I found a Hemi...maybe (seems a bit pricey @ $1600 firm asking price). Another rodder has it in his shop and looking to get out of the hot rodding business. He's looking to sell. He says its good and was getting ready to rebuild it. It's a 354 with casting numbers NE56. Looked it up and it corresponds to a '56 Chrysler New Yorker w/4bbl 280HP. Honestly...beyond that I don't know what the hell to look for. But here are some photos... What would you pay for it?
Yep, that's a good one. If all of it is standard size with normal wear, that is probably a fair price. With it all apart it will be easy to mice and inspect everything. I'd go for it but then again, I'm addicted to them!
That is probably a fair price. I gave $800 for a 354 that 'ran when parked'. I still can't get all of the pistons out of it.
I gave $200 for a block, $150 for heads, $150 for rockers, $60 for valve covers, $100 for an oil pan, $150 for rods and crank, and I spent a few years piecing it together without having a complete motor. I got great deals on the stuff but in hindsight, I would have been way better off just plunking down the cash for a complete. I'd say that's a decent price. Big port heads, car block, no big bell, no hunting parts.
Since you are not familiar with the engine it would be great to find someone (a HAMBER) in your area who knows enough about hemis to evaluate the engine. Otherwise, how do you really know what you are buying?
I just bought one..a 56 354 chrysler... same as what your looking at. All apart and 99% complete(missing 1 rod) $800.00 Candyman bought a 92,same fella all there except a crank....$750.00. Pistons are not worth anything....because I ***ume your gonna rebuild. but complete heads with rockers,rods,block,mains,crank,valve covers and pan,pulleys,waterpump and housing, timing chain cover and the other bits i see.... IMHO,I would not go over a grand....But that is just me. Cost to build and machine (again my exp.) in stock form or a little more is between 4-6 k. This depends how raunchy ya wanna go with the engine. Not to discourage you.. and its been stated on here a millions before.... this behemoths cost money. I like them and that makes up for it in my mind. What your posting in pics...looks to be all there.
Ain't nothing fancy about a Hemi.... just another hunk of iron. You don't need any expert opinions just a micrometer and maybe get it mag'd. IMHO $1600.00 is pretty steep these days... they don't exactly fly off the shelves since the economy tanked. But it's your money and all the parts are nice and clean and easy to evaluate. Just remember that anything Hemi is worth repairing... cracks, gouges, worn rod journals, etc.
Make sure you really have all the parts and they are in good shape. Does it have adjustable rockers? I've seen the adjustable rockers listed for $600+ on ebay...but you can buy adjustable pushrods from 73RR for way less. Also, has it ever been rebuilt in the past? The most expensive part of my recent rebuild was getting the crank welded back up to stock specs. The engine crank was previously ground down .30 under. Guess what...they don't make .40 under bearings...so it was over $400 to have the crank welded back to stock specs. I paid $1,000 for my engine that was mostly complete (missing intake & carb). Pretty clean inside too...but since I was spending money on new parts, I figured I would have the engine rebuilt by a local shop. The shop bill was around 2300 or so (including the crank weld/grind, bearings and misc parts). Spend about another $1,000 on misc goodies.
See that's what I'm sayin. My pop's has a low miles 392 Hemi that he pulled out of a New Yorker funeral flower car....for $500. The only issue with it was they broke a valve and f-ed up a cylinder which had to be sleeved ($100). So it's standard bore otherwise. So he's got $600 invested in a 392 that is on equal footing as this motor that this dude wants $1600 for. Hmmm Not to give away how I found this but I haven't actually seen it in person to be able to look at the integrity of the block & heads. ***uming it's all good I still couldn't bring myself to drop $1600 on something that I'm still going to have a huge investment in rebuilding. This is probably why he's selling....because for $1600 he could find a pretty dang nice SBC that's RUNNING.
Don't go down that road. This is a p***ion for Hemi's thing. Without some p***ion we would all run a SBC.
Yeah I know. SBC's are like the vanilla ice cream flavor of engines. Honestly couldn't say anything else negative about them though.....
If you want a Hemi buy it . Check out Hotheads site they have Hemi parts. It is apart mic it and look it over . You have that advantage . Most engines are together and problems are not found until its tore down.
That's a good point Pete. A lot of the time you'd just about have to lay down some cash and take the chance that the block is still ok.
When you lean down to look at the engine, let the seller see the .45 Colt sticking out of your belt, casually mention what you did to the last guy that horsed you around on a purchase that turned sour. See if he backpedals on any of his claims of purity on that engine. dj
I paid $2,200 for an A1 '58 392 without any intake. But it was guaranteed to be a great rebuildable engine from my engine builder in Daytona Beach, Florida. Yeah, these engines aren't cheap, but realize how rare and the important fact that they're becoming harder and harder to find! One of the responses said that you can buy a small block Chevy for the price - but then again, it's not a hemi! This is the powerplant you want in your rod if you want to stand out from the rest of the pack! Worst case scenario - you purchase this 354 and after having it checked out at a machine shop and something is not repairable, you either purchase that part elsewhere or if you decide not to rebuild her for obvious economical reasons, you part her out on Ebay and you should get your money back on all of the salvaged parts and more!
Oh for the good old days. Back in 1971 I bought a 392 with a spun rod bearing for $25. In 1985 I bought a running 392 for $400. I scored another in the late 80's for $200. The $25 motor was one I pulled from a demo derby New Yorker, still breaks my heart to think of that car (2-door, no less) busted up in that event.
That's not a bad price, but make sure that you inspect everything closely for excess wear and I woulden't spend a penny until I had a magnaflux inspection on the block,heads, crank and rods.
The asking price is in the ballpark. Don't ***ume that's his selling price, he'll come down. Make the deal contingent that the block, crank and heads p*** a crack check at the local machine shop and it meets whatever over/under sizes you're comfortable with. If the seller won't agree to this, then walk away. I do this frequently when buying parts and already have it done when selling. Plus, if the cores are good but maybe more over/under than you'd like to see, you can use that as a negotiating tool.
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