Projects 1957 Hillman Husky 392 hemi build thread

Got a little done this weekend. When the firewall was redone we never put the cowl braces back on. There are two of them and they will help support the steering wheel and cowl. Was cool because we used the original pieces....just had to shorten one a little.

Still need a little work on the wiring but it's getting closer.

 

Dash is now installed and wired up. Lights, turn signals, brake lights all work. Just need to chase a few more wiring issues and finish hooking up the power brakes, wipers, and horn. Shouldn't take too long though.

Under the dash you can see the lower cubby box rail. This will hide most of the firewall and the steering box from view.

 

Not going to be hard to "Peg" that speedometer. It's a HEMI

 

You're right. Won't take too much time to get there. When the officer asks "do you know how fast you were going" I can answer 85 mph with a straight face.

On a side note....the speedo didn't work at first. It's an NOS unit and was gummed up. Put just a little PP (I don't call it PB) Blaster in where the cable goes in and then hooked it up to my drill in reverse. Now it feels free and turns easily. Sad to say my drill only goes up to 70 miles an hour though.

When I'm further along I'll test the speedo in the car with a GPS and see how close it is. I think I've got a red 21 tooth in there now, but I'm sure I'll need a different one.

 

Not to be overly critical and I'm not even sure if it will stay that way, but I'm not a fan of what the under dash area currently looks like.
I know that there isn't a lot of room there, but it presently looks like a nightmare, a dogs breakfast sort of thing with masses of wires and the coiled up tubing's don't look great either.

 

I don't mind overly critical. You're right it is a dog's breakfast. This is a build thread so it's still in progress. It isn't done yet that's why wires are hanging down and not routed. Tubes, cables and wires are coiled up and need to get run to their end locations. We need to drill a hole in the firewall for the temp sender. The head is only about 2.5" away from the firewall so the sender hole needs to be drilled directly behind where it will mount in the back of the head. We need to find the cleanest way to route it....same with the oil line and choke cable as they are not hooked up either. It will all be clean when it's done. If you look at the engine photos it will be similar (although in there everything is hidden). Can't hide it under the dash but it will be nicely routed....and there is probably more room under there than it looks from the pictures. It's not too bad.

 

That thing got a HEMI in it!
Having seen the details of this build, I have no doubt the"dogs breakfast" will be tidied up.
Speaking of tidy; that exhaust job must have taken some pretty creative packaging.

 

I kind of figured that it would all be cleaned up. I don't know how many times I have looked at a car for sale that looks nice otherwise until you peek into the hidden areas and then find the "oh my god what a nightmare moment".
Great job so far.

 

Right, like a nicely painted car but they didn't do the engine compartment.....or has hose clamps holding the exhaust together.

 

It did take creativity and a lot of head scratching. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Only problem was that I now have to rethink my oil filter set-up. Trying not to have to do a remote set-up.

Everything on this car has required creative packaging.....getting the 392 in there seems to have been the easy part

Did I mention the windshield took a rock on the trip to Riverside? I'm now looking for a replacement windshield which are pretty hard to find. Had two parts cars but both were already missing the windshields.

 

These guys have windscreens.
http://www.pilkington.com/EUROPE/uk+and+ireland/english/automotive/book-a-windscreen-fitter/makes-and-models/hillman.htm
Though shipping one from Europe might be pricey. Ask Pilkington in the States if they can get you one.

 

Appreciate the pointer. I'll look and see what they have.

 

Tackled the oil filter problem The old Milodon Set-up extended too far forward and was right where the exhaust was. Bought several different adapters in hopes of finding one that would fit.

This was a cool vintage piece that has been on my motor since the 70's but didn't fit.



This Wilcap adapter is several inches shorter. Requires a much narrower filter but I'm not complaining.



Here you can see the Wilcap adapter installed. Lots of room between the adapter and the exhaust downpipe.



Of course I had to special order the filter. Once I narrowed things down I was left with no more than a few filter options.

 

Did some more electrical and routing under the dash. The temp sender is now connected to the motor and the speedo cable is also hooked up.


Top hole has the oil, speedo, and choke lines going through.


Bottom hole has temp sender......didn't do the best job centering so may have to rework a little.

 

Front track width was too wide for my taste so I got some narrowed control arms.

Each arm is 5/8" narrower so we're 1 1/4" skinnier. Every bit helps.




Getting a little dirty under here.



Will need to shorten up the steering rack 5/8" on each side. Was done all to spec so we don't end up with bump steer.

 

Tires needed balancing and I hate those weights that fall off so I did something different.

One little package of these will do the trick.

a high-density ceramic bead that, when easily installed, continuously balances your tires as you drive. The amount of material will distribute itself in weight and position dependent on the balance requirements of the individual tire. The result is a smooth, vibration-free ride, derived from our balancing media that is always repositioning itself as the tire wears. If you own a pickup truck, commercial truck, motorhome, RV, tractor trailer, motorcycle, or similar vehicle, and want to get rid of those wheel vibration and tire cupping problems, then you need to move up to Dyna Beads®


Finally got to put the center caps on. These are the old type that have a flange on that back that screws to the front.

 

better off with Wix than Fram anyway.

 

Those beads are an urban legend, just sayin. Love the project though should be a blast to drive!

 

Try

Try telling that to the members on here that use them and they work just fine.

 

Hey I'm not trying to start anything, to each their own, what works for some doesn't for others.I tried them and didn't have success on my big truck 26,000 lbs freightliner. And found them in many OT vehicles that came into dealerships I worked at for eleven years.

But I always say the mechanic you don't want working on your car is the one that claims to know everything. I certainly don't.

I know I like that husky. No argument there!

 

I use them on everything I own and they work great. I did before and after drives so I could feel the results first hand. Dyna Beads don't fix everything though. If your wheels have a lateral imbalance you'll still need weights. This from their website:

Can Dyna Beads fix my vehicle's [shimmy, shake, wobble]?
A: In most cases, no. There are three terms commonly used to describe lateral (back and forth) movement of the steering wheel, wobble, shimmy and shake. Two of these are a result of lateral imbalance of the tire/wheel assembly.

• Wobble - this is more a function of mechanical suspension components than anything else, but can also be a result of bent or damaged rims.
• Mechanical Imbalance - This is lateral movement caused from tire or wheel non-uniformity or improper bead seating. Corrected by measuring the amount of tire and wheel runout and replacing the defective component.
• Weight-related Imbalance - This is lateral movement at normal driving speeds commonly characterized as "shimmy" or "shake" resulting from unequal weight on both sides of the tire and wheel circumferential centerline. The wider the tire, the lower the aspect ratio, the more likely this is to occur.(The most obvious indicator is a large amount of weight (comparatively)on one side of the tire, and a small, or no weight on the opposite side).

 

That makes more sense, I guess I'm old fashioned and use weights

 

On these mag wheels they usually put the tape on weights and they always fall off. This takes care of that problem.

 

Had a little time in the garage today. Nearly finished off the wiring harness. Got got the horn working and the brake power assist hooked up.

This is the original horn button. It now works.



There are two horns. One goes on each side of the radiator. One is a high note and one is a low note. Sounds pretty good for a small car.

 

Put the spec/VIN plate back in. Had to relocate it because the old location was cut away during the firewall modifications. This car is now fully registered and insured!

 

Pulled the valve covers off. Still looks good in there.

 

Fun part was getting the finished valve covers on. They look pretty good in there.



One other thing we did was to take off the fuel lines. Found out they were not compatible with fuel. Minor problem. Don't want the garage smelling any more like gas than it already does.




Early on in this build I was going to use finned valve covers but I'm glad I kept the stock covers instead. They go better with the overall theme of the car. I like the clean look with the spark plug wires hidden. A big thank you to Bob Smith for machining the spark plug cover screws for me. One less thing for me to worry about.

 

Great Build thread.
An exposed and semi naked Hemi with the Valve Covers off has to be one of the most iconic "Hot Rod" Engine Pics that can be taken.
Super Cool project you have going on, best of luck with it!

 

Here are a few more engine shots. Not visible in the pictures but the choke cable needed shortening and is now hooked up.



Fuel lines look like a trombone slide.


People are always surprised when they see hemi in this car. Not because it's a hemi but because it doesn't look out of place or too crammed in there. This car is just about 12 feet long but the hemi fits right in.




This is a temp air cleaner. The dropped base will stay on there but the top plate won't be used.

 

Yeah, not a lot of doubt about what it is with those covers off. Forgot that it had adjustable push rods until I looked at the pictures again.

Thanks for the best of luck wishes. We're getting close to firing for the first time. Just need to make the new flexible fuel lines and then fill it with gas, oil, and coolant and turn the key! Hopefully soon. I've said that before but this time it really is close.