Extreme Engine Makeover-Hemi Time

The time has come to make the swap from a sbc to a Chrysler hemi that I've been working on. I'm still waiting on some small parts and pieces but I need to go ahead and start fitting the new engine to the car if I plan on being up and running any time soon.

As a review for the folks that haven't been around this fourum very long, I'm installing this engine...........................



In this car......................................



I took the old girl for a final spin this moring and then me, my dad, and my brother, started removing the old engine. I had mixed emotions about it but it had to be done.

I made this temp cross member out of some scrap to hold the front of the transmission steady during the swap. Hopefully, the trans is staying in the car during the process.



It was made to bolt up to the hairpin bolts on the inside of the frame rails. Worked like a charm and beats the old "hang it by coat hangers or chains" method. Still has plenty of road grime from the Daytona monsoon of 08 under there.

We then removed all of the incidentals........................................



And out came the trusty old small block Chevy.





Stay tuned. Tomorrrow, I'll be bolting up a mock up engine and seeing where I stand and what fits and what doesn't.

What kind of HP and torque gains are you getting?

Very Cool....

Thanks Gastrick, I've been waiting for this episode of the show...
Hope it all goes as planned, the Hemi looks awesome.. '22

Dont forget the pics tomorrow.

Sam_Fear said:

What kind of HP and torque gains are you getting?

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I don't have any hard numbers to deal with Sam Fear so I'm just surmising and could be somewhat off base, but my sbc wasn't a real high horsepower deal. I doubt if it was making over 275 hp. I'm guessing that the hemi will be making somewhere near the factory rating of of 375 hp. Torque numbers should be better. The advertised torque numbers for the hemi in factory trim was 420 ft-lb. I'm not sure about the Chevy, somewhere in the low to mid 300's I'm guessing.


And thank 22Dodge. We'll see how it goes.

35Mastr said:

Dont forget the pics tomorrow.

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No problem George.

Your stuff is sooooooooo cool. I just love it.

maddog said:

Your stuff is sooooooooo cool. I just love it.

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I double that! His whole family has the cool stuff.

That's some serious boost in #'s, even if they are 'off the cuff'. That Rod deserves it though.

Out with the old, in with the new! Can't wait to see this come together!

ISore

gonna be awesome !!

I can't wait for the YouTube. That thing is gonna be so sweet.

24dodge said:

gonna be awesome !!

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What he said! I'm hopin' for a YouTube vid too... I wanna hear it run!!!

BoB

Been waiting for this part of the show, too. This is gonna be good !

This is gonna be GOOD!! We've all been waiting for you to put that monster in there. The Hemi sure turned out nice. If you thought you got a lot of ink with the car the way it was, wait until people see it with the new motor in place.

I'm like you Bill, I still have tons of Turkey Run dirt on my car. We trailered it home because it was just too dangerous to try to continue driving it in that kind of rain, but the U haul truck kicked up all kinds of dirt onto the T. I quickly hosed it off when we got home to keep it from drying, but I haven't had time to detail it yet.

Don

I hear ya Don. I just left mine dirty because I knew that I would be tearing it apart soon.

I don't know how to do a Youtube video fellas. Maybe someone can help me out with that.

Update to follow below.

Not a huge update but here's what I got done today. I was working alone today and got distracted some by the Dolphins/Jets football game so I was not in high gear. I also did a lot of measuring and head scratching to size up what needed to be done to make everything fit. I wasted a little time making a template of my firewall for a little something I have planned for it also . In short, I probably should have gotten farther along but didn't. I'm not complaining though, I think I've got most of it figured out. I just have to get busy and do it.

I borrowed my dad's yet to be rebuilt 392 to use as a mock-up engine. Man these things are heavy even without the guts in them. Here's the mock-up engine with the transmission adapter bolted onto the back of it. I had to slightly shorten all of the bolts but other than that, it fit like a glove.



I wrestled the engine into position and bolted it up to the trans that stayed in the car. So far so good. I stopped here and took some measurements. I'm good in most places. The only area of concern is the exhaust manifold to steering box clearance. I should have approx. one inch between the mechanical fan and the radiator if I measured correctly. Most folks don't notice but my radiator/grill shell is set one inch forward and my hood is one inch longer than stock even though the wheelbase is stock. I did it because I liked the way it looked. Now it has paid off in another way. Amazingly, even my front hood straps will clear the front edge of the heads by a small margin and I won't have to relocate them.




More below...............................

I thought about ordering some engine mounts and modifying them to suit my needs but didn't see anything that I really liked so I decided and decided to make my own from scratch.

I made up a paper pattern using idiot math and laid out some pieces. I then cut em up. Hope this isn't too basic and boring. I'm trying to make it look I got something done.



I didn't make a pattern for these parts. I just cut and drilled them.



These are the pieces all glued together. They still need some finish work but you get the idea.



Stand by. One more post today...........................

Here's the right side bolted to the engine. I still have to make the frame portion of the mount but they are actually simpler. That's it for today.

Forgot to add. Those tabs on the frame next to the new engine mounts will be removed. Those are the old Chevy mounts.

That motor mount is slick! You've done this before.

(to post up a Youtube, you need a digital video camera, put it on your computer, then download to Youtube.)