I'm no Hemi guy, but those things have been pretty popular as of late, I imagine you'll have to pay an arm and a leg for anything Hemi.
Desoto never made a 354. 354 was a Chrysler motor. 800 bucks is good for ANY running hemi. Desoto had a 276, 291, 330, 341 Chrysler was 331, 354, 392 Dodge Red Rams were 241, 270, 315, and 325 They are all *****in engines but virtually none of the parts interchange between model lines...
I am soon to be going through a Caddy flathead and found that alot of the engine parts such as bearings and pistons are alot cheaper than the 241" Dodge hemi that I just rebuilt. Who woulda thought ?!?!
Yeah I know there are a few hemi threads on here that I need to read, its always good to know which are the 'good' hemi's that you can find bellhousings and speed parts for VS the ones that are a pain in the ***.. the one I found was under the PITA catagory, it was 600 bucks.
Browsing the cl***ifieds here and other places the going rate for a running 354 has been 2k. You can search on craigslist too. They are sought after and people pay top dollar for theml. I just bougt a 56 new yorker with a running 354 and all I wanted was the engine.
The problem is, you're going to need three of them to build just one--unless it's a Chrysler, in which case almost everything is available new. If it's a Chrysler, and running, it will be in the $1k price range. After you get it refreshed (machine shop, etc) and show ready it will be in the $7k range. If you're going to keep it stock, then probably about $3k for just the tear-down, machine work, re***embly.
Yeah that's a fair price if you're mentally retarded and don't know any better. If that's fair, how many of those do you want to buy from me at that price?
Harsh but true... Two grand for a core sounds very high even though they aren't getting any easier to find.
If you have engines available, why not just say so???? There are plenty of folks looking so lets get them going........
I have sold several for that price recently and the buyers were happy. I don't have to prove anything to you. I can back up what I say. Have a nice day. Or not..........
I got this one dirt cheap. Ran on propane all its life pumping water. Clean as a wistle inside. I haven't done anything with it yet. And no its not for sale.
Well damn, you got me. I've only one hemi to sell, and I'll gladly give up my $500 investment for half the price you seem to think is fair. Yes, $1000 is still too much. But my motor runs. Damn good I might add. I can find more of these motors to sell at outrageously high prices if anyone wants. After all, trying to build a hot rod these days wouldn't be half as fun if everyone got their parts at fair prices, would it?
Finding a Chrysler Hemi of any cubic inch, that runs, for $500 is unheard of anymore. That is a $2000 engine if it purrs as you say. A good core goes for a grand. Something complete but busted still goes $500+. Anyone that takes a '56 New Yorker and s****s the car to get the engine out of it ought to be shot on sight. There are plenty of engines out there, sell the car to buy one.
I bought the whole vehicle with ***le for $500 a few months ago. Granted it was a bit unusual to get the whole vehicle with motor for $500, but I've found a few motors around this neck of the woods for under $500. I just don't see my motor being worth $2000. That is crazy to think, to me anyway. I congratulate any seller who can get that much money out of a core motor, it sounds as though the big 3 automakers could use your sale pitches! But as a buyer, come on. Don't jump the gun, get out there and start searching. Not on the internet. Word of mouth, and driving around rural areas works the best.
If you want to know what the motor is worth you need to find out what it is you have. As others have said Desoto (notice no A's in Desoto) never made a 354. You have a wide range of years there too, a '54 Dodge hemi is 241 ci and a '57 Chrysler is 392 CI, and there are a lot of sizes in between. Get some numbers off of the engine and then we can discuss value properly.
That's all good advice, but at this point the supply is low and demand is high, you know what that does for prices. You never know what you'll stumble across, but after 50 years out of production, most of them have already been found.
I won't say the town I live in, but every year a friend and I canoe down a small creek. Probably 40 miles by the time all is said and done. It takes 2 solid days of paddling, dragging, and walking. As I said, it's a small creek. Not suitable for canoeing at times. Anyway, there are a couple of irrigation pump setups that people here might be interested in. They're old, but obviously being put to work. I don't believe it's legal to pump water out of such a small body of water, especially given the low water table in the middle of the summer. There's a good chance both of the pumps belong to the same farm, they're close together. Only a handful of people know they're even in existence, and I'd be willing to bet there are countless engines ****tered across the states in the same type of situation.
That thing is cool! Reminds of the farm days. Farm I worked on had a 454 as an irrigation pump, and over the past few years pump engines have been disappearing from that area. When I saw a Chrysler Industrial hemi in a hot rod a few weeks ago, I wondered how many of those pinched pump engines were rare, desirable motors that got parted out by thieves, etc. Not saying yours or the rod builder I saw got theirs that way - it just reminded me of the irrigation pumps, and changing those pipes, struggling to get the last piece connected when the roar of the pump engine started. I'm sure there are a lot more of this kind of engine available if you know the right farmer. My uncle has a farm, and I wonder if he'd trade an old hemi for a newer engine... Good score. The rod I saw with the industrial hemi had white valve covers and looked great.
Supply and demand says it all. $2000 for a running core is NOT retarded at all. There's obviously varrying degrees by which that holds true, but as pointed out above, they ARE desireable and people ARE willing to pay for them. Unless you get lucky or happen to find someone who just doesn't give a damn and needs it gone, the days of cheap Hemis are growing thin...
I picked up 2 392 hemis for $1000. both were apart but all bits were there and both were standard bore etc. Looks like I got a good deal
Hell, I sold a single valve cover for a Dodge for $70 a while back. I'm just glad to read some confirmation of what I was thinking, we have a truck with a running frankenHemi (Plymouth 241 or 259 block, Dodge heads) and I was figuring conservatively the motor was worth at least $1000 all by itself.
Well good luck if you are going to purchase the ones for sale. If you're going to attempt to steal the ones not for sale, you've erred by posting here. So you're telling me that as a buyer you think $2000 is fair, and you would purchase a motor (core & nothing more) at that price? Even if you have that money sitting around, why spend more than what you would have to?
Just ribbin' ya' man! I know nothing about those. But, YES! If the core is TRUE runner in good condition and could potentially be run AS IS (knowing that it will STILL need a rebuild at some point in it's life), complete from pan to carb, I would say it COULD be worth it. People are apparently paying that. Just as a supporting note... Although they made a TON of Hemis, and you can find them all over the place, it's always good to know what you're getting with ANY vintage engine and it's ALWAYS better to get something you know is complete and works the way it is supposed to before you bring it home. Hemis will run forever in their stock form as a TRUE RUNNER. The problem is that nobody can keep their damn hands out of them. A completely stock, good running motor is worth more (in my opinion) than something that has been handled by an unknown party. Now.... if by "core" we're talking everything is there, but it's in non-running condition, than of course not. Exceptions will come into play if it's something significant like a Chrysler 300 motor or possibly a 392. By the way... I'm not saying you HAVE to, that's just what the market seems to offer right now; depending on your geographical location. I know tons of places around where I grew up where people could probably give a damn and say "get it off my lawn", but my point is that those instances are not happening as much as they used to. OF COURSE you wouldn't pay more than you have to... just depends on where you draw the line. I just paid $2400 for a crazy 331 recently but I knew it ran, was recently rebuilt and looked super clean when I dicected it. It STILL needs quite a bit of attention even after all that.
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