Projects 1957 Hillman Husky 392 hemi build thread

I had to subscribe to this one, love me Husky's. I was driving mine every day until something inside the engine started knocking. All original flathead four, i thought the number plates suited it (top speed 40mph). The other i wanted to put a small block in one day. Very impressed of what you have accomplished.

 

Thanks for the info Glenn. I think I found that picture here somewhere on the HAMB too.

I'll try to contact him.

 

Wish the body on my car was straight like your car.

How do you get the pictures so large like on your post? Do I have to use an outside host? I'd prefer my photos to be large from the get go....so you don't have to click to enlarge.

 

Wow, I've been looking for a Husky for awhile (not real hard though). Seems like you can find them in your sleep, I was thinking a more modern 4cyl for the girlfriend.

 

There is a guy down in southern California selling two. I think he (or his girlfriend) have owned them a long time. Contact me off list if you want me to dig up the contact info..

 

crazzzzy cool.

 

Leo is bored. If it doesn't involve his frisbee he's just not that in to anything else.

 

I didn't read the whole thread, but see you will run stock manifolds? might be ideal for both fitment and lack of chasing header leaks...

 

What a great little car. Should be a riot.

 

Yes, stock manifolds for the 354 which are better than the 392 log manifolds. I have a set of Sanderson and PAW block hugger headers but both take up considerably more space than the stock cast iron manifolds.

In the first picture you can see how little room there is. The manifold was just touching that set screw for the u-joint. I can grind the head down a little but I'd still like to find a little more room. I have two sets of the 354 manifolds so I can use two lefts or two rights if it buys me more room. Just for the heck of it I'll see what the 392 manifolds do. I'm not opposed to using them if it will solve other space/clearance problems. Option C if it comes down to it is putting the car on the trailer and going up to Sanderson for a custom set of headers.

 

I have a 1959 hillman wagon.. I put mine on a 1988 Samari Suzuki two wheel drive frame.. same wheel base! I rebuilt floor and put a V6 Chevy carb motor and auto trans.. drive it every day.. my next thing is to put A/C and do the upholstery..

 

I'd love to see a photo of your Husky. Sounds like a lot of fun.

 

Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I'll get a transmission/driveshaft yoke so I can measure how long of a driveshaft I need to have made. Talked to Curt Hamilton today and he suggested I get a yoke and take measurements with it in the rear of the transmission but sticking out approximately 3/4 of an inch. From there I'll measure from the yoke center hole to the rear end pinion flange.

 

Sounds about right, 3/4 to an inch, but...If you're going to have a shop make it ask them how they want it measured.

 

Curt from Hamilton Industries is going to make the driveshaft for me. He's the same guy that did the rear end for me......he's been doing them since 1967. He said pull it out 3/4 or no more than 1 inch. Gonna go at lunch today and get the yoke.

 

I really like your project.

 

Thanks. Hopefully it will be on the road soon.

 

Called a local driveline shop to see if they had the slip yoke I needed and they told me they did. Drove 30 miles to have them tell me it was on back order. I hate it when that happens.

Ordered one today from Bayshore Truck and Equipment. I hope to have it before the weekend.

 

I've decided to make it a little easier to fab up the pedals so today I went to the wrecking yard and cut out a frame section that contains the pedals and brake master cylinder. This will allow us to make all modifications out of the car. The guy that's helping me do the pedals won't have to find room in his garage for my car so this is a big help.


The first photo shows how the brake pedal contacts the firewall. We had to modify the firewall here to make room for those big hemi heads. I was amazed that we still have the pedals in their stock location.





This is an upside down view of the pedals. I'll got some PB Blaster on there so I can get it all apart later.







This is the bellcrank the clutch chain would attach to. We're going to fabricate a mount to put a clutch master cylinder on the frame. We'll use the same holes that mount the brake master.






Here you can see the hole in the floor to add fluid to the brake master. You can also see two holes in the frame where the brake master mounts.







This is an upright view where you can see the floorboard. Towards back you can just make out part of the front seat mount. Still need to find some seats.







Again you can see bolts holes for the brake master.






This is a view from the front where you can see the frame and how the pedals go through it.

 

Holy Crap..what a project...looking great..subscribed

 

Thanks. Getting it up on the HAMB has got me motivated to keep making progress.

 

You have salvage yards that have vehicles that are more than 10 years old????

Where do you live?

 

I brought my local salvage yard this car and they didn't get rid of it. I've been back many times to get parts and each time I have to pay at least $20. Today I had to pay $100. They had to move it close to an outlet so I could plug in the Sawzall. Brought a battery powered one but the batteries died in about 5 minutes.

Sucks but I didn't have space to keep the car at my house. I thought I got everything I needed off it but I keep finding reasons to go back and get more parts off of it. I'm just glad that they keep it around for me because today I saw more parts that could come in Handy. I'm sure I'll be back for more.

 

Was able to spend a little time in the garage today test fitting exhaust manifolds. I first tried a 354 manifold. These flow better than the 392 log manifolds. In these photos I do not have a gasket in so the gaps shown will be tighter. The set screw in the picture can be shortened to create a little more space. I think eventually I'll end up trying to move the u-joint a little further towards the rack. That will lessen the angle of the u-joint and make it so the DD shaft is further away from the manifold.

I may need another set of 354 manifolds. I found out today mine is cracked. Anyone have an extra set to sell or trade?

 

Here's the 392 manifold. Lots of room by the set screw. I might have been tempted to use this but the down pipe points directly to the DD steering shaft. There just isn't enough room to get a down pipe even with a steep angle.

Whatever manifold I use I think it will work without too much trouble. The real challenge will be routing the exhaust to the back of the car. There isn't room outside the frame rails and it doesn't appear to have any more on the inside either as that's where the floor mounted master cylinders for the clutch and brakes go. The tranny cross member is also right in the way of where the exhaust pipes should go. Gonna have to think about this one.

 

So while I'm thinking of what to do with the exhaust I thought I'd start thinking about how to cool that big 392. First step was to remove the original 392 water pump and substitute it with a short Chevy big block pump. This saves about 2 inches on the front of the motor.





Space is a little tight for a radiator hose but shouldn't be a problem. Had a lot less room on my 302 Husky and was able to make that work. It usually just takes several trips to the auto store to try and find a hose that will work.

 

The core support is now in place too so I can figure out what to do for a radiator. The fan is a little close so I'll need to do some trimming so it doesn't hit. The fan on there now is an original 392 fan. Not sure that I'll use it but it's on there for now.

Notice the piece that connects the two core supports? That piece is cool because it shows how high the hood is. When finished it has a piece of rubber that goes between it and the hood to seal and direct airflow through the radiator. It also will help me determine how tall the radiator can be. This is better than having to throw the hood on every time.

 

While I was under the car trying to figure out exhaust routing I also started looking at the drive shaft location. I was worried about the offset of the rear flange making the drive shaft too close to the passenger side and possibly requiring a move of the tunnel to make room for it. It looks like it will be ok. The pictures below show it's not too far off center.

I received the the pinion yoke a few days ago but forgot to throw it on the transmission and take measurements for the drive shaft length. I may do that tomorrow.

 

Ex mans show up on EBay all the time plus the HH classifieds. Of course people have driven cars for yrs w/o noticing a cracked manifold.