The more I get into this forum, the more surprised I am to find the large amount of obscure adapters that are fabbed up and available. I have never seen this, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Is there an adapter available anywhere that allows an early Hemi engine to be bolted in where a Chevy used to be? I doubt it but it can't hurt to ask.
If it's a pre 1957 Chevy ch***is.. yes. Hurst made engine swaps brackets for Chevy till then. You bolt the right ones on your frame..get the corresponding engine side brackets..and you can bolt any engine Hurst made brackets for into a pre 1957 Chevy.
I agree. The frame is painted body color with pearl, etc. I was hoping for a way to avoid welding and repainting, etc. I knew it was a long shot.
In decades of swapping engines into cars they never came with, I've never bought a set of motor adapter mounts yet. I think of all the stuff I've fabricated during car builds, motor mounts have to be the easiest thing to build. And so cheap to build from steel, and pipe that I never considered ever buying a kit.
you posted about this before, please post a picture of the current mounts, we can't possibly help if we can't see what you have now
By the way, the easiest way to see what kind of adapters are necessary is removing the existing motor and mocking up the Hemi. Otherwise any adapters would only hypothetically work. So much has to do with firewall clearance, motor height, ground clearance, etc... ~Peter
Almost all SBC's are side-mount. Early Hemis are mostly side mount. It should be possible to make a mount that spans that gap, without modification to the frame. Which Hemi do you want to put in there?
No adapter is likely to exist, as there is an unknown dimension here, and that is the fire-aft placement of the engine (ignoring pan clearance, etc.) The height and angle is already dictated by the existing placement of the transmission. To put any early Hemi where a SBC was, you will need either a specific bellhousing, or an adapter. That will change the placement of the engine by that unknown amount, forward. Again, we need detailed pictures of your current mounts.
If you're running a Hurst front mount to early Ford biscuit front mount look up Hurst CR-202 . That mount bolts my 392 directly to the stock mounts in my 40 Ford. As Moriarity says, photos really help. To many ways to do the same job out there.
I know guys, you're 100% correct. I'm not able to get photos because I'm away from home so darned much. I'll try to get some once I get in. I'd be interested in all your ideas. I won't be home until early May, at which point I'll be home for quite a whhile.
Ok. I have two on the shop floor right now. I will see if I can find a small block to check dimensions from.
That would be great, thanks for that. I bought the car just about completed so I don't know all the details on the frame. I was told, however, that it's a custom built Z'd and stretched frame, which appears to be the case. Being stretched as is is, there's currently lots of room for a longer engine if that's the case.
Lots of conflicting info out there, but in sorting through it as best I can, it would seem that a 354 Hemi is about 3/4" SHORTER than a SBC when equipped with an adapter mounted SBC water pump, which mine will be. Now as far as width, the Hemi is a whopping 12" wider. My car is open engine so that's no big deal at all.
I have a Wilcap Chrysler Hemi to GM automatic adapter in the shop, too. I will include that in the length measurements.
This may not help at all but the 292 Chevy six for my 48 has offset motor mount pads on the block. I bought the last set of Ch***is engineering inc. 292 side mounts they sold before they sold the company. I bought them on their closing out selling out sale and got confirmation on the sale and the next day or so it was announced that they had sold the company to Heidt's . They won't work on the hemi but might get the wheels turning so that you can come up with a mix and match design. Looking at the mounts Anthony posted in post 6 that should work on my 330 Desoto Hemi by the way, It looks like you could do some creative fabricating that won't look too strange when all is said and done. A lot depends on what you have for mounts now though.
I am in the middle of a project of making the equivalent to the Hurst CR-202 hemi mounts. Another H.A.M.B.er traced out the components of the mounts and I have scanned them into a computer and have the proper files to send to a place calle "Send-Cut-Send" that can make these components from the files. I have had two sets made and they appear to be spot on. I haven't welded them together yet, but I did Hot Glue" one together to see what they will look like. (The triangular pieces still need to be bent, but I am going to wait until final ***embly and welding to do that to make sure it's right.)
The mount location might be an issue the Chrysler is close to the front where the chevy is more in the middle
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