ive got a strong desire to put a stock built 392 i have in the shop into the 41 chev, the idea of the car is a chopped relaible tail dragger, aka familly car. anyone with 392 experience ,i would appreciate your input as far as reliability is concerned the car currently has the reliable 350 chev in it and a little voice in my head keeps telling me to swap it out for the 392
here what I told my son when building his small block Model A. you'll spend more, add weight, lose horsepower. but you'll end up with a good driver, blow peoples minds and resell for far more. and will probably get more exposure in the magazines
I'll agree with most of Jim observations, curious about the HP thing....a stock 57 392 has a (1957) rating of 325 and the 58 at 345.... just how much does a 350 provide? If nothing else, the available torque will tell you that you made a good choice. Reliable? Absolutely! A proper rebuild should yield a 200K+ mile engine. Yup, a bit of expense but alot of cool factor. Do I advocate cross breeding? No, but there are so many sbc in Mopes that this swap I like. .
Reliability wise, it's a tossup. I have plans to modify my jalopies, but will wait until a particular setup ****s out before I make the change/s. I also believe in working with what I got. Maybe another project for the 392???????
Personally I'd be inclined to want to save the 392 for something that would look better with the hood open when parked at events. I'm in the brigade that customs were intended to be displayed with their hoods closed and as long as they could run down the highway with the best of them what is under the hood isn't of great concern unless you are going for the full on high point show car that needs a dressed out and proper engine. The hemi is probably worth 50 Bubba points in the car but would be a lot more desirable to me in a proper setting to show it off. Maybe a hemi in a light body g***er like so many that were built and run at strips around the country in the late 50's early-mid 60's. big engine, light, cheap body, very few engine mods.
I believe in cross breeding! also the last 5-6 Hemi's I've bought were represented as 392's and I still don't own a 92. My son's A has a 330 DeSoto that I bought the whole car with rebuilt engine and trans for $100 from a tow company. A FireFlite with factory Chrome valve covers, 4 barrell and dual exhaust. he bought an adapter and has a small block 727, Joe Hunt dist, Hot Heads cast Valve Covers (so it can be mistaken for a mighty 392 chrysler hahaha) his car runs hard and could tour cross country without problems and he got in cheap. lucky boy eh?
LESS HP with a 392 than a 350 - you're kidding - right??? The only reliability issue I've seen is galling the rockers/shafts - usually because they were neglected or ignorred during the rebuild. Properly rebuilt you'll have no issues whatsoever. These motors were designed well, oil well, and will last and last and last!!!!
RAT...believe me a HEMI will produce more h.p. then 90% of all engines with the same MODS. sure they weigh more, but so do all BB. their torque will more then offset the weight. all chrysler mills are the most reliable american engines. the PRO. beer cans, and oil cans run engines b***ed on the HEMI engine. man if i had a hemi, it would be in my rod, you will never regret the change my friend!...POP.
read my post again! what I told my son was his 56 DeSoto (or any other stock Hemi except 300 C and D's) will have all the torque and drive ability (I love them) of most 350 crate options. My son had a built vortec 350 with aluminum heads and roller cam that would out power the stock DeSoto. I didn't say anthing about a 392. Hell I'd put a Hemi in a new Volvo station wagon and sleep very well. I didn't want to jack this post so I just started another post "BUILD WHAT YOU'VE GOT or listen to others"
OK depends one word in the description of the 392 in question. "Stock". The L-79 327 was factory rated at 350 HP and there were a great many examples that cranked out numbers in the 375 HP range. Now back to the question at hand. The 392 is already freshened, correct? They are as dependable as a hammer and I'm going to ***ume that cost is not a factor as the engine is already paid for? It is going to be hard on your stock front suspension and it will make your chebby a pig of you don't go through the trouble to set it back. That is a lot of weight in the front third of your ch***is. Drooping the *** will help that issue a bit. You will have to mate a ****** to it and you haven't mentioned what you are interested in for that part of the equation. In the dependability dept ask youself this, when was the last time you saw a broken anvil. They are a rock solid dependable engine. The choice is a no brainer but just to be perfectly clear, if it were in my shop I would do it in a heartbeat. No pun intended.
Hey Jim, I wasn't trying to stir up trouble with my 'no cross breeding' comment, that just happens to be the way I like to do things. Of course there are exceptions, I am a big fan of 455 Buick and 500 Cad and it wouldn't take much of a nudge for me to 'cross the line'. We are blessed with so many engines of different styles/displacements from each of the '3' that I have found it to easier to keep most swaps in the family. OK, so I'm a bit lazy... Personally, if I had a 41 GM of some sort I would be looking for a Nailhead. .
Good luck stuffing that elephant into a 40's car...I was putting a 331 Chrysler into my '40 Plymouth when I wound up selling the motor and putting a Pontiac in its place, the hole in the firewall for that hemi took up nearly the entire firewall (including the original steering column location hole in the firewall)...the Pontiac was a tight fit, the hemi was a nightmare...leave the 350 in it and find something else for the stock hemi to be planted into (like an early 50's Mopar coupe or business coupe)...
Most 392s for sale arn't! Minor note, no factory chrome valve covers, though there are chromed factory valve covers. If you use an early 70s Cutl***/Chevelle clip the 392 will drop right in! (hmmm, didn't think about the firewall, just talking frame room). My '48 Plym is set up that way & long ago I saw a 41 Chevy for sale that way.
Maybe my firewall clearance issues had more to do with wanting the motor as low to the framerails as I could get it, and as far back as the frame would allow...I was more concerned about weight transfer, crank centerline height and using as much engine setback as I'm allowed to in a g***er...if you move the radiator to the front of the core support with a pusher fan on it you might be able to move the hemi farther forward and mount it higher on the ch***is to make everything fit better...
There is just something about the 392 Hemi - just makes one want to own one and put it in something nice. They are big *******s and it takes a lot of custom fabrication work to fit them into damn near anything -- if you have the skills, know how to fabricate motor mounts, steering, brake setup, etc - you'll be fine. Also, you'll need to do lots of firewall work, floorboards, ****** tunnel, etc - as you'll probably need to set it back a bit. I've been working on shoehorning one into my 34 coupe for the last few years . . . started building the frame from a set of ASC rails. The one thing I can say is be prepared to test fit and "imagineer" on a lot of things -- it takes time to pull a body on/off multiple time, put the engine/trans into the ch***is multiple times so you can figure out motor mounts, ****** mounts, linkages, etc.. Also, you'll spend time thinking about how to run exhaust, getting a steering column in there, having room for a starter . . . everything is work. Hell . . . if it was easy and cheap, everybody would have one! They're great engines, but not for the faint of heart.
that 392 is tired of sitting under the bench dont you think? Just waiting for a chance to run. If it wont fit under the hood put it in the trunk!
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