William;
In all honesty if it's a hot rod they want swap them a good steel crank
440 for it and save the 392 for a New Yorker or Imperial. In spite of the
folklore the early hemis are heavy boat anchors in regularly aspirited form.
Unless you hook up a blower and dump in about $8,000 dollars worth of
buildup parts, such as aluminum heads and intake, they are really only
marginally better then a wedge of similar vintage. After what they will have
to pay for rebuilding the Hemi you would be doing them a favor as parts for
a 440 are considerably cheaper and easier to come by, not to mention that
R.B motors are actually lighter.
Hot Heads or Power Play Hemi, same difference, has the parts but you would
have to take out a bank loan to buy them. I could go into details but lets
just say that $165 U.S dollars for a set of con rod bearings is about four
times what I can pay locally for the same set. Anything else that you need
can be procured from P.A.W or EGGE machine if you find that you have to go
stateside for anything.
There is a fellow in the Edmonton area that can supply old engine parts
called Gary Automotive. On some parts he is good, on others marginal, and on
others way too expensive. Parts Source, on 137th ave., can also come up with
a few items, such as con rod bearings and electrical parts, but they will
have to make a search first. I have found another Canadian source of parts
but I have yet to investigate it.
As for machine shops almost any automotive machine shop, in the Edmonton
area, could do it for you but get some references from some old car guys in
your area first.
In all honesty if I wanted to hot rod on a budget with a hemi, this day in
age, I would wait for the new Dodge Ram ones to start hitting the junkyard.
Another possibilty would be to pluck one out of a Lexus or Toyota truck from
the same source. To me it makes a lot more sense to use a state of the art
fuel injected V8 then using a motor ten years older then the car that you
are mounting it in. Especially when a 392 could be used to put one of
Exner's beauties back on the road.
Best Regards
Arran Foster
1954 Imperial Newport
Needing A Left Side Tailight Bezel and other trim parts.
----- Original Message -----
From: "William" <mopar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 2:46 PM
Subject: IML: 392 Rebuild Advice?
I am pulling the 392 out of my in-laws' 67 Coronet next month. By opening my
mouth, I am self selected to take over the "project". (moral of the story:
Don't criticize how something is being done, unless you want the job for
yourself). Anyway, the motor is stock, probably been regasketed once in it's
life and that's about it.
Because it is going in a "muscle car", they want to liven it up a bit. I am
inclined to keep it fairly mild, as it will be street driven primarily by
people who shouldn't be allowed to drive bicycles, never mind cars. It is
mated to a A727 (which will be rebuilt, and a slighty higher stall TC
installed), and turns 3.23 gears in an 8.75" rear. I am limited to stock
iron manifolds, due to the installation job. The car currntly runs a single
Carter AFB (model unknown). I am looking at Hot Heads for obtaining parts,
and will have the machine work done locally. I have never built a Hemi
before, is there anything I should know? Any good books or resources? Anyone
have good/bad dealings with Hot Heads? Anyone know any good engine shops in
western Canada? Any input on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
William
83 EFi
Edmonton, Canada
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