Today I finally got the Hemi moved over to the run in stand. Turned out to be a bigger job that I would have ever thought. I used an engine hoist my John Deere 4 chains and my wife and it still took a while. but it's done, should have it running on the stand in a week or so then right into the Model A.
Tommy, I bought this one from Hot Heads. I am not sure who's adapters they use-maybe Wilcap? You are right that is an old 621 Chevrolet bellhousing.
The standard early Hemi seals work just fine, as these are just early Hemi valve covers. You also ( and I will) use the 426 second generation Hemi seals.
And she didn't drop the engine on your head...................... You must be behaving yourself during isolation.
Bang, It was touch and go a few times I can tell you that. Joanne is afraid of that tractor, she hates getting on the damn thing. There is no way possible for her to do the hooking up, so in this case she had to get on the tractor. The legs of the engine hoist are to tall to slip under the run stand, so we had to use the bucket on the tractor as well as the engine hoist to make this work. So here I am setting in a chair under the tractor bucket and Joanne is working the controls on the tractor. It was not for the faint of heart I can tell you for sure.
Boy,,,,that would have made an excellent accident report for the insurance company. I wonder how many have collected off of lesser circumstances,,,LoL ? “Honest officer,,,,he was sitting on the stool and told me to back up and lower the engine,,,,,it just slipped . I don’t know anything about tractors or engines ,,,,I sure am gonna miss him “ . LoL. She must be a wonderful wife,,,,,I assume most of us are in the same boat . Tommy
I am still waiting on a few parts before I fire this Hemi off, but in the mean time I wanted you folks to see my buddy ( woodsnwater) here on the Hamb hemi. This guy has worked like a demon building this engine, he had a guy who not only is a great machinist but has turned out to be just a great guy, helping him with this build. This guy would let Keith use his equipment and expertise to show him what to do. he spent a long time in this guys shop and just went this weekend and dragged it home. It is without a doubt one of the best looking Hemi's I have ever seen.
Tell your buddy Keith that really is an excellent looking Hemi ! I really like that Edelbrock decal on the intake too . Tommy
Thanks! My friend Ray the machinist stuck that on there on a whim and it looked so good it's not coming off.
When I first saw it I thought about it,,,,and then I decided it looks really cool with it . Edelbrock should have made one like that ,,,,it really looks good ! I would be willing to bet it flows good,,,looks like a good design . Tommy
PLEASE don't do that again! Lots and lots of guys get killed by going under farm equipment, then it comes down unexpectedly. You are a creative man. You can find a safe way to do this.
Wow...just found this thread. I really don't know much about hemis but they look killer! Back when I was a kid, the first hotrod I bought that ran was a channeled 30 coupe with a stock 392. Later - and a bit older, I had a steel 33 Willys coupe with a red ram hemi with 3 - 2's on it. Gorgeous car but couldn't get it to run right. Man, if I had that car now, it would never leave my possession. But sometimes you need the $$ more than the car. It's great to see someone obsessed with and knowledgeable about these early beauties. I'll be watching - that's a good lookin' hemi and love those valve covers!
Dee, that is Red Line assembly lube. I have always used this on the camshafts, for the rest of the engine bearings etc I use Brad Penn assembly lube.
Wow!...just found this thread too. 'Tho my Hemis are "Babies" I am totally into them. The Dodge 325 is a Poly motor with Hemi heads, just clicked over 40K miles. Just now starting on another project, a 270 Poly with Hemi heads and hopefully a blower. I plan to do a build threat to document the process and share the trials and tribulations.
Not wanting to hijack Hombre's thread, I've just started my own. I hope mine is as informative and entertaining. Thank you Hombre for setting the standard and getting me off my butt. Y'all are invited to view, contribute and/or question. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/poly-begets-a-hemi.1194565/
NO problem "wstory" anything to do with a Hemi I am down for, always ready for another thread on these great engines. As an update my Hemi is still setting in the same damn spot. This Covid thing ( at least that it was I am blaming it on) has put a little bit of a stopper on my getting it running. I have been damn busy fabricating other stuff for another project to get me up and out though.
Hello Hombre. I am looking at your motor stand. Even without the heads those hemis are heavy. Your stand looks like it has all it wants with the short block assembly. I had one similar to yours fail and am leery of the light construction. I notice the blown motor was mounted on a different stand. Just an observation, would not want to hear of anything happening to that fine motor or your person.
Mickey, Man I do appreciate those thought's. It is something to worry about, that's for sure and I worry about it all of the time. A do have a couple of those light weight piece's of crap stands, and then a couple of really heavy duty stands. I try to just use the light weight one's for blocks, but the problem I ran into was I have too many damn engines and ran out of the heavy duty one's. In the future my plans are to get rid of all of the light weight stands and replace them with the heavier one's. Until then I have my fingers crossed.
I also have a few Hemis. The common 11/2 ton engine lift I have was in a bind picking up a complete stock 354 with all the factory cast iron pieces. I did lift a 392 with some aluminum parts, but only enough to transfer carts. I have not put a hemi on my motor stand yet. It is homemade and robust, but I will still be wary.
Love the thread. I am working on a 315 and a couple of 325. These hemis are addictive and they keep finding me....
You are a brave man. I once had to put a BBC on one of those stands and that was too much for my nerves. I ended up fabricating a "crutch" that fit under the balancer and bolted to the front of the stand. Slept a lot better after that.
I realize this is too late, but one can change lifters on these engines without pulling off the heads. With factory adjustable rockers its really easy. I removed the adjuster screws, and then removed the pushrods through the rocker arm hole. Another trick is to use a dingleball style hone, if you have to hone the lifter bores. Just be sure to thoroughly wash the honing debris out....
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