Craigslist is usually my go to place for a good deal. Believe me I have been looking. I can find lots of parts for early hemis but not a complete engine. I would rather not piece an engine together if you know what I mean. Especially since very few parts are interchangeable between the early hemis. I have found two leads today by calling other old geezer friends of mine. Both are supposed to be 392's but we will see. One supposedly came out of a 57 Imperial and does say Chrysler on the valve covers but has a two barrel intake. Don't think so!

Well I just talked to the guy with the 392-2 barrel. The numbers on the block are C51-8-28561. I find that to be a 1951 Chrysler 331-2 barrel with the cast in bell housing. Another lead down the tube.

I hope this lets me post, I;ve been having a heck of a time with the site for the last week.

Norm most of the big dodge trucks that had Hemis in them use the 331 or 354 (as far as I know they never put a 392 in a truck or industerial application). These engines will have valve covers marked "Chrysler Industeral" on them an have the dimples for adjustable rocker arms (although all of those I have taken apart actually had hydraulic cams and non-adjustable valve trains. The are usually not marked on the front vally pan rail, but may have a brass tag on rivited to the bellhousing area.


Just a thought, if you can;t find a decent priced 354 or 392 I wouldn;t necesssarly turn my nose up at a 331. her are just a bit bigger than the 325, but have a lot better aftermarket support. In the long run it may be a better option than hunting up heads for the 325.

The 392 in the late 50's Dodge truck is not the original engine. I should have stated that in that post. Sorry! It came out of a 57 or 58 Imperial and was installed back in the 60's. It's been used every year since then and will haul anything they load her up with. I talked to another guy that claims he has a complete 392 minus crankshaft. I was told $500-$600 as is. He said he has had it 40 years tore down in his shop. I will look at it this weekend if the numbers show it to be a 392. He is calling me tonight with the numbers. No telling what I will find as it seems ALL early hemis are 392's if you know what I mean.

".......No telling what I will find as it seems ALL early hemis are 392's if you know what I mean....."

Yup just like every small block chevy engine that someone is selling came out of a Corvette.

regarding the 331, make sure you don't pickup one of the extended block ones. I don't think anyone makes an adapter to put any other trans on it.

So far I have found two real 392 hemi's that all of a sudden became very valuable when I showed an interest in them, an industrial 1956 331 hemi that's an irrigation pump engine that might be for sale, a 1951 331 hemi that has the extended cast bellhousing and the 392 I'm getting the id numbers from tonight. I will gladly pay $500-$600 if it is a 392 and not a piece of rusted junk. I can find a crankshaft easy enough.

SCORE!!!!!!! I just talked to the guy with the 392 minus crankshaft and he said the id numbers were 58N17712. I find that to be a 1958 392-4bll out of a New Yorker. I offered $500 he said $700 and we settled on $600. I knew watching Pawn Stars would pay off. It also has the cast bolt on bellhousing with it. Picking it up Saturday. Now I need a crankshaft, dual quad intake, cast aluminum valve covers, etc.,etc., etc.,

The 1958 392 is known to have a weaker-than-average lifter bore area, so don't go crazy with camshaft and valvesprings.

Congratulations on your find, most everyone who has a "real" 392 is looking for $2500+ for a core. Shoot, most 331s are advertised at $2500!

To take a side trip, I believe Wilcap makes adapters for the early 331s to modern 4-speeds.

R.

My plan is to build a mild street engine just for cruising so I should not have a problem with the lifter bore area. Of course I'm having visions of a belt driven supercharger, some kind of turbocharger or...! I must have some kind of disease or something ya reckon? I have a lot of work to do and need to get busy!

http://denver.craigslist.org/pts/3962203195.html

This may be your crankshaft. Also check out the Denver Craigslist for other Hemi parts.

R.

Well I picked up the 392 this morning. This engine has been apart for over 40 years and apparently was a race engine of some kind. It has an aftermarket deep sump oil pan with the drag link tube welded in. This pan is not homemade. It also has a rare aluminum B&M Auto-CH7T transmission adapter that adapts a bigblock torqueflite to a 392 hemi along with other early hemis. It is 2 inches wide and uses an early chevy 3-bolt nose starter. I believe this a race only piece. It also has a ring gear cage and aluminum crank spacer. I got two complete sets of rocker arms, perfect valve covers and both heads. The pistons and rods along with the pushrods are somewhere in his shop that he still has to find. All in all a very good start for $600 I think!

Upon closer inspection it seems the heads are actually 1955 New Yorker 331 heads with 1.94 intake and 1.75 exhaust valves. 392 heads have 2.0 intake and 1.75 exhaust valves. I understand these 331 heads are an upgrade on a 392. I will have to use intake spacers because a 392 is a tall deck and a 331 is a low deck. The engine still has the original 4" bore.

Sounds like you did your research already. If they are the "triple 5" heads they are suppose to have a better port configuration than the stock 392 heads, but as you say they will require spacers.

The other option would be something like the old Weian Dragstar 2 piece intake, unfortunately I don't believe the hood would close LOL.

You also want to make sure you get a 57-58 392 HEMI oil pan. as it's the only one that will fit.....the 392 is center sump and looks like the one on the 325 in the car, while the 56 and earlier pans were rear sump.


Edit, I missed your post about getting the engine this morning. The adapter sounds cool, it opens up some more trans options for you. Too bad you aren't closer, I happen to have a 63 or 64 BB pushbutton trans.

How can I determine if I have the triple 5 heads? The casting numbers on my heads are: 1556157-1. I will make sure I find the correct center sump oil pan for sure. Any chance that the 325 pan will work? At my shop I have a 63 push button 727 that's behind a /6, a 65 cable operated 727 that's behind a poly 318, and also a 63 push button 727 from behind a 383. I prefer to use a slip yoke driveshaft instead of a bolt-on but we will see. I don't know the measurement of the cast 727 and bellhousing vs the one piece case aluminum 727 to know if I can use that B&M adapter to bigblock 727 or not. I still don't have the 58 at my shop yet.

The heads you have would be the triple 5s. Unfortunately the 325 pan won't interchange, however I wouldn't be surprised of you could get more for the custom pan (if you can determine the application) than a stock pan will cost. I think Hot heads carries the correct pickup tube to go with the stock pan.

After more research I too find my 331 heads to be the triple 5's. I don't think I will see much difference in them over other hemi heads as I'm just building a good cruiser street engine. It does get my hot rod blood to thinking though. I think I'm confused about needing a trans adapter. I thought a smallblock la trans will bolt right up to an early hemi but my research tells me different. I know the crank flange is farther out of the block but I thought a special(deeper) flexplate would correct that. I read one place it will bolt right up and then I read it will not reading somewhere else. I will probably use an A518 overdrive in the end. Can I hear from the experts please.

Ok, as far as Transmissions go, the cast iron TF in the dodge will bolt right up to the 392.

A later aluminum SB 727/904/518 will require an adapter, which includes a flex plate, spacer plate and adapter to get all the spacings right.

An 833 style 4 speed can be used with either a commercial adapter custom Flywheel. An adapter can also be fabricate using a modified stock Hemi/poly spacer plate, and cut down Hemi or Poly flywheel.

I'm not sure what the BB 727 adapter you have requires, but would sure like to see some pictures of it.

Thanks for the info Mike! I will try to get a few pics of the B&M BB adapter tomorrow and see if I can post them on here. I plan to soak the heads one at a time in my parts washer to see if I can break up some of the 40 year old tar that's on them. I will also have the block and heads jet vatted for now just to see what I have. The intake ports are really smooth which has me thinking a little port work has already been done. They still have the 1.94 valves though. Hopefully I can get the 58 to my shop this week.

I sent you a PM Mike P.