jamesd1502, I will be listing in the classifieds for sale everything you need to put a T5 on your baby hemi, bell housing, flywheel, custom pilot bearing, new pressure plate, new 10 3/8" clutch disk AND S10 T5 tranny. All for $800 + shipping if interested. If you go with the SBC I have a complete package T10 4 speed also. Also have a ready to run custom SBC 3X2 Tripower set up (in the classifieds) if there is any interest.Would be interested in buying the 241 cash or trades or? PM me if interested!
Similar in power and performance in spite of the difference in displacement. Slight edge to the hemi in gas mileage. Slight edge in weight to the Chev. I would run the hemi. In a light car it would have all the power you need and the cool factor can't be denied.
241's are expensive but you cant go wrong. Make sure you get a good machinist for the block prep. I have a Wilcap adapter for my 4 speed Muncie. works well.
I have 3 complete running original engines. Guess which one is going in my A coupe. 1: 1965 Vette 300 hp 327 2: 1956 Chrysler 354 Hemi 3: 1962 Buick Nailhead Easy choice for me, it's the Hemi. Yes, the adapter was $700 plus but it will be worth it when I'm finished.
The baby hemi is way cooler and is distinctly period, no cofusion with later engines, especially with the Red Ram logo on the valve covers. Lot's of good aftermarket stuff available. I'm putting a '53 Red Ram in my '53 Woodill Wildfire project. I am using a Wilkap adapter and a '87 Z-28 T5 5 spped.
Hnstray, as an official SBC zealot, I believe we should extend an exemption to James and allow him to run the Hemi. Now, back to world domination.
SBC are great engines….as a matter of fact..I just picked up a 59 283 for 300 bucks.Carb to Pan… I like them looking in an factory external look.The Baby Hemi Dodge will cost more to build…. but again.a great dependable engine.A lot of people think every early hemi is a 392….. hahahah
Just want to clarify something. I have never posted any disparaging remarks about Chevy engines.....of any type. But, the source of my 'annoyance' is the frequent single mindedness of SBC devotees. The fanboys imply, if not outright say, that ANY other choice is nuts! I fully understand all the merits of SBC's.....not quarreling with that. But, sheesh.....there are other considerations, not the least of which is simply preferring the esthetics and engineering or just the nostalgic value of some period engines. I have in my "arsenal" ......several Dodge and Chrysler hemis, one poly....A couple of SBF's...Buick straight 8's.....Buick V8's...Studebaker V8's.....a 250 Chevy 6 and a few Toyota inlines (4 & 6). I have had GMC 6 and Ford 300 6 and several flathead Ford/Mercs. Oh, yes, I have owned and driven several SBC powered cars, stockers and a couple of hot rods.....but that was all decades ago. Call me 'ecumenical' ..... Ray
I have a Desoto Hemi,a Ford 428 FE, a 4v 351C, several B and RB mopars, an Olds rocket, a couple ford sb windsors, and a few sbc's. Any choice other than a SBC (or Gen III) IS nuts... Not gonna comment about what that makes me... Why anyone would be at all concerned with impressing someone that cant tell a 265 from a 350 at a quick glance is beyond me, seems one step away from worrying about impressing soccer moms in Escalades, but whatever...But it sure seems to be a big concern with most HAMBers. Since you already have an intake, I would build the Red Ram.
Intake on the Red Ram is 'most of it'. Intakes on DeSotos (2bbls) have a LARGE flat carb flange that was a single casting for 2bbl OR 4bbl carb. Factory machined the manifold either way, so the 2 bbl intake, while cast iron, can STILL be machined for a 4bbl carb. (after doing that, use a 'Speed Pro' or Offy 'Y' adaptor for two 97s! Or run a single 4 bbl)
Well, and the PRICE of vintage aftermarket red ram intakes lately??!! Damn, its getting to the point where you could rebuild a 265 for what a hot rod Red Ram intake costs you!
My last quote for one of the new Offy intakes was only about $350 for the 3x2. That's not so bad...is it? Yeah, it is 'new' but looks much like the old-timey stuff. Maybe dmarv can offer an up-to-date price schedule. .
No its not, it has been a while since they did a run, I wasnt aware they had made some more, but then I dont need a Red Ram intake, so I am not watching that close. I honestly have no problem with parts that are still in production, like offy, except when guys on ebay advertise them as "NOS".
Sorry, there is NO way to machine a low deck Desoto 2bbl intake to a 4bbl. without hitting open air. The 2bbl and 4bbl intakes are completely different castings. Trust me, I have tried.
Red Ram 241 with SBC short water pump hooked to S-10 T5. Able to squeeze it in without cutting firewall.
Offy intakes, wether they are NOS, made fourty years ago of came out of the shop yesterday are in most cases cast with the same patterns, machined on on the same machines, using the same fixtures. Maybe new drill bushings.
Love the Dodge "Baby Hemi" in either 240 or a 270 like this one! Go with a 3x2's set up progressive and you can cruise at 60 -70 mph on the single carb, get excellent gas mileage and still have more power than you deserve!! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/a-bootleggers-morning.993897/#post-11196844 32 Spitfire High Noon Speed Shop
I vote for the Hemi! I found this one on CL for $400, very complete but stuck. But with a few parts from 73RR (thanks Gary!) I got it running good on this stand. If not in a Hot Rod they make great garage art! I start it once in a while for kicks.
Was thinking about all the crabbing about the hemi being expensive to build and hard to get parts for and it occurred to me that if someone came out with hemi heads for the Chev small block, the Chevy fanbois would think they were the greatest thing in the world no matter how much they cost or how hard to get parts for.
someone did. A long time ago...And I wouldn't swap my AFR's for them on a bet... Oh, and lest they forget, yes, I also own a hemi...
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