Customs 1956 Chrysler New Yorker Custom That’s Been 30 Years in the Making

W/O going through 6 pages, what are you shooting for with the engine? Traditionally Customs are supposed to be about the body instead of performance. The 331 can be bored out to 354, but that's a max overbore. 331 & 354 look pretty much the same.

 

Good question George. The reason I need a 354 block is to use all of my parts that I have. The rotating ***embly has been rebuilt, and balanced. The piston and rings are for a .040 over 354 so that is what is driving everything. I am using the Isky 280 Mega cam, Hot Heads single 4 barrel intake and the pistons are 10.5:1

Here is the picture of the block, with all the machine work done before they found the holes. When they saw the holes, they were supposedly small pin holes, then they started poking and the material was very thin and they poked through enlarging the holes. Trying to see if the machine shop will give a deal on machining block #2

 

How about drilling those holes round, put thread plugs and pour relatively thin layer of block cement in ?

 

The material is very thin on either side of the holes, then it get's to a normal thickness. The guy building the engine for me tried tig welding the holes and it's not going well. I would rather find a block that has no issues and run with that so I do not have to worry about this in the long run

 

I've had this 331 out to 354 for years without an issue.

 

354 is max for a 331, his pistons are .040 over so that's a no go.

 

Yeah, had seen the pics. The other option would be to get a 331 & change to 331 pistons & sell the ones you have. Hard to say which option would be easiest.

 

Good to know. Still weighing out grabbing the 331 punched out to a 354 and just putting my heads on it and calling it good. Waiting to hear if he had any sonic testing done or not

 

I am weighing out selling my rotating ***embly and going with the 331 mentioned before and throwing my heads on it. I also have a lead on an industrial 354 complete engine that is frozen. It's complete and the oil is black without any coolant in the oil. It's a gamble but my only lead right now. If this block is buildable, then I should be back on track.

My aim is to have a solid, well built and reliable engine and hopefully not have to pull it out again. Once I can sort out all the mechanical bugs, I am going to move on to finishing the side window fit up, then finish body work and paint

 

Quick update. I found an industrial 331 that was appears to be a 354 with a small bore. The engine came from a generator that had 50 hours on it. The owner had a NAPA machine shop bore it .125 over to use std 354 pistons. He was able to measure the cylinder wall thickness and came back with .305 which seems to point it out to be a 354 block. I was able to buy it for a decent price that I am comfortable taking the risk since I was unable to see it first. Using Fastenal to ship it and hopefully will have it here in the next week or two.

 

Also, the machine shop said they would drop their price on machining block #2 which is amazing. Trying to get this back on the road before the Round Up in April.

 

That's a great find Matt! Congrats!

How's the shipping with Fastenal work? Don't guess I knew about that.

 

Cool. I didn’t know you had already located a block. That’s good.

 

I just found one but it is a gamble. Still interested in your buddy's block and want to work something out.

 

You go to their website and fill out a request with rough dimensions and weight and the drop off/pick up location. Then they send you a quote. The packaged must be on a pallet. The total cost from Alabama to Austin is roughly $200

 

Wow. That's a pretty good deal!

 

Does anyone have any idea what intake this could be? I do not have it in my possession yet, but it seemed odd to me from the photo...specifically the space between the two carbs looks odd to me. Maybe it's just me. The guy I am grabbing one of the blocks from had this and its sending it with the short block

 

That does seem like the carburetors are pushed much further toward the edges than what I am used to seeing on about any two/four intake.

 

Hmm. That’s interesting.

 

It kinda looks like a factory intake (mine shown below after I'd removed the generator mounting boss).

However, the elevated pad on your intake continues between the carbs, and the water outlets are quite different. Looks like the throttle holes are a little larger, too? I'd be interested to see if it has a part number anywhere.

 

What stands out to me is the space between the carbs look like it's added after the fact. There are no casting numbers that are typically there

 

interesting indeed. I will know more when I have it in my hands

 

Thanks for sharing the photo. It's helpful to compare. I am also noticing the space missing between the intake runners on the mystery intake vs yours where it is filled in. Once I have it in my hand, it will likely have a number on it that can help identify

 

Won't it be something if it turns out to be a cross ram intake....

 

Would be pretty neat if it turns out to be a 'special' 390HP 300C intake. (I don't think it is.)

These flowed a little better for Nascar, but had the same part number cast into them as a standard 300C intake.

 

So I received the intake and 331 short block. Unfortunately, it is neither a cross ram or a special Indy intake. The intake has not markings on the bottom side. The top side was kind of butchered. Someone drilled four holes as if an attempt to make this a single four barrel intake, then later epoxied the holes and filled the middle section.

 

Update on the 354, we are going to keep going with the welding, then use some block rok to fill the bottom 2", then ***emble it and move on. There is only one more hole to fill and it's one of the smaller holes...so we should be good to make it work. There is still a chance to have it cruising around for Round Up events in the evening...but cutting it close

 

Quick update, I picked up a 354 block locally last night. Dropped it off at Billy's last night and he's getting it to the machine shop ASAP. Everything else is ready to go, so should be back in a the next few months

 

Maybe you could make it to Oklahoma for Lead Ain’t Dead or the Gathering at the Roc in the fall?

 

God willing there are no other issues that pop up, its possible and would love to get some miles on it before pulling it apart for paint.