Old Hemi Questions

[MOPAR MARV]

Hi all,

A friend of mine is trying to sell what sounds like a 1956 Dodge four door[he lives four hours away and I haven't seen it yet]it has a Hemi with a powerflite transmission. He found it laying in the bush on some land he bought. And being a die hard Garbage Motors fan he has no interest in it.

And I'm thinking it might be kinda cool to throw the Hemi in my 68 Dart coupe just for the wow factor or just buy it for resale. But I can't find any info on what size the engine may be. My thirty year old MP manual say it may be a 315 cubic incher but all the old timers I've talked to say not likely since it is has a four barrel intake on it.

The vin number is 99016583,for any one who can decode these old timers. I'm lost on anything before 1967.

The current owner is going to see if he can see the engine I.D. number later today and report back later.
Another friend checked the engine and says its not seized.

Aside from the engine size issue,I have no idea what to offer him for it. Any educated guesses?


Or should I just skip it and stick with my big blocks? I do love my monster blocks.

What do you folks think?

[69.5CUDA]

10-1 odds are its a 354..which is identical to a 392..good motor..but id never even consider putting it into an a-body..abodys dont deserve to have the weight of a bigblock on the front wheel unless there a track only car..let alone a big elephant motor

if nothing else its a VERY cool engine to have around..but is IDEAL for rat rods and streetrods alike...id be willing to bet its VERY low miles too..is the rest of the car saveable?

[dodgedifferent2]

1956 and 4 door ... do you happen to know the model of the car?

the other option to decode the early hemi. It will be stamped on the top of the block and you can then use that number to tell you the exact specs of the engine. When i get home later today i will dig a bit deeper into my files of early hemis
(probably be d500 if it starts with 3ne56 its the desirable engine for early hemis)

Being 1956 and a dodge it looks to be a 315 Hemi, 4 barrel carb, and factory rated at 260 horsepower.

I would not put it into a A body dart, but thats just my .02. However if thats what you desire then go for it, but i agree with 69.5 on the street rods or traditional rods (i hate the term "rat rod" too generalized) Other option keep it in the original car.

From what i have heard parts are harder to find for the 315. www.hothemiheads.com

Browse around on there if anyone has anything it will be found there.

[69.5CUDA]

when i say rat ..im talking the unfinished unrefined NASTY looking stuff that looks like it wouldnt think twice about chewing your leg of,,,,i love the ratrods

[MOPAR MARV]

From what the current owner tells me, the car is somewhat rough body wise[ bullet holes,rust,dents,etc....] As for model,he says it has Royale on the dash,column shift,not push button like most I have seen and he said the taillights are glass ? And the rim of the steering wheel is clear.
He said he would try and get me some pics in the next day or so but with snow drifts taller than he is[5 ft. 6]it may take him a while to dig his way to the old beasty. I know what he means too, all that is showing on my coupe is part of the roof and not much of that. Winter in the flat lands,who needs it?

As for fixing the 4 door,I don't think so, the only way I'm building anything with 4 doors is if they are attached to a cool '62 Plymouth Wagon or maybe a '64 Dodge Polara wagon.

Twenty odd years ago a buddy and I dumped a rebuilt poly 318 into an old '72 Dart swinger for giggles. I installed a real Holley duece,dual exhaust and electronic ignition and a B-body 8 and3/4 with 3:91 posi and spent the next year beating up on smogger 340s and 360s and getting over twenty miles to the gallon on regular unleaded fuel in the city. So I'm leaning towards stroking the hemi out to close to 400 cubes and seeing what it can do in my Coupe. There is a ton of room in there with no inner fenderwells and with no heater or wipers or any of the other "normal" crap[battery,etc....] in the engine comparment the old Hemi can't be much heavier than the stocker 400hp thats resting there now.

DD2,thanks for the link, I will check it out right away.

[thrashingcows]

Go over here on the HAMB, great resource for early Hemi info.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...ight=hemi+tech

[MOPAR MARV]

Go over here on the HAMB, great resource for early Hemi info.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...ight=hemi+tech

Very cool link! I will snoop around more later.Thanks!!!