Hot Rods Strangest Homes for Early HEMIs ?

Ric, now a welder -- & BLOWN added to the growing list.

Though I originally asked about EARLY Hemis, I couldn't help bringing up the Hemi's aeronautical roots.

And, I seem to have heard pretty recently that '50s DeSotos were NOT the first U.S. cars to use Hemi comb. chambers. ANYBODY GOT MORE ON THAT???????

 

When I was younger,12-14, all I knew of Hemis were the 426 and 392s. I started learning there were so many sizes and uses. They're everywhere. Small to huge.

 

There was some pix of a air plane tug with a early Hemi I think it was in Hot Rod

I also thought Garlits had a air raid siren powered by a Hemi in his museum

 

donut29, we can add airplane tug (aka "tow motor"?) to the list, thanks to you!

94 hoghead, I thought osmebody would have answered this by now. I'm not a blower dude, but Chrysler only made three sizes of early Hemi: 331, 354 & 392. If you scan guys pix & accounts, ALL three engines have gotten super-chargers.

I think BREATHING-WISE, the Chrysler guys like the heads from '54 and up best.

 

Ever seen the movie Hot Rod? How 'bout an AMC Amb***ador cop car?

 

British luxury car maker Jensen used Chrysler engines in his 2 door GT saloons. They show up occasionally on Ebay US with 440 wedges in them, but I believe a limited number were built in the early 70's with 426 hemis in them.

The ultimate GT touring sports sedan, Italian styling with US grunt under the hood, only let down by shoddy English bodybuilders and Lucas electricals.

Cheers, Glen.

 

Glen, THANKS for pointing out the 426 under the Jensens' hoods!

Man! The British can't SHAKE the rep for poor electricals, eh??? lol

Chrysler products only overcame that when rubber, then plastic insulation were perfected. But, laet as the '30s, my dad quoted HIS dad as saying the ONLY thing wrong with a Plymouth or Dodge was: If a dog pissed on the tires overnight, the car wouldn't start in the morning!!! LOL!

 

The Swiss Monteverdi Hai 450SS was built in 1970 with a 426 Hemi. A second car was made and was named the Hai 450 GTS. Only two prototypes were constructed and it never went into production because of the prohibitive cost for 1970, approximately $27,000 USD.

 

Hey, since we've branched out to the 426 Hemi anyway, how about we ALSO think of some FOREIGN makes and apps? E.g., I seem to recall that Mitsubishi used/uses Hemi head? And, the Tex Smith/Ron Ceridono book has a whole CHAPTER on a short-live Japanese (Toyota?) all-aluminum V-6 Hemi that supposely ran QUITE well!

 

Oh! I almost forgot!!! Our Ausie friends had a blast for many years (maybe still do!) with putting a Hemi head on the Chrysler Windsor 265-CID flatty!!! Heard it was a Chevy killer!

 

I have a Mitsu 3.0L in my Plymouth van - Hemi chamber with the plugs toward the exhaust side, like a shotgun Ford, so not a true hemi. ****er makes a lot of power for a 3.0 litre though, and has almost 300,000 kms on it without problems.

 

I don't know that I would consider this strange, it looks right at home.

 

This one sits on an old wood windmachine tower that is in front of a local windmachine manufacture as yard art.



My flathead came off a similar tower and drove a prop about the same size for something like 40 years.
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HHAHAHAHHA it has a collectors car sign in the window......

 

1906 Pungs Finch

http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z16791/1906-Pungs-Finch-Limited.aspx

 

The Rolls Royce Merlin and the Allison are different engines. Rolls Royce did license the Merlin to Packard who produced them in the US for a variety of aircraft but the majority went to P-51 Mustangs.
Allisons were used on the P-38's, P-39's, some P-40's, PT-Boats, etc.

The Allison was first (1929) so I would presume that RR would have seen it while designing the Merlin. The cutaway drawing I have seen of the Allison looks like it had a Hemi head. The Merlin does not look like a Hemi, all the valves look like they are on the same plane parallel to the top of the piston.

 

The aircraft engine is on display at the Walter P Chrysler Museum. I don't know much about it other than they made more than one, it did fly in a modified P-47 (a really ugly conversion), and that because the crankshaft is so long they drive the propshaft from a spur gear at the center of the crank instead of at the end. At the museum, the top cover is open so you can see the crankshaft in the mirror above (it's an inverted engine). Here's a couple picts.

 

I believe the Merlin was a chamber in cylinder engine. The head being flat, like a 348 of MEL engine, and the piston is about .500 down at TDC. Now the Pratt & Whitney R2800 in the Corsair and others including DC6 aircraft that I worked on was a Hemi as was the Wright 3350 B29 and also DC-7 amoung others. I think lots of those big round motors are hemis

 

FootThrottle, are those TWO AT THE RIGHT Cunnigham racers? If so, THANKS for posting the PIX, bro.

 

Ralfs56, THANKS for the pic of the INVERTED V-16 Chrysler that produced over 4,000-horse (and, I think, PLUS). Of course, fuel mileage was not the biggest issue in WWII flying. In combat, it was spot the enemy and out-duel him. To do THAT, it took m***ive HP & maneuverability.

I saw about this enigne's HP. But I think the war ENDED before they got far into practical TRAINING exercises to see how far the mill could go toward achieveing victories over other good (opposing) fliers. Too badd, too.

The captured German jets changed the shape of aerial ocmbat and FAST!

 

Addendum: The P-47 Thunderbolt may have been the best plane to try this engine in. They built 15,000 (1) Thunderbolts, which logged 15 MILLION miles, juts during WWII. (MORE, in foreign airforces, after we'd gone to SabreJets, of course. I think the 'bolt was one of the "Flying Tigers," wasn't it? Then, I remember that South American airforces used the plane well into the '60s, explaining why you can STILL see so many at air shows: PARTS AVAILABILITY.

 

Though someone CORECTED ME on the RR Merlin, it was keen to know many of the RADIAL engines used Hemi chambers. Sorry, I should have said THAT before!

 

When I found my 392 it was in a barn bolted in a 16 foot v drive speed boat, the farmer said he used to race circle track with it. the boat was junk but I sold all the steering and drive setup to a guy for the same money i gave for the whole thing!

 

Hey, AxeMan! YOU are the one who started the COOL "Pay Forward" thread!!!!

And, you are the FIRST one to mention BOATS!!!! I remember seeing one inan old mahogony '40s or '50s boat, named "Barrelin'.'' WHERE is YOUR 392 NOW, buddy???

While I'm at it, I have a 25- Gen-3 MerCruiser based on a 250 Chevy OHV strasight six. It runs like a stripped-*** ape and has LOW hours on it (we are the second owners of the L****n). Powerful, as it cruiser on gl*** at 55 or better, and it pulls two skiers easily. GREAT motor ("Valero" 165-horse).

My QUESTION to you: I think I read somewhere that these engines were converted to turn OPPOSITE to how they do in automobiles. ANY KNOWLEDGE 'bout marine engines?

If I can't find a 330/341 DeSoto for my '38 Plymouth, I'd settle for 165 horses out of a Chevy (Mercury Marine version). I've thought about starinting a thread on this, as I LOVE the engine.

Good talking with you!

 

both cars are Kurtis, the blue car is an Indy racer from the 50's currently being restored. The red white and blue car is a continuation car built on an original ch***is from the fifties,the engine you know.

 

Whoah! COOL to see the Kurtis cars (or should I say, Kars? LOL!).

Did you know Earl Muntz bought considerable ***ets from Kurtis Kraft & CONTINUED (at least for a few Muntz Jet models) to used DeSoto, then Chrysler Hemis?

Anyway, NEAT to actually lay eyes on Kurtis' cars!!! THANKS, guy. I feel like it's a Friday or Saturday night, and it's only Wednesday!

 

1 of 3 known worldwide...1933 fiat's...one is getting restored and the other is in a museum...this one had to get a 6x2 hemi

 

This is getting a little off tangent for this thread, but since we're already there.....


The Flying Tigers were in operation in China while the P-47 was being developed. All those shark mouthed fighters were P-40's with (hemi head) Allisons.

IIRC, been a while but I read that there was some politics involved in the decision to put the Chrysler V-16 on the P-47 for the flying portions of the development program. Seems some generals were not exactly thrilled with the program and decided to stack the deck against it. The P-47 was designed for a large radial with turbocharger and the diameter of the fuselage was much larger than it needed to be for a V engine. The result was that the performance was less than expected and the generals were "right". Program cancelled. A P-51 would have been a better choice for an evaluation.

Back on track:

My dad has a 53 Studebaker with a 270 Dodge hemi....not odd except most wouldn't use a Dodge.

...and I have a 54 Willys wagon and a spare 315 Dodge laying in the garage.

 

Yep, Ralf, it DID get away . . .but, then, THIS wouldn't be the first HAMB thread to go WIDE of the original mark (thank Gad, I am NOT a quarterback, 'cause I've a had FUN hearing all the applications where Hemi combustion chambers boosted somebody's HP, especially in combat.

It is interesting to hear the p-51 Mustang thought. I guess thta makes sens. I would have thought Helldiver, but that was a P-W radial too, so I guess the production engine bay wouldn't have accommodated the inverted V-16 monster.

THIS is why it's SO cool to talk with people on the HAMB. Where people on the run-o-the-mill net have (yes) at least general info, the HAMB guys have osme SPE******TS hiding out a****st the flock!!!

Well, it surely would have been interesting to SEE what the v-16 would have done in the Mustang (since it didn't do BADLY in the Thunderbolt tests). (Maneuverability may have been a DIFF story, though, but the tests I saw results on involved straight-line flying.)


I just threw out Flying Tigers WarHawks -- don't know where I read that. But it's good to know these aircraft did use Hemi heads. So maybe whoever said that knew their stuff.