I now have a 57 CE 392 Hemi and need some information. I bought a 5" recess firewall recently on here and will be putting it in soon so that should take care of set back? Will I be able to keep my F-100 steering ? What is the best induction for the street 2x4 6x2 4 barrel ? Compression is 9 1/5 :1 I have drum brakes all around F-1 front, Ford 9" with 11" rear drums will they be adequate or will I need to go to disc? Headers for exhaust or should I look at Lake style for more room? Remote oil filter or old style or adaptor for spin on? What is everybody running for transmission? My first Hemi and I am not too sure how it will be to drive. I need a lot of opinions > Thanks and no I don't do pictures As soon as I can get it on the road it will be a daily driver.
It depends on what era you're building to: '40's? '50's? '60's? Fenders? Highboy? Channelled lowboy? Why not post pictures of some cars that you like? Once you start seeing a theme, you can answer your own questions, then research & HAMBers can fill in the gaps.
I think you asked silly questions that have a million different opinion type answers. Manual trans , 3,4,5 speeds seems everyone is running those in many flavors. Lots of these choices depend greatly on what’s on the shelf, what their buddy donated, or what’s available or the wise ones planned around a goal or two. automatic trans - mopar, & GM in 2,3,4 speeds seems everyone is running one of those too. Induction- seems everyone runs what they like best. Depending on who you talk to more than one carb is nothing but trouble. Brakes- seems everyone used to stop fine on drums, especially big heavy truck brakes on light weight hot rods. Today everyone needs disc brakes and most everyone prefers a jacked up scrub radius. It could be beneficial to decide what type of build you want, then plan according. Or it could be beneficial to gather everything you have and figure out how best to Make it work.
They fit fine. Used headers from Hot Heads, inside frame rails. Spin on oil filter adapter. Disc front, drum rear. Stops fine. Switched to a Corvair box, not a daily driver. Fast, fun.
I have a Desoto hemi in my 34 truck. I have F100 style steering and it fit but I had to lift the engine up a bit higher than I would have liked. Your Chrysler is an inch longer than the Desoto but a 5" firewall should give you lots of room. The truck's size makes fitting stuff more difficult. Drum brakes work great! If you know how to adjust and se them up correctly. A single 4 barrel is best, multiple carbs look cool but are not very efficient and require a shit pile of tuning to get dialled in correctly. Most guys don't get this and are running rich or lean all the time and just live with it. Lakes pipes and kinda stupid looking in my opinion, especially on a 34 with the gorgeous hood sides. Under car exhaust is cleaner . The starter needs to move to the passenger side with an F100 box. There is not enough room, especially with clutch linkage. This also means you need a remote filter in most cases, or one that will clear you new starter location. Don't mind the streetrodders. They wanna play too, but I don't think there s a "fibreglass cars that all look the same".com......
Transmission choice depends on how well you like to row a manual. The AX15 or even the Getrag 238 6-speed are good choices but it is hard to beat the TF. If you are tight on the driver side then you might have to go to a gm trans. Shorty headers are popular but the early 4-bolt cast iron pieces are also good and they fit well in most applications. Multiple carb intake systems depend on lots-o-dollars. Single carbs are efficient and relatively easy to adjust. I have used many of the Holley carbs, but the old 3310 is a favorite for street use. Remote filters will allow for having the filter right side up...you can even drill and tap the block for 1/2-NPT and keep it looking tidy. .
A remote filter or a 90degree filter adapter will help fitting issues. I used a dual quad setup on mine for a number of years and it was easy to live with. When I went higher compression and aluminum heads and an eight deuce log manifold, it took years to get everything sorted out (as it was actually 16 Bosch injectors and a computer), but it is great now. I would likely go with a stick if doing it over, but have a turbo 400 and gear vendors setup and a higher than normal speed torque converter due to the strong pull at idle speeds. One additional thought, hemis are wide and need room to remove the valve covers, so you will need to pay attention to the side sheet metal fit.
A modified 35-36 ford pickup firewall will give you the recess you’re looking for. It will actually look like it was made for the car.
A single four barrel is simple, easy, and cheap. Just like a small block Chevy. But you don’t have a small block Chevy, you have a Hemi. And if you’re going to be a bear, you might as well be a grizzly, right? So put lots of carburetors on that beast. I would go with six or eight. I look at it this way: any competent mechanic can keep an old Ford with a single two barrel on it running right. So if he has a little more time he could keep two old Fords running right, right? And if he can keep two old Fords running he can keep eight old Fords running good. And if he can keep eight old Fords running, he can certainly keep a single Hemi with eight old Ford carburetors on it running like a grizzly bear on a back woods hiker. It’s not that complicated or hard, really. On my car I went with the Tremec T 56 Magnum six speed. I love manual transmissions, and this one has some really nice ratios. Plus it will take 700 foot-pounds. If you’re going to have hood sides. You’ll have to run the exhaust inside the frame rails. But I don’t even know if a Hemi will fit within the hood sides. I’d just leave them off. Then you could run the exhaust outside the frame rails. Those big drum brakes will work perfectly fine in most situations, but discs can be lighter. It depends on the look and the performance level you are going for. My car’s not a Ford, but I’m thrilled with the way that it turned out. Here’s a picture. If you have any specific questions let me know.
The Jalopy Journal
