I have a chance to buy a small trailer full of 426 hemi stuff with a 530 cubic inch Les leggitt prepared motor it's a 1969 block with stage 5 heads. there's some fuel injection, high rise manifolds and more. does any one know anything about Les? I know he's been around for a long time. I'm driving to nev. to look at the stuff on mon. thanks. OK, so the guy' got an unassembled 426 that Les did the mach. work on about six years ago... 69 block I think the crank is stock? steel rods,14:1 coated pistons, Keith black manifold set up for hat style injection, 3-4 box's of cams used stage five heads... says he has titanium valves, mallory dual mag, 3-4 manifolds and some headers..... the rest is 440 stuff! the guy wants 25k for everything? I'm thinking more like 6-8k... motor has no history.let me know what you guy's think.
He is the Les Leggett of "Lindsley and Leggett" the worlds fasted production car. One of Les' motors, 14-71 blower, BIG fuel pump, 75% in the tank in a mid 80s Firebird= 338 mph at the three mile mark at B'ville. Les knows Hemis! Rex
Howdy do! I've known Lester since the late 70's when he was teaching a night time high performance class at Cypress College here in So Cal. The man is First Class and EXTREMELY knowledgable when it comes to Hemi horsepower. I lost touch with him years back and would like someone to help me out with contact information. Is he still a member of L.S.R.? Was he out at Elmers last weekend? Does he still campaign a streamliner of some kind?
Les Leggitt is a member in good standing of the Gear Grinders (SCTA) club. If TinKnocker 86 PMs me I'll get him the contact info....
He was involved with a nostalgia fuel funny car with Leah Pruett drving.. they ran damn good but stopped about a year ago, dont know what happened.
Doesn't look like 25 grand worth of stuff to me, sorry just being honest. I don't care who did the machine work, till it's together and running, it's just a bunch of parts. Offer him what you feel comfortable with then walk. Parts are everywhere. I didn't see anything special. JMO
Everything there is racing stuff. Almost none will work on the street. Unless you are thinking of becoming a racer, why would you want it? The steel block could be used if there are no cracks in the main webs. From what I see, it's outdated drag parts. How do you price that? The only way that I would feel comfortable is to have someone who is knowledgeable about this kind of stuff measure and inspect it all.
Make sure you check the block. I sold Les an injected motor like this one years ago with Stage V conversion heads bolted to a bored and stroked 413 RB block. He in turn sold it to Chauvin Emmons (AZ, I think).
I agree. Be very careful buying used race Hemi stuff. Check that block out very closely. Stage V made a conversion Hemi head that would bolt on to a 440 block. Those aren't conversion heads on a 440 block, are they? 440 and 426 Hemi cranks look very similiar. Hemi's use an 8 bolt crank flange while a 440 uses a 6 bolt crank flange. Assuming there is a nice un-cracked or repaired 426 block and a set of useable heads, rocker arms, rotating assembly, etc, I would price the whole package at around $12,000? Stan
Still looks like only about $10K worth of stuff unless the block is something special - check to see if there is a partial VIN on the block and its not cracked.
When was the last time you bought something for $6-7,000 that the guy was asking $25,000? can you spell "dreamer"? Be sure to let us know how you make out. Frank
You are buying the stuff from a recognized legend, and that is why the asking price is so high....but ask yourself, if you had this pile of parts, would you have a clue what to do with them? They are only worth that money if the man who created them comes along to teach you how to use them. Otherwise, 10 grand tops. BTW, buying used hemi stuff can be a real tricky thing if you don't know EXACTLY what you are looking at. It would pay to have someone intimate with these engines eyeball it before any money changes hands.