Between the surgery, moving into a new house and life in general the project got put on the back burner for the last 2 ½ years. Now that my buddy at the machine shop and I have some time again it’s at least moving forward now.

Shortly after the last post I ran into a show stopper on the Poly portion of the build. Something I should have thought about when I started doing my initial measurements was whether there would be interference issues between the combustion chamber in the 301 Poly head and the size of the cylinder bore on a 354 block (there is .3125 difference between bore size on the 301 and 354). Basically the head overhangs the cylinder bore. I’ve got some feelers out for 354 Poly heads/a complete motor but so far not a lot of luck.

For now we’re going to go ahead with the hemi portion of the build. We got the block sonic checked to be sure it will safely go out the .125” to standard bore 354. It’s been line honed and should get square decked and maybe bored and honed sometime this week. Once that’s done I’ll send out the rotating assembly to be balanced.

One of the things we did a while back was to change the block over to use cup style freeze plugs. Now I’ve never had problems getting the stock disc type plugs to seal when I’ve rebuilt engines in the past. The problem was always when a customer came in with a leaking freeze plug that had to be replaced in car. Anybody who has had to fight getting a punch centered on the new plug and have room to swing a hammer under the car knows exactly what I’m talking about. Chances are I won’t live long enough for the plugs to go bad but if I do, it’s a hell of a lot easier to do a cup plug.



fp1 by M Patterson, on Flickr



FP 1 by M Patterson, on Flickr


I also got around and ordered the rest of the stuff I needed to get the put the engine together. I ended up going with one of Hot Heads flat tappet cams and adjustable push rods. The cam’s on back order but should be here in a month or so. I also ordered of a set of stainless valves, springs and retainers.

With luck I should have the engine together sometime this winter.

On a side note I also found a great deal on a 46RH so I picked that up and had it rebuilt.

46RH by M Patterson, on Flickr


I’m just not real sure right now not where it will end up at. Initially it was supposed to go behind this engine (and still may). Lately though I’ve been kicking around pulling the 4 speed out of the 57 Plymouth and stuffing it in there (occasional problems with my left leg……the golden years suck). If I do put it in the Plymouth, this engine will end up with the 4 speed behind it. Either way I’ll be drilling the back of the crank for a pilot bearing before the crank goes out for grinding and balancing.


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