After considering the question of how does one put cubic inches into round bores anyway, I ran some calculations on our '51-58 Chrysler hemi's and the results brought up some questions on how the nominal displacements were determined. If I have the bores and strokes correct, the "331's" are honest 331's, the "354's" are more like 353's and the "392's" might more accurately be called 393's. Even with the assumption that calculations in the '50's were done with sly drools, and that bores were not made to 1/10,000 inch tolerances, I'm wondering how someone came up with the nominal displacements to publish in the manuals and paint on the sides and roofs of Kiekhaefer's cars. Maybe they were trying to come up with numbers that sounded cool and would be recorded by the Beach Boys. My 331 is really fun? Blow off your door with my 354? My 392 is faster'n you? Fun, fun, fun 'til daddy took the 300 away? Also, is there any history or folklore as to how Chrysler's '51-'55 hemi came to have the exact same bore and stroke as the '49-'55 Cadillac? Coincidence? I'd guess not. Reading the spec's, I see that the '55 Eldorado with dual quads and a similar batwing was rated at 270 HP. With hydraulic lifters. I hope this table comes through the server mixer and enhances appreciation for and understanding of marketing automobiles by the concept of bigger and better displacements. In 1971, Cadillac created a 4.304" stroke, 4.300" bore engine having a neat 500.02 cubes but only 365 HP as rated HP's started a steep decline for various reasons. Year(s) Nominal Stroke Bore Calculated Displacement Displacement '51-'55 331 3.625 3.81250 331.06 '56 354 3.625 3.93750 353.13 '57-'58 392 3.910 4.00000 393.08 C-300'ly, Rich Barber Brentwood, CA (Ornamental trees in full bloom-shorts and short sleeves on the golf course today--picked the last oranges last week. Top down on the '86 T&C woody.) ------------------------------------ To send a message to this group, send an email to: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx For list server instructions, go to http://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htm For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chrysler300/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: Chrysler300-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Chrysler300-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Chrysler300-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/