Hemi guru's help please

i have a chance to pic this hemi up and by the #'s i ve checked it is a 1954 New Yorker 331 4bbl 235 hp. but then i seen somewhere that in 1954 they still had the bell housing attatched?? so im confused unless its a early 1955 model or something? it belongs to my soon to be brother-in-laws , father-in-law so what the hell is it worth?? i dont want to screw him over but then i dont want to get bent over too if its totally junk.. any help would be appreciated

 

Get it, It aint Junk

 

54 is when they switched. 51-53 was the extended I believe.

I suspect the motor is junk being stored like that, but you won't know till the heads come off. It's sure to be filled with water and mud.

 

Obviously, there is no bell, so don't worry about it - it's a '54 as the #'s indicate.
As far as worth 3-500$ from the pictures.

 

its only been outside for a little bit and it was rapped really well in plastic for i dont no how long so we will see thanks guys..

 

check for rust (pull the heads and the pan), but yeah, 54 was the first year of the short bellhousing..

 

Get It ! 54 was a transition year , short bell , thermostat housing and water p***ages through the intake as the early 51-53 p***. No ugly water p***ages at the front and rear of the heads , oval port exhaust , decent intake ports .

 

According to the ID section on Hotheads it is a 54 331 235 hp 4bbl chrysler. The bellhousing changed mid 54 so it is a later 54 build. It is also the only 4bbl of 54 for the chrysler so it is the best of the 54 engines. Get it!

 

Chr. intended to use the short tail 4 bl on the high end cars & the long tail 2bl on the low end cars in '54, but there don't seem to be many 54 long tails.