Hot Rods Dreaming of a cheap 32 with a hemi...am I crazy?

Any projections to the bottom line ?

 

Don't mean to derail this thread but the frequent talk of long bell issues vs short/no bell Hemi's seems weird to me. I have a long bell 331 and had no problem finding adapters to LaSalle trans for cheap. No one wants to use a long bell Hemi yet Oldsmobile (other makes as well?) long bell is way cool! What gives guys? I used the 331 in my '33 Plymouth w/ LaSalle. Now I have a couple 392 Hemi's and finding a 392 to LaSalle adapter is a major pain! Seen a few but way outta my price range unlike long bell adapters.

Rant over. Sorry.

Dave

 

The Truck engines have the sodium filled stems not the Industrial. For all intents and purposes, the Industrial is the same as a passenger car engine.
Do not expect to find adjustable rockers. In 40 years I have never seen an Ind with them. No, I have not seen everything.
You can buy a new 354 cam from one of the 'big guys', assuming that they have a core the day you call. Although the hours are low it might be a good idea to reface the lifters before installing them on a new cam. Call around, labor prices vary from $5 to $8 each.
New cam + refaced lifters = stock pushrods.

 

Seems like the journey is paved so far.

 

13 months on, any progress ?

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DJU4YdJin/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

I like your plan; don’t rule out a 2-door!

 

I started my avatar roadster in 2006. I had a low milage long storage frame given to me by the widow of a very long term friend. The engine was given to me bya friend I worked with at the time. It was a "come and get this thing out of my yard, I dont know anything about it engine that turned out to be from a 58 Dodge 2 1/2 ton truck. Even with all the free stuff, it still took cubic amounts of cash to finally get the car done. It was my first venture into hemi land and didn't realize that hemis and parts for them are made out of a very special alloy know as unobtanium! But, to be honest once my wallet recovered from the shock, I have thoroughly enjoyed the car and put over 40k miles driving the snot out of it all over the southwest, sometimes within the speed limit! After seeing the quality of the castings and forgings, I now see why Chrysler ended production and went with conventional wedge engines later. I am glad to have it in my roadster!

 

Cool project.I have a late 54 331 hemi with the short bell and a 37 La Salle trans and a 50 Olds trans I wanted to run one of those behind my hemi,but was having a hard time finding an adapter for the short bell. I saw lots of adapters for a long bell housing out there,.much easier to find. I ended up buying an adapter for a turbo 350 I had laying around for now.

 

A 32 with a HEMI build heck I'm doing one at the moment. The word cheap from what I can tell is not a word one would associate with this type of build. You have a few of the important parts already good luck with your build it may take some time {a lotta time} to pull this off but if times not a problem you will succeed .
Ronnieroadster

 

Devil's advocate here.

It might be that nothing but a 1932 Ford will do. And I'm with you all the way, @Hitchhiker

But I would encourage you to not completely discount Chrysler, Desoto, Dodge and Plymouth from the same era.
Especially Plymouth.
Especially '32 '33 '34 Plymouth.
('31 aint too shabby either.)

I don't think anybody would ever be mad if you put that Hemi in an old Mopar. Not even you.

1932 Plymouth




I know. It's just not the same.
Exactly. It's not the same.

 

Nice!

 

Yes and no. I've been gathering parts. I got another free 32 frame and a frame jig to build it in. I've got most of the suspension.( 9 inch rear and a 32 heavy with split bones. Looking at transmission options currently. I did find a relatively cheap 3 window body. But I didn't pull the trigger because I've been distracted with a commercial building.(old picture, but gearing up to restore this place.)

 

There was a 32 Dodge three window coupe body for sale on FB marketplace in Mandan, ND about a month for cheap.

 

Matt @IronTrap had a 3W project body listed on Insta this week.