over to my house and we did a complete rebuild in my basement. Sold it later for $50.00.
About 5 years ago, I was looking for a red ram for a project and got a number of a guy that hoards them and frequents swap meets. I went to his place and he had a couple 241's and a poly 330 and he said " I got this other one I don't know much about, it's a bigger hemi.. he said you can have it for $500 cuz' I just don't know much about it". Turned out, it was a '55 Chrysler Hemi out of a New Yorker, virgin block. Got it back home and tore it apart, project stalled, then I listed the engine on CL. Got a call a week later from a guy lookin' for one. Told him he could have it for $500 and he was a heating contractor and said I need my garage heater fixed, he said he'd do it for free! He hauled the engine home, I got my heater fixed..I get a call last year from him to check out the cover of "Ratrod" magazine this months issue..I know..Ratrod of all magazines, and there was the hemi after $13K was dumped into it.
In 1978 a buddy told me about a salvage yard about 170 miles west of Lincoln Nebraska that might have a Hemi, I was looking for a 426 for my 1966 Satelite to go nhra stock class racing. We call them up, they say yes we still have one, its on an engine stand, fresh and they want 600.00 dollars.I ask them if the distributer is in the front, they say yes, and we hit the road! We don't have a pick-up between us so we are going to get it in my buddies 1970 gto, planning on taking the heads off and putting them in the back seat floor, and putting the short block in the trunk. We get to the salvage yard , talk to the guy behind the counter and he says they won't take a dime below $350.00! We say lets see it, they take us to a garage open the door and there sits a fresh early Hemi on an engine stand.My heart sinks because it won't work in the Sattelite, so we head home, depressed. I've kicked my self ever since for not buying that early Hemi !
I was given a 426 hemi back in 1981 or so, The block had a freeze crack in it and one head missing, and a 12 Qt milodon pan, a Isky billet cam, the woman wanted it out of her yard. So I start scrounging, meet a guy in Birmingham, Ala, who has some parts.( John Anthony was his name) I buy a head from him. Someone tells me where the 66 Belvedere my hemi came out of is and I go to it, hoping to find the intake or something. I look at a cut up dirt tracked hulk that has a 340 in it, nothing there but the Hemi emblems woth saving. Another guy tells me someone he knows has a hemi at the local dirt track. I go to look, buy a NEW BLOCK, 2 new heads and a set of 426 Wedge Jahns pistons. well I am on a roll. Trade the milodon swinging pickup pan to Roland Osbourne (who had started the NHOA National Hemi Owners Assoc.) for a stock pan and intake. Im only needing a set of headers and align boring the block to the 1966 main caps I have. John Anthony tells me about R and R machine shop in Huntsville., I am lacking money.My first wife decides at this point she wants out, saying I got my head on cars and not family. I meet a gut in Hot Coffee Ms. who has a 67 Belvedere with corning windows, fiberglass doors, fenders, hood and trunk. He says if I sell the Hemi to himI can help him race the car. So wife stays for another year Guy puts the Hemi in the car and trades for a superbird, and I am wondering....who screwed me worse? Me! I now have a 5.7 Hemi that I gotta figure out the cheapest way to feed and ignite it. I also had a 276 DeSoto Hemiand wanted to put it in a friend's 37 Desoto 2 door coupe, but thats another friend who wasnt kinda deal. He sold the car to someone who put a 350 in it...AAARRRGGGHHHHH
There isn't enough internet available to talk about how many times I smile thinking about thousands of miles at the tiller of a 528 Hemi-powered 6speed 64 Dodge shortbed. Cross-ram, zoomies.... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
So here's one, but not to exciting . I see an ad for a 354 with a newer aftermarket dual quad manifold like a hotheads or close. see Plenty of pics, & speak to the guy selling it and then set out on a 2 1/2 hour ride to get it. I get there and he shows me a 331. I was so damn mad. He says oh must have been the wrong pics loaded. I said oh we must have had the wrong conversation too that included you reading me the wrong casting numbers too I guess. I was going to leave it there but decided to negotiate 5 hrs drive and 331 vs 354 prices. That 331 had an early small runner wet edmunds 2x4 on it
Well? Don't leave us hanging. Were you able to negotiate a good price? Long or short bell 331? I don't know much about Edmunds hemi manifolds, but it sure adds to the allure of this deal!
Yes, I got the package, it was a short bell 331. Depends how you want to look at it I guess or which I might sell first, but the manifold was worth the trip and the 331 was gravey.
If it was a long bell, I would have been pissed. Since I only do street driven cars, any short bell is OK with me. (Not to knock on long bell hemi's, but mistaking a short bell 331 for a 354 is a heck of a lot more understandable than doing it with a long bell.)
found my first 392 hemi in a junkyard in northern pa....it was running, but not too good in the BACK of a ford econoline van.....had a 2" driveshaft - a real bitch to get out too...tore it apart and found the bottom of a valve in the oil pan and a big hole in the piston....
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