Hey, I just bought a Hemi for my 31 Ford Sports Coupe I am building. I know nothing about Hemi's. Hoping for some help to ID it. Engine serial #= VT550-2154 Casting #=1619829 Date= L126 W Heads=1733463-1 Intake=1537726-1 Manifolds=1536377-1 Got it from an older man that has been collecting stuff for years. He said he thought they took it out of a truck. Oil pan looks like it would be for a truck. All on standard and in great shape. Just hoping for some info. Thanks for any help.
The 463 series heads are found on the 354 truck engines from 57-58.The pan if a truck will be deep from front to back - similar to the pans we run on rails, altereds, etc. Does it have a gear drive cam or a chain drive set up. Also should have the really nice 4 bolt ex manifolds( will look almost like short dump headers) . Distributor may be a factory mechanical tach drive.Sounding like a 354 truck motor- but as stated -hotheads has the numbers.
Pan is deep from front to back. Ex manifolds are the 4 bolt ones, but I have not took off the timing cover, so I dont know about the gear or chain drive set up for cam. Thanks!!! Keep info coming!
VT550 is a 354 Dodge truck engine (which is Chrysler based). The head and intake part numbers are truck also. The exhaust manifolds are "300" or 331/354 truck and are good to have. Don't pitch those.
Info from Leo R. Lindquist Hemi Engine Data Book <o> </o> <o> </o> Engine serial #= VT550-2154 Dodge Truck 354 Casting #=1619829 354 Dodge Truck Date= L126 W “L” = 1958 Heads=1733463-1 354 Dodge Truck <o></o> Intake=1537726-1 2 BBL. Truck 331<o></o> Manifolds=1536377-1 LH & RH 1955-58 “300” series, and Dodge Trucks with 331or 354 hemi engines. These manifolds have 4-bolt exhaust flanges.<o></o>
Scootermcrad is one of the resident hemi guru's. he has collected a wealth of hemi tech all located here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118764 Check it out, it should answer a lot of questions, hemi stuff can be confusing with the different years/sizes and makes (dodge/plymouth/chrysler/desoto).
The date code: Date= L126 W 'L' is the month, 'I' is/was not used so L = November '12' is the Day and '6' is the year = 1956 The 'W' is what some refer to as the 'mysterious' casting mark .
Thanks for all the info so far. This is a new adventure for me, but loving it. Going to try to tear it down the rest of the way this weekend. Looking for some cool intakes. Any ideas??
Jimi'sHemi291 adds: You came to the right place. Gary, Scoot, RatBastad, Tom and several others are the FOUNT of info on the first-gen MoPar Hemis. But this "mysterious W" is a hide-in-plain-sight matter, IMHO. One reliable source (noted below) that, though no complete Hemis were assembled in Canada (due to high duties for transport), Hemi component parts were cast at the Windsor, Ontario, foundry, in addition to at the New Haven, Michigan, foundry. As I understand, this is EXCEPT for the 392. We can argue about details all day, but I'd put my money on that part being cast in the foundry at Windsor in Canada, by the Detroit River. Thus, the mysterious "W." _______________________________________________________________________ Windsor Ontario foundry 241-392 hemi castings - Allpar Forums ... www.allpar.com/forums/topic/98470-winsor-ontario-foun... Windsor Casting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Casting -
go to Hotheads Hotheadsresearch and they have all the casting numbers for Hemi's listed ..... Need an injection, call me www.Alkydigger.com mike
I REALLY need to get that Lindquist book!! ERRR!! Well where the hell have YOU been!? I've been asking about the "mysterious W" forever and you're the first person to confirm "Windsor"! HAHA! I was always thinking Windsor, but not for those reasons. I believe you have got to be right! As for cool intakes... How about a totally ridiculous 6x2?
Just Beautiful! Just found your interior pics and now I think I need to learn how to rivet! Do you work in the aircraft field?
Actually the CWC Foundry isn't Chrysler Windsor Canada but is in Muskegon, Mich. Leo's book flubed on this.
Thanks, Scoot. I only joined the HAMB in January of '09, and I surely don't consider myself a Hemi expert. I do know a bit about how foundries work, though. You Hemi devotees have worked hard, and thoughtfully, to asemble all the facts (and linked resources) that you have. You all on the HAMB have been hellaciously generous, accessible and forthcoming with information. One looks elsewhere and you read it all,then you may still be in a jumble -- not knowing the bottom line before you start spending dough to pull together the parts for a build, ya know? I'm glad I could contribute a PIECE, Scooter! I hope it IS correct. But, yes, I suspect it is Windsor, Ontario, across the line from River Rouge.
Well, guys, it would seem that way (still a mystery), now that I caught up there. Hell, I tried! (Maybe we could ask Bush, Jr., what the "W" is for? LOL) <!-- / message -->
Haha! It was a good try! I thought it sounded great! One day, someone will tell us what that damn W means...
Yeah, man. My gut still says Windsor, but without conclusive info, it's like trying to determine if Preston Tucker secretly built a Torpedo convertible for his wife, if you see what I mean. Heck, these mysteries are part of the FUN anyway, right?
The Jalopy Journal
