I only wish that was possible. While the early Hemi's are a little pricey to build, they are within the reach of most of us today. May be a little bit of a strain but it is doable if you really want one. The 426 Hemi's are not within the reach of most of us. I have seen bare 426 blocks for sale for $7,000 a complete engine is right around $30,000, so that puts it a little, or maybe a lot, out of the reach of the average Hot Rodder. O good rebuildable core early hemi is not cheap anymore either. I have three 392's all were bought as core motors needing a rebuild except for one that was "supposed" to be a built engine. That supposed to be built motor had sat for about 10 years or so, once I got it apart it turned quickly into a nighmare as far as the money was concerned. That motor is setting in the shop waiting to be screwed together. Considering the original purchase price and the later to come machine work on both the heads and the block ( it had to have two sleeve's) it also had to have a new crank, cam, rockers and that list goes on and on, I have $9,285.00 into it now. There was a point in that story were I could have easily junked that block and been money ahead by far. I just could not do that, it is after all a 392 early hemi. I mean the damn things were only made for 2 years and went into Chrysler's and they were by no means the most popular car in 1957 and 58. If you look at how many race cars have one of them even today, and think about how many of them got destroyed and think how many of them could MOPAR possible have made. It would seem that at some point we would run out of the damn things. That is why I didn't junk that block. I just wanted to save that poor old wreck of a motor.
Hombre the 331 extended bell hemi adapters and often over looked at the swapmeets and unknown to many owners. The adapter is just a flat plate ranging from a inch or two and seems to be missing something . Whats good on some you can bore or mill a different bolt pattern and throw out arm ball. I seen a few at Iola this year that were cheaper then that but with interesting transmission combinations. I even seen a complete hotheads for a 727 for 225 complete with flywheel. . I will pick them up is they are cheap and have been for over 25 years. As well as the adapters for the 331 354 and 392 but almost all are for manual transmissions. I dont know when the automatic adapters came out but local hemi racers had manual adapters or ran the later 426 when it came out. . I know there were more resources before Bob Walker bought Hemi Unlimited and another joint in Atlanta or in the south and PAW went out of business . Wilcap has been making adapters for many many years and were great to work with. I also have used early Lakewood Scatter shields for Manuel transmissions and machine them to fit your needs. What nice about that its a real scatter shield for some safety . I seen flywheels aluminum ones new for 350 and in my head $hit I paid a lot more for my nos Weber and now they make them again good and bad.. The Mopar automatic transmission turned me off when I had to cut off the front bell off a Mopar trans and grind it to fit or something like that. As a tool maker that just didn’t fly and deal in thousands of a inch and haven’t found a side grinder to hold that tolerance... I have a hotheads or wilcap adapter in my 1932 ford with a 350 trans . I don’t remember as I built a few and its been 25 plus years ago. It’s funny the adapter is nothing more then a aluminum plate and the flywheel is nothing more then a GM flexplate 40 bucks that has been bored out to adapt a aluminum hub to fit your crank. Swap-meets and drag racing events are a great source for early hemi goodies at bargain prices but Ebay has early hemi parts and never know the price. I dont see any hemi engines go around here for the 300 buck range and more in the 1000 mark for a stuck motor. Last swap had a running 331 and was running on a stand at the swap for 2500 bucks and Jefferson had a 392 industrial in a generator housing running it its original clothing generator and all for 5k or something with low hours. If you love the old cars and hemis flathead caddy and enjoy reading the little books or spotlites you learn what to look for and hope you get to buy it before your buddy’s do at the swaps lol.
All 331s are not equal. The later ones have the best heads and I guess it'd be hard for the early ones to catch up. Either way, they got a bunch of torque. I don't know the numbers, but if you start replacing the cast iron parts with aluminum, they're not the beast everyone thinks they are. Mine has an aluminum intake manifold (you ever try to lift the cast iron one out from under the hood?). And an aluminum big block Chevy water pump, an aluminum radiator, and tubular headers. All totaled, it adds up to something(?). My 331 is bored to 354 specs. I didn't believe the stock Plymouth water temp gauge for years, but after I put the electronic fuel injection on, both of them read about the same – 160º.
That's a great question, and something I have learned alot about, having built several gen 2 hemis in the last 20 years and 1 392 Hemi in the last 5 years. The answer: If you want a nice cruiser, up to about 450 naturally aspirated horsepower, an early Hemi will be cheaper, IF you start with a good core. The reason is that the cores are a lot cheaper. If you can find a good core that that is a COMPLETE engine, never stuck or rusted or cracked, that the bores are still good so it can get by with a hone and reuse pistons, new rings, bearings, cam and timing chain, gasket set, valve job and knurl the guides, you will be into a decent Hemi for very cheap. But you need to be VERY selective about the core, and take your time, know what you are buying. If you want to up the power a bit, throw in a few grand+ for machine work, new rods with good bolts, and pistons with some compression, a decent cam, and some port work. To get 600+ horse out of a 392, you are going to have a ton of $ into the heads, Missle rockers, big roller cam, and other goodies that will quickly start to overtake the extra cost of the gen 2 core. Unless you throw a blower on it, then you don't need to go wild on the heads. If you want BIG horsepower the 426 wins, hands down from both price and power. The reason is, that a nearly stock gen 2 Hemi will easily make 600 horse. With carefull parts scrounging, and doing most of the labor, I know I can build a 600 horse gen 2 for $10,000 - 12,000. With a stroker crank, some compression, a roller cam, and about $1200 worth of porting on the heads, and intake and headers, 800 horse is within reach. With a killer set of heads, 14 to 1, and a giant roller cam, 900+ horse for a few grand more. The biggest hurdle right now is finding a block. Everything else is easy. I bought a nice standard bore 1966 426 block back in May 2019 for $3300, and I considered that a great deal. If I could find more, I'd buy them too. A 4.5" bore iron megablock, if you can find one, will set you back at least 4 grand these days, and an aftermarket aluminum block 5 grand to 9 grand. The next big cost is the rocker gear. Good used stock stuff is $1200 to $1800. Aftermarket roller rocker set ups are $2500 to 4000 new, but you can find killer deals, on used stuff, sometimes cheaper than stock. You can get a great set of new aluminum 426 Hemi heads that will support 800 horse, with valves and springs for under 3 grand. Pistons, rods, cranks, cams, etc, are about the same as any other performance engine, except maybe a SBC. On the other hand, if you just want to call up a shop and order a turn key engine, $24000+. There are plenty of good used gen 2 hemis, usually 472 - 498 cubic inches for sale in the $12,000 to 16,000 range, ready to bolt in and make 600-700 horse.
Hemis aren't for dreamers with shallow pockets anymore that is for sure. I've got a 330 56 Desoto Hemi in the shed that has a stick flywheel and bellhousing and Dodge Od trans with it but the kicker is that a rebuild kit off Ebay that has pistons but no cam is 1900 plus 81 and change shipping 312280428616. A guy might do a couple hundred better with some serous shopping but you are still looking at machine work, an intake and exhaust most likely. That's if you don't want the fancy stuff. That engine has been in the shed so long it will need a complete redo and probably have to be bored. The 5 to 10 K to redo one aren't a joke by any stretch. I'm not saying no but if you don't plan on spending a minimum of 5 K on one you would be better off to go with something simpler and less expensive to do. Personally I really like Y block Fords and Parts are far more readily available for them. Plus with a set of glass packs they sound fantastic.
There are a few hemi's kicking around out here. Should be able to find one or so in your state if those others do not work out. I agree , a 426 is going to cost way more the early hemi's .
Anybody correct me if I am wrong but a Chrysler hemi is the widest, then DeSoto with Dodge being more compact so making the Dodge a better fit for a Model A if you want hood sides.
I have a dodge 325 and an LS on engine stands next to each other. Gathering parts slowly for both. Both are about the same displacement but they are worlds apart. A Buick Nailhead or a 394,425 Olds makes a nice street able engine that doesn't have the transmission adapter issues.
Go online and find the nearest copart.com facility. You can usually get a complete car or one with the parts you want pretty cheap.
Both are in every piece that they could be in. I spent the weekend working on blower rotor clearances, rotor timing, and the design for the hidden (gasp!) EFI system (just don't tell anyone here).
Hemi's are tough to build, safe to say you'll have to hand fit each piece to the engine, I don't think I was able to take anything out of its box and bolt it up. Its totally worth it.
Funny I don't have any Hemis or Ls engines but I do have a couple of nailheads and a 394 rocket engine.
I've had my 331 for nearly 60 years. Got the Hydro tranny adaptor from B&M (Drag Machine brand) as high school grad present in '67. 331s bore 1/8" over easily and turn into 354's use 354 pistons. I didn't spend the national debt on mine but did most of the build in the 70s and 80s. If you do a mild build (no fancy valve train, rods etc.) shouldn't dent your wallet too much. Biggest drawback to mild performance is the small port heads which don't have the 354/392 water X-over. 354 heads fit but thermostat/water pump setup is problematic. I used a 354 cast iron intake manifold on mine and drilled out the front water ports and brazed in a home made thermostat housing. I have a set of truck heads which have big valves, big ports, no water X-over, and water heated manifold so are better than 354/392 heads which have Siamezed exhaust ports for exhaust heat X-over. Those have to be welded for headers to work. Sound too good to be true for 331 guys and it is. Sort of. Exhaust valves have large diameter sodium filled valve stems so need new valve guides. Hot Heads. And the hot water X-over ports are too tall and are exposed on the manifold. Braze in a blocker plate. Those mods which aren't bank breakers and should be killer 331 heads.
Above pics- 331 hemi -1951 longblock. Made my own adapter for 727 Used a standard trans pressure plate to enable starting. Had a flanged piece machined 5in long 8 bolt one end 6 bolt to 727 torque con. Lucked out-ran great but was fairly gutless-7 to one compression -until I put a small blower on it! Got that hemi rebuilt for 500 bucks ,did everything for under a grand excluding headers. Sold it 10 yrs ago _FOOL!
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