Red Ram Hemi in '35 Ford Pickup?

I want to change my little flat motor out for a Dodge Red Ram or DeSoto Hemi in my '35 Ford pickup. Does anyone have some pictures? Is a stock '39 trans & rear end strong enough to handle the extra power? How about '40 drum breaks, are they going to stop this puppy? Can you get the exhaust around a stock steering box? How about the firewall, will I have to chop it up? Lot's of "new guy" questions, but I've wanted to run an early Hemi like I had in high school. My flatty looks & sounds great, however the 150+ rip snorting horses that she puts out is just not very satisfying.

 

There aint no way yer trans and rear wil hold up. They break on a regular basis with just a flathead if you run it hard. I put a 392 Hemi in my 47 Mercury. Had to notch the center of the X. I have 1/8 inch clearance at the starter/steering box. I have to drop the steering box to remove the starter. The torque of the Hemi caused several problems. On acceleration, the car went to the right. On deceleration the car went left. You can get used to it but its more work to drive it. I put heavy duty truck shocks with 50 Ford pickup mounts on the front and stopped the left/right. Then the right shock mount broke repeatedly. and the rightside split wishbone broke repeatedly. Broke in two!--drive it home and weld it up. The Hemi also caused a little problem (if thats what you call it) of overconfidence. I knew I could JUMP into any gap in traffic. One time a u-joint broke and dropped the driveshaft onto the road in rush hour traffic when I jumped forward into traffic then stopped moving. I thought fer sure they would hit me cuz I was going for a small gap in traffic. It was great fun but I wuz lucky to live over it. Maybe you are more cautious than me. In my 35 Ford pickup I have a 350/350 with 3 dueces. No problems!

 

So, send me the flatty and I'll try and put up with it.
Very nicely dressed BTW. Now I know who outbid me on the Eddy Meyer style fuel block.

 

Don't kill the old topshifter and the banjo, pull the whole powertrain as a unit for a later project or to sell. You'll be much further ahead with a heavy duty box (LaSalle is correct, but a four-speed will be more fun) and rear end ('57 Pontiac if the "era" of your car is correct for it, or maybe '50 Olds).

 

The HP might improve some but the torque could be about the same as your flatty. Plus they're heavy.

It depends if you're going stock or a built baby hemi.

Hemi Performance

If you just drop in a rebuilt block you might not notice the punch you want.

Plus Hemis are $$$$ to build.

 

Iceberg, I know you don't wanna hear it but......

I have had a 36 Ford pickup all my life and there is little that will just bolt in. I have always wanted to run a late nailhead in mine but room is the issue.

That is the reason you mainly see the SBC in em. Steering box would be some concern.

 

Sounds like I keep the truck flatty powered and start another project! Boy, that is a terrible thing to make a guy do. Thanks for the input.......

 

How bout you just sell me the truck?

 

Hey Iceberg, the redram a sweet motor. In stock form it's not much more then a flatty. But if you hopp it up you can make a bunch of HP. My freind raced one in the 1960's they breath great and with little head work. Held the record for a few years at the salts. I have one in my 32, you can jam it into a stock chassie with little cutting. The problem you might have is the starter, it's located on the drivers side?? With a adapter you can move it. But it sounds like your sticking with the orignal trans so I'm not sure on that. Exaust would be fine and I'm not sure what your engine bay size is??
thanks continentaljohn