A friend of mine his grandfather has some old irragation pumps. He told me some are flatheads and some are hemis. Are these any different than the motors from the cars. I know the hemis were industrial and had different parts. But are the rest of the motors the same as the ones from cars.
usually Chrysler industrial hemi's have a longer stroke, since they're just built to Idle, not perform. that's what I've heard from a few old timers.
As far as the Hemis go, check out the HEMI tech archives, lots of info there. Also might try a search, think its been covered several times.
A lot of those engines ran for days on end with who ever was taking car of them pouring a quart or two of oil in the filler tube without shutting them off so a complete overhaul would be expected. They weren't just built to Idle either as they work pretty hard especially in West Texas where one pump might pump water a lot of acres. I'd say any that aren't cracked or blown up beyond repair would be worth the effort though.
He said some of them ran prety good a few years ago when he got out of farming peanuts. He allso has a old welder with a flathead. Tons of these old motord around here. Every one use to farm peanuts around here.
Flatheads (Ford and MoPar) were also used to run wind machines in orchards; There used to be one on display in the Towe Ford Museum in Sacramento. 4TTRUK
I had a friend who would go west to Oklahoma and buy 348's that were used for irragation systems. He swore by them for the money. He did rebuild though.
lots of irrigatin motors were run on propane / natural gas and as a result aren't all sludged up. get some and look inside, if they can be had cheap. what could it hurt?
As an aside, many industrial V8's were used in pumps, generators, small locomotives, air raid sirens, etc. and, of all things, yellow gear like APUs for starting aircraft. The USAF uses nailheads to start B-52s! Gary
Industrial power plants powered by Hemi and Flatheads would be a good starting point for tradtional motors.
The Airplane Museum at the air base in Warner Robins, Ga. (which also has a great cruise-in/car show every Sept.) has an old pumper truck (fire engine/crash truck sort of thing) restored inside. There are two real pretty 364 nailheads running the pumps on the pumper truck. They have everything from a 1919 Jenny to a Blackbird, C5A, B-52, and a U-2, not to mentipon a P-40 and a P-51 in there. Have close to 600 planes altogether! Makes a GREAT weekend trip! Old asphault/tar trucks will probably have a flathead in them running the pumps too, as do many old forklifts.
392 Chrysler Hemis were only originally installed in Chrysler cars. Every industrial or truck motor was either a 331 or 354. Ago
Dodge and Desoto engines were used in many many industrial applications. Dodge 270 and 315 engines were used in up to 600 series trucks.
GMC 351 V6's were popular water pump motors as well. GMC also made a 702, which was a doubled up 351. Both were also fitted into vehicles. They didn't spin much more than a few thousand RPM.
Lots of industrials were 392's. Air raid sirens on top of skyscrapers across the USA had them on the roofs. I believe it was Keith Black or one of the other big builders who got the contract to remove them, and we all know where that led! Most irrigation pumps around here were built later, and had 455 Olds engines.
Uhh, no. It has been said many times before... most 392's aren't. It is a fact that 392's were only produced for cars. If you do find a 392 in an industrial application it was transplanted into there. You can verify this by the car serial number that is stamped into the front of block.
There's always a display at the Tulare World Ag Expo that has a bunch of old pumps from around the valley. I remember seeing flat heads I don't remember seeing any Hemi's. It's in a couple weeks if I remember I'll take some pictures. Also, the guy that use to harvest my dads beans had a flat head on the harvester.
I remember seeing a pump engine, I think it was close to the coast in Northern Calif. that was a Willys/ Stearns Knight Sleeve valve. probably saw it in the late 60's. My father had a Willys with that engine in it in the 20's. He said that going up the hill out of Half Moon bay, it would slow down to the point that you could count the beats as it fired.
But that doesn't mean you won't find one. As a farm kid I guarantee anything is possible. Everbody I knew was a scrounge and fabricator.
In the late 50's I stoped at a salvege yard in Happy Tx. and they had several hemis that were made to bolt on top of the gearhead standing straight up and had dry sump oil systems.
Check this link for the best info. No 392 Industrial hemi. http://www.classichemi.com/index1.shtml#Indust
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