Any Hemi is great! I personally love the 392, but its certainly not the cheapest option. I stopped counting when it went past 10K.
392 cores cost more, but the parts are a little cheaper than 331/354. Pick ups usually have hemi based Ploys in them.
SHHHHHHH, Those are De Soto's Super Secret Besides, Don't you read the post's .... 392's are the ONLY really good Hemi according to Most of the S/B Chevy Owners There is Nothing Bad about the Long Bell 331, Adapters are cheap & actually the Easiest to adapt a Manual trans to if your making your own adapter.
I love my Desoto Hemi...no doubt Ill love it even more when its finished. I just gotta find a car to put it in haha !! Rat
Wow ,You guys are awesome!!! I have so far purchased a 241 Red Ram and I am looking at 3 more in differrent C.I. I have been researching all the great info on the Hamb!!!
I really dig the 241 for many reason and has been a Great motor for us for over 14 years and tons of miles. I wish we had a overdrive in her but when it was built not alot of options in the OD stuff. We toss in a highway gear for longer roadtrips and can tool down the highway 70mph with no strain on the motor. Shes getting tired these day and will be needing a rebuild. I do have 354 waiting to be used but with its weight and size I'm going to put back in the 241. As for speed goodies plenty around just not as easy to find because of hemi hoarders..
As has been said, all are good, but there are advantages to each. The 241-260-270 are the smallest package but most of those blocks do not have ears on the block and require a front mount. If you do not like front mounts then move on to the next one. DeSotos are the next, size wise, and are excellent performers, however, intakes are scarce. The 330-341 is probably one of the best size-weight-performance packages of the group. As for rebuild costs, there is barely any difference in the parts you have to buy or the machinist time to do the work, the biggest cost variance is in the core price. The parts that you have to buy do not include all of the goofy aluminum eye-candy. That stuff can easily exceed $2k... My 2¢ .
WELL i GOT MY FIRST HEMI HOME ITS A 54 241.. I will start tearing it down tonight and see if I got a deal or not,wish me luck!
Interesting. I'm sure the extended bell 331's are easier to find and make a fine engine. If I were going to put a big Chrysler on the street I would go with a 392 I think. If you have to have the weight might as well have the inches too. We run a 4 inch 354 in the dragster because we think the bottom end of the block is stronger. We have the rod journals offset ground on a stock crank for BB chevy rod size, and then have it nitrided. I will take any hemi I can get also. Make mine on nitro. Lippy, (hemi lover) from Ks.
Actually the Desoto hemis are my favorite. A little easier to fit into an engine well than the Chryslers, but still a shoehorn fit anyway. Had to do some butchering to get the 341 into my 67 Valiant. Just the appearance of these old hemis is worth the extra cost in my opinion. Yes, there isn't much in the way of aftermarket intakes, but don't sell the stockers short, at least on the high block engines. The stock 57 341 made 275 HP with a 2-bbl and 295 with the lowly 450 CFM WCFB. That's more HP and torque than the 340 6-pack!. Open up the throttle bore holes to fit a 600 Holley and it'll really come to life. If you're going with aftermarket pistons, make sure to go with more compression. After doing some calculations on the 330-341s, the factory rated compression is less than advertised. The 8.5 compression 330 is more like 7.9-1. The 9.25 341 is actually closer to 8.5-1. My 341 is now at 10-1 and the slugs stick up aboce the deck by about .050". The one thing I don't see on the street or at any car show is these older hemis with fuel injection. Hilborn is making them for the Dodge and Desotos again. A little pricey, but can be made to work for a lot less than Hot Heads is demanding. I got a set of Hilborns and modified them to work with TPI injection using a Megasquirt control system. Nothing looks better than an early hemi with a set of Hilborns. Would like to see more of that. l
you sound like me!!! dont be scared of the long block 331. wilcap makes an adaptor to mate a 4spd. to it. its the automatics that are tough with the long blocks. as soon as my 354 is done (with a 4spd.) i will be rebuilding my 331 with a 4spd. go for it brother!!!...........you can score a 51-53 331 real cheap and remember............real hot rods have 3 pedals!!!
Hello Again..Here is mine in my 1935 Ford slant back sedan.. Lots of $$$$$$$$ to get it right and running but what a dream, "HEMI".. On the crank and cracks, must remember that there was no balancer and even with a crack the engine ran thousands of miles.. A good balancer and no cracks..The cranks can be welded and balanced.. I love mine and it fits..I'm running a 350 turbo with a Chevy positraction rear.. Clean bore .030, oversize valves, adjustable rockers, Sanderson headers, pertronixs and 3 Stromberg 97s..I'm now running all three at the same time and the engine loves all the air and fuel... Ok, I shared.. Glad to be a HEMI owner.. Duane. ps..Notice my ornament on the radiator..
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