But I love them. Back in the 50's I worked for a construction company that built bridges. One would build a coffer dam to build the pier footing and frame up the pier. The steel sheeting that formed the coffer dam leaked and there were two large pumps with Chrysler Industrial Hemi engines. One ran continuously and the second started up if the first shut down for any reason. Our work hours were "daylight" and those engines ran without skipping a beat for months on end. With all the wood bracing and shoring blocking escape I wouldn't be wring this if the Hemis had failed. One hears of performance but not much on durability of these great old engines.
I took this 354 out of an Airport Tug, it found it's way into a 32 Roadster. A well engineered piece.
I have a 331 short bell hemi 1955? it came from the old Moisant Field airport in the suburbs of New Orleans. The motor has a interesting and well engineered rpm governor/ speed maintainer system that is totally mechanical and operates from an oil pump system that is incorporated with and driven from the distributor shaft. There are a series of copper oil lines with small thumb wheel valves to make adjustments for the motor speeds in response to the loads seen on the generator. It was used to power airliners sitting on the tarmac prior to flight. The motor sat for many years in a shed on the airport property before being shipped off to a scrap dealer along with a lot of other items. A friend intercepted the motor and removed the generator. He then stashed the motor away for a few more years until he heard I had a few hemis and let me have it for a most reasonable price. I cleaned it up. Rebuild the starter did the usual cylinder oil up cleaned the plugs and points. It had a Stromberg carb which was badly varnished up. Stuck a 2 barrel off of a283 Chevy motor and fired it up. I would like to see someone clean it up and use it for display. My friend mounted the generator to a diesel motor and lit up several dwellings on his block during one of our prolonged Hurricane induced power outages.
I detect Duntov's hand in those. He did earlier ones in France. The '58, .06 over 406" a friend drove in with one day, w/a 6" long driveshaft, tricked out Powerglide, in a '62 Econoline van. Built by the Bell Boys Funny Car bros, phew! Think it got 2, as in 2 MPG! W/ headers opened up, ahem, on back roads, felt like you had a ride in a rail.
Back in the 60's a neighbor had a Chrysler HEMI powering an irrigation pump; ran for days on end. Straight pipes; you could hear that thing from a mile away. Another guy set up a wood chipper using a HEMI. Logs came in on a conveyor and were soon made into bedding for animals. Sure did bark! But he didn't stay in business too long. I've got a 331 bored .030 over going into the '40 Chrysler Coupe, with a 727 behind it.
I’ve never had an original one from back in the day. I wouldn’t mind one, but right now I’m not sure what I would do with it. I know it doesn’t count, but I had an O/T late model Dodge Truck with one and that sucker flat out ran! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I picked up 2 out of a pasture a few years ago for a little of nothing. Both were 331 short bell housing. One frozen the other was free. Barely got them home and unloaded when a friend stopped by. Next thing I know he had called someone who had been looking for one. The guy offered an insane amount for both of them. They were gone in less than 2 hours. Welp, the money funded something else. But, wish every since then I'd have kept one of them. Not my first mistake and won't be my last!
Bought a 54 Chrysler New Yorker in about '68 for commuting to college. It had a PowerFlite trans and it wasn't much at takeoff, but from about 25 on it would really accelerate. At full throttle, it would stay in gear until about 60 mph and just leap when it went into high. It ran the speedo out with ease.
I may be biased...but they are tough pieces. Consider that a 392 bare block tips the scale at about 195lbs and a crank at 78lbs. Blocks don't squirm around and cranks do not flex. Everything stays exactly where it should be. You can't say that about some 'others'...... .
My first hemi was gifted me thru my bud Al, from Jerry Hansen's Blower Service in Long Beach. (1962) The 331" Chrysler (long bell housing) came out of Joe Reath's rail, after its breaking 180 MPH at 'the Beach'. Into my '46 Coupe, 671 pump, 1:1 w/triple Vee belts...Fastest thing on the Santa Clara streets for some time. Another friend, Dick Powell (So. Calif. boat racer, and former child prodigy on acordian(!)) was feeling tired, I told him to get to the Doc... He finally did, so the nurse took B.P., sat him in the examining room for some minutes. Doc came in, Dick had passed suddenly. Massive heart attack...this was in '96. My '27 Hiboy was all set up, 455 Olds I had conspired with Joe Mondello (Dr. Olds) on; '37 Cad box, Pat Warren Quickie, Plymouth Saginaw steering. My bud Larry, whom Dick rented his shop from called and said Dick had made out a will, and left me his '56 Chrysler 354 engine...Sad spoils, wife Joey and I went to pick the engine up at Dick's shop. Bittersweet, they call it. Loved getting the Hemi, but would rather have seen Dick again... Strange thing happened on the way home...My '55 F100 runs like clockwork, always. We came 80 miles or so (from San Jose) and were in the Gustine area, along 140. Easy 70 MPH, Joey asks: "So, what're you putting the Hemi in, the F100?" My answer, "No, I think I'll put it in the roadster." Just that instant! F100 starts misfiring, then gets into an unsteady 7 cylinder 'lop' that lasted until we got home. (Just an uncanny 'strain', one I wasn't too hasty about stopping alongside the road for, with 760 lbs. of Hemi blocked up in the front half of the bed!) We got home, I unloaded the 354 and took a look under the hood...Checked points, cap, (new) wires... Started it up and checked the dwell: 30*. Oh, and it ran perfectly. Again. (??!?) Love that 350 Vortek! The Olds gave way to the Chrysler, (I had adapter, flywheel, and all) Chrysler looked 'majestic' in the '27. (455 Oldses don't win beauty contests, but OH THAT Torque!) Thanks and goodnight, Dr. Olds and Dick Powell... Another pair of heroes had passed.
Built a chassis for a friend's Model A coupe. In lieu of some of the bill, he gifted me with a 276" '55 DeSoto Hemi, complete except for ONE spark plug wire cover! (anybody got an 'extra'?) Engine is super nice, bearings look like new...crank Std./Std, smooth journals...no ridge, but pistons are of the 7.5:1's, have to up that compression! My #4 son Tory gifted me a Cragar adaptor for this one, think I have another Dodge flywheel... @73RR, is there a perf. cam available for this one? Pistons, perchance? PM me, please? Thanks...
I've only owned one. Bought a roachy Chrysler 4 door in about 1961 just for the 331 hemi. Didn't turn over to well so I pulled the pan and found the crank broken in half at the middle journal. That ended my hemi experience.
PM sent. Remember that the DeSoto wire covers are either FireDome or FireFlite and they are either Left or Right side. Which do you need? .
Its not realy my first Hemi, but Dad and I just picked this one up this weekend. I think its a 55 331, but can't tell as there is nothing stamped on the pad in ftont of the valley cover. I didn't expect to find a passenger car hemi in an old Delta airline tug, but the price was right.
Hard to see with intake on, but the casting number is between the valley cover & the head tword the back,
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