i bought a 57 chrysler station wagon that was burned in a fire but the motor had good oil in it and green antifreese and the carb wasnt melted so after s****in the car and getting 240 back i had a 392 hemi for 260 dollors and a hundred dollor tow fee a year and a half ago oh it turns over easy and the starter works sorta
Please tell me you saved more than just the 392 out of that '57 Chrysler. Since it had a Hemi, it was a New Yorker station wagon. An EXTRAORDINARILY rare Mopar station wagon and very desirable. All the usable sheetmetal and trim on that car is valuable.
it looked like a bannana and was full of bondo trim was **** and the car had been sitting for years after the fire, i saved the trim anyways but the stainless is all rusted now
Kinda sad you didn't offer it up for parts. Probably could have made a few thousand dollars depending what was left. Even stuff that is junk to most is GOLD to someone working with a '50s Mopar.
This is the 291 in my '55 Desoto. About 5 years ago, I pulled the heads, new lifters, springs, lapped the valves and cleaned everything. 35,000 miles and 10 years racing The Newport Hillclimb later, it still runs like a top. The thing is, there are no vintage speed parts available for this motor. 291 is its own for '55 only. Heads don't swap, and intakes don't either. I could go the "you fab it" intake... but they won't fit under my hood without having to cut the runners down. I bought the car for about $4,500 5 years ago and it came with an extra 291, but pulled all apart. I'm wanting to rebuild it and later swap the engines... but damn it costs alot. I almost don't want to tear into the one in the car 'cause it runs too damn good for having 100,000 miles on it, and it gets 21 mpg on the highway. But all in all, don't get 291's unless you want them to stay stone stock.
Listen to P. Flats.........search and you will find that he knows his "HEMI" price.......and if you thing 2g's is a high price for one.......add up the cost to rebuild one.........mucho $$$$.....there is one local that has no internal parts that would take at least 3 to 5 grand in parts and machine shop work to get running.......oh yea, and if anyone has a cheap valve cover for a wall hanger PM me......the last time that I saw them at swap meets they were selling for a "C note" (aka:$100). Chris Nelson Kansas
I'm chasing a 426 in Nor. Cal. that a out of work contractor might sell for 2K. But you know how these end up sometimes.
...a 426 block is worth more than 2k..........bottom line on all of the 'value' chatter is simply this: If you find a Hemi for sale and if you think the price is right and if the buyer and the seller are happy when they say adios, then THAT is the fair price for THAT engine. Not long ago, a 57 'take-out' 392 sold on ebay for about $3400. Thats alot of money for a core, but if you have the money and don't know when the next one will come along....... .
yep its sad when you try for months and none wants anything for free and when i said fire i ment forest fire
I've been watching e-bay too. I watched one down by Saint Louis go for over $4000.00. I asked him if it turned over, and he said he didn't know never tried. That preaty much told me it was stuck.
I've seen $100 hemi's, they ain't worth the effort to take them to the s****per. There's 3 kinds of early Hemi's: Rusted ****, running ****, and rebuildable ****. The price varies from $10 to about $11k. If I was going to run a 392, and I wouldn't ever own one of those again, I'd buy one already rebuilt and ready to go. 354's and 331's are what you want (54 - 56 blocks). I bought 3 dodge's to build one, and threw away one block and four heads because they were rusted to the point it looked like a dog with a bone. The other thing to put on your list, is never-NEVER buy a hemi from anyone east of the Mississippi, and south of Tennessee. These toothless *******s have never seen a hemi run since the 50's, and everything they got is ****. ****!
This outta get me some hate mail. All this stuff about the high cost of building a Hemi is pretty much hot air. Yeah, if your used to doing sbc's all day long they are pricey. But if you're used to race motors they are cheap... My 354 Industrial was redone at my local machine shop...did everything bored, 5 sleeves, line hone, decked, stainless valve, Venolia pistons, Total Seal rings, rebuilt rockers, yada-yada-yada. Total investment, including a 6-71 blower with intake and Dyers drive kit was about $5K. The machine work is the same...Ford, Chevy, MOPAR or Ferrari. Custom pistons are the same. The difference is in some of the internal engine parts. If you figure the extra resale a Hemi brings over an average small block it's an investment NOT an extra cost.
I have a clean pr of Chrysler heads I need $600 plus ship.Now just find a CHEAP Poly and now you can have a HEMI----
ok since were talking going rate what's a 58 imperial 392 going for. shortblock, heads, rockers, waterpump intake. block#58C14260 johnny
A guy from the hamb had one for sell for 400. I missed it by one call...But i just got a sbc 6x2 intank for $300.
Its Post's like this that push the price's Way Outta line. The only time i EVER paid $$$ like this is when i bought my Ex~Drag 291 DeSoto that came COMPLETE & Running with a Vertex mag, 6 97's, crower intake, 11.5-1 Jahns Pistons... ETC ... For $3000.00 I have 2 tall deck DeSoto's, 2 Short Deck DeSoto's, & 2 331 Chryslers... This weekend i will be trading a 292 Ford for a 276 DeSoto & have another 331 Chrysler on the way that came with a LaSalle Trans with Adapter & a Howard front cover. Everyone reads these posts and figures that EVERY Hemi is worth there weight in Gold .... Got any idea how many time i have heard of the $3000.00 dollar 392 and get there and its a 241 Dodge.... But they still want $3000.00 ? To many times & its **** !! They arent ALL worth a **** pot of $$ unless you as the buyer are willing to pay it.
I just bought a 331 minus one valve cover, stuck, for 75 bucks. Sold it before I even had to unload it for double that. Got insulted here ("You must be NUTS", I believe was the best "compliment" I got for selling to a guy I know who could actually use it) for my trouble. I don't have a use for it now, don't have the extra $$ to build it, and don't really have room to store it. I looked at it as potentially, but not gaurenteed to be, rebuildable, and so the buyer. A "good" core would be worth 500 to 1000 to me if I wanted one, which I don't right now.
ha ha yall got em going on them hemis my name is henry and i would love to have a hemi in my 29 p/u .i can rebuild the motor i just cant afford to buy one and then have to buy a head or crankshaft or something like that i would like to find one i can bring home and not take much to get running
In the world I live in if I offer something for a set price and another cat agrees to buy it without me holding a gun to his head that makes me a FAIR BUSSINESS MAN not a RETARD !!! Now remember this would be in my world and in my world everything goes MY WAY !! >>>>.
Was looking for something to rebuild. Paid $1K for a Chrysler 331, in pieces. It was totally gunked up, but the bore cleaned up at .030", and the crank at .010"; .020". Guess I did ok on the core. The Hotheads parts and machine work were a little spendier....slide
Well in my world, people know how to read: "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." And that's completely correct about the cost of building a motor. It's the minor little special components, like a one of kind 6-71 intake manifold that drive the cost of a build up. It's not like we're talking about a unique motor like a 318 Poly.
Ok, let's get back on track here. Madhatter's original question was how much is a good running 354 hemi worth. All name calling aside, I still say $2,000-$2,500 is a good fair price. For example let's take a non running hemi engine and tear it down. We can sell it one piece at a time. So, we've got a crank for sale $100 minimum. stock intake $100. heads, $100 each or $200 pair. Good block not cracked $250. Valve covers $125. Carb $75. Starter $50. Exhaust manifolds, $100 pair. and so on. Already we are looking at $1,000. We still have a flywheel, water pump, pulleys, distributor, and etc. Now, I'm not against anyone getting a cheap deal. That's what we all want. What I am pointing out here is what it IS worth. Minimum price.
Finally, some discussion. Parting it out is one thing, but we all know that as a whole a person can't reasonable expect to get the same value out of it. Crank $100 I would agree is probable Intake $0 If it's a run of the mill 2 barrel, otherwise $100 4 barrel is likely Heads $200 Maybe if they're later 331 or 354 heads Block $Purchased with a crankshaft maybe $250 Valve covers are a whole other story that depends on Chrome and dents Carb $0 for 2 barrel $Four barrel isn't worth anything to a guy seeking the best carb for his motor Nobody wants to use a ****ty old distributor, and the pulleys won't do much good for a blower motor. That price for the starter is pushing it. So are the exhaust manifolds. Anyone wanting an eye candy hemi motor with multiple carbs isn't going to use factory manifolds. Still less money than $1000, or are my estimations too reasonable? But as a seller, you're not going to like the guy who sells a $500 hemi, because that just makes it harder for you to justify your price. As a buyer, you're going to laugh at the $2000 guy, and buy the $500 guy a burger because he's a good ****.
I have been selling these parts for these prices. Not every buyer is a hot rodder. Some people want stock original parts. I can back up what I say. Hell, I don't why I am wasting my time trying to educate you. Obviously you already know it all.
The Jalopy Journal
