Trying to help out a buddy on this one. He & his father purchased a vintage Hemi years ago that was disassembled with a freshly machined block & heads, refurbished rods & all new internals. It was supplied with gaskets & went together just as it should & ran great for years. It was time for freshen-up because they wanted to add a blower. It's going back together & he is struggling with finding the correct head gaskets. Checking casting numbers it turns out that the block is a 57 industrial motor (which is what they were told by the guy they bought it from) but the heads are 55-56 331. Using a 331 head gasket the pushrods will not pass through the pushrod holes in the gaskets & using the 354 head gasket some coolant passages are blocked. Now this engine went to together & ran great but we can not figure out this head gasket issue. Anyone able to shed some light on what gaskets to use or something he may be doing incorrectly?
There are a large number of small variations in early hemis. Some have the oil bypass in the rear main bearing, some in the oil filter can. Truck heads use hot water manifold heat crossovers in the intake manifold, passenger cars use exhaust. Heads are interchangeable on all Chrysler engines, camshafts are not. Trucks have large sodium filled exhaust valve stems, cars didn't. Most heads have hardened exhaust valve seat inserts, some don't. I just built an engine with exhaust valves that have different keepers than the 'standard' stem keeper in most Chrysler hemis. and of course, there are several variations in head gaskets as you found out. Best suggestion is call Hot Heads for a start and try to run down an old hemi expert somewhere.
I'd try @73RR on this forum. He can probably answer your question and most likely will be able to source the proper gaskets.
If he is adding a blower how much boost? Does he plan to O-Ring with Copper Gaskets, MLS, Composite Gasket? If the surface finish is smooth enough (25Ra or less) than a MLS Gasket would be the best move from Cometic. SCE Gaskets also offers a ICS gasket that has a O-Ring sandwiched in a copper gasket. A few ideas at least. The only time I've really seen any issues is when a Windsor (Poly) block was used with Early (1954) 331 heads, a water passage doesn't get covered enough and will leak.
Thanks tubman. First you need to better identify the heads. 1955 331 is a Hemi; 1956 331 is a Poly. Truck and industrial will/can/may be different Which 331 gasket did you try? The 1955 331 head gasket is a one-year only deal due to several factors. Post the block and heads casting numbers and we can sort it out.
I've got an old seized up 58 392 out of a New Yorker and I've never touched anything like a hemi before and I'm getting ready to try to build it and I've been told to talk to Bob Walker at hothemiheads.com and they say he knows it all about the early hemi.
I used a 56 ind 331 with 51 331 heads. Bob at hotheads figured out the gaskets for me. I may have sent him pics of both surfaces. Engine runs great.
Here's the casting numbers. Not sure which brand of gaskets he's tried & unfortunately the gaskets that it was originally assembled & used successfully for the past 6 years were tossed out
It looks like you have some serious c/r. Nice. Your block is indeed a truck casting, 1956-331. The heads are 1957 Industrial, Ind56A More numbers here: Cylinder Heads | Quality Engineered Components The block is typical of the Poly blocks with an elongated pushrod hole and the gaskets most often have accommodations for this. It is unclear as to why the gasket would have interfered with the pushrod. For replacement head gaskets just use the 1956 354 part. Yes, you can use a 392 gasket; it will have a larger bore but all else is the same. Place your new gasket on the head surface and verify that all holes line up. Do the same on the block and also verify that the dowel pin fits the hole. Blocks made after 1955 should have the revised coolant hole at the rear of the deck so not sure which coolant holes you found covered by a 354 gasket...
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