Re: [FWDLK] New Acquisition

[Nathan Nuttall <nnuttall@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Anyone considering putting an old hemi in their car definitely must take the
weight/cost factor into account. I have been driving my 392 Hemi in a 68
Barracuda off and on since 1985, and that car definitely does not handle as
well as it would with a high-revving small block, or even a big block.
However, you can improve things considerably by switching to an aluminum
water pump, crossover, intake manifold, bellhousing, a modern alternator and
a lightweight starter. Additionally, aluminum heads from Hotheads should
make the hemi weigh about the same or less than a stock wedge motor, but
sure hits the wallet hard. For me, I bought the motor when I was 14 and the
car to put it in came as an afterthought. So my ties to the Hemi are more
emotional than anything. One of the nice things about the hemi is its
ability to run higher compression ratios without pinging on pump gas, and I
must say that I have never been disappointed in the amount of power/torque
my motor has given. However, any motor loaded down with a lot of weight will
likely be disappointing.

Realistically, I will not be driving this car more than once a week so the
difference in gas mileage is not a major concern. Its sole purpose is for
nostalgic fun. Always build a car with a purpose and don't stray from that.
I built a Nova wagon for family camping trips and frequent interstate travel
so that gas mileage was more essential. I put the original six cylinder
behind an automatic overdrive trans and had to tell myself over and over
that I really didn't want a strong V8. In the end it paid off. I ended up
with a very nice, useful wagon.

Nathan Nuttall



-----Original Message-----
From: Forward Look Mopar Discussion List
[mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of eastern sierra Adj
Services
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 7:27 PM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] New Acquisition


Hi, Joseph & Nathan; I'm certainly NOT disparaging Hemi's , but before
y'all spend the time & moola in installing those elephants, ya gotta ask
yourselves, to what extent do you want your cars to HANDLE, because the
Hemis weigh a TON , metaphorically , (you'll almost certainly have to
beef-up the front, & probably, rear suspensions) and their bottom-end
performance SUCKS, which is where you'll be trying to show-off (don't
deny it; I 'had' to go to a 3.55 SureGrip, to realize acceleration
'snap'--and now the "car" is 'noisy/busy' above 55 mph.

Your MPG will also suffer, with the Hemi, SO you do have to ask
yourself: wouldn't a relatively LIGHT-weight (remember: power-to-weight
ratio), hot-rodded, high-revving,  multiple-carb engine "work" better
than a hemi--ya'll may need to get the 'Hemi-complex' out of your
systems, but if I ever locate a ('regular-engined' , probably)
reasonably-priced 57 Dodge convertible, I will NOT hesitate to 'build'
its Poly V/8 engine, rather than try to 'clone' a D500  Hemi, out of it!

Everybody's gotta learn , for himself.

Neil Vedder
57 Hemi

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2003 Calendar voting results and ordering information is online!  Please
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-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
2003 Calendar voting results and ordering information is online!  Please visit:
http://www.forwardlook.net/calendar2003 for more information.