Early Hemi ID?

Truck motor, 1957, Hemi with these numbers on the rail in front of the valley.
VT 548-249. Can anybody identify the size of this motor?

If it was in a H.D. truck (above 2.5 ton) it should have had a industrial 354 C.I. Chrysler Hemi type motor with 1/2 inch diameter valve stems, low compression, solid lifter with adjustable rocker arms and rocker cover to clear the rocker arms and a carb. with a governor on it stock IHTHs

Cab, thanks for the response. Would this motor be a good candidate for a nostalgia type build, like a mild blower setup? What would the issues be? I have heard you can put a Torqueflite behind a 354 if you use a spacer due to crank flange being further out of the block. Is that correct? A friend of mine has the itch to build one for a FED he has an eye on.

I would take the valve covers off and see if it has the adjustable rockers and then take the cylinder heads off and verify the bore and stroke and deck hieghts, if it is the orginal truck motor it will have those real heavy valves that where never intended to rev past 3500 RPM so I would replace them with new stainless 11/32 stem valves and maybe increase the size of the valves at the same time As far as the pistons I'm sure there cast and probally really low compression, so is your freind feeling lucky on using the cast pistons with a blower? If the bore is straight and round I might be tempted to try running those pistons with a decent set of new rings and 7 lbs or less pressure IHTHs BTW, don't be suprised if those pistons have 4 rings on them that are impossible to find now

You might be surprised at the old stock engine parts I have found while making sales calls on mom and pop parts stores in rural Indiana and Michigan farm country. Only problem with that is, first guy gets the gold mine, everyone else gets the shaft.

O.K. Myth buster time. There were no early hemis with 1/2" diameter valve stems. The truck and some IND engines used sodium filled exhaust stems which are 7/16 diameter. There are NO known truck engines which used solid lifters and adjustable rockers. NONE. EVER. Only the marine engine and 300 series used adjustables. For a mild street rod, the heads can be made to work. Aftermarket aluminum timing covers are available. I have the trans adapters in stock. Feel free to email me with your questions.

Thanks!

You may be correct on the valve stem diameter , I've never work on one of those 354 Hemi truck motors, only heard from H.D. mechanics that did about those details. I've owned and ran a bunch of different early Chrysler passenger car Hemi motors, even seen some of the industrial 354 hemi apart in a shop years ago but I didn't measure or work on the parts myself I have seen a bunch of the plain no name(truck and industrial is what I was told they where off of) stock steel valve covers for adjustable rocker arms at a bunch of different swap meest in SO CA years ago. Those valve covers where normally only used on the solid lifter motors Most of the old H.D. gasoline truck motors came with sodium filled exhaust valves, I even heard some of the later H.D. truck motors came with inconel exhuast valves, maybe not so

http://classichemi.com/index1.shtml

Look here.

The chart shows engines that start with VT, and are 5xx, but not 548! Bummer. Maybe it is an early 440 Hemi six pack motor

I have a friend who asked me to build one for a "Be Bop" 32 Ford Roaster replica. It was a 1958 354 HEMI from a Dodge Wrecker truck. The engine was in great shape. I used forged blower pistons and ARP bolts in the stock rods. He bought the cam (224 @ .050 on 112 lobe separation) 6-71 blower, drive and manifold, and 340LA converted timing chain, oil pump and drive and oil pan from "Hot Heads". I limited the timing (Mopar LA electronic distributor) to 28 degrees total with 14 initial. The little engine is a monster and a real show stopper with Zoomie headers!

It's a 1958 354 out of a truck. IIRC it weighs more than a 440.

R.

Thanks to all that answered. It is a shame that info on the old stuff gets lost over time, but that's the way it is.