Hi Hambers, It sure would be awesome if the power of the HAMB can reunite the lost parts from this piece of Hemi history. It looks a lot like the one in the old pic with the model riding the transmission, except it is a Chrysler Firepower, not DeSoto Firedome. I picked up this cut away early 331 Hemi off of Ebay about 10+ years ago or so. The seller also had the transmission, which he sold to someone else, but would not tell me who. I don't know what happened to the heads or manifolds or carb. Does anyone have any leads as to anyone who might have some of the pieces? Thanks, Joel
I google imaged Hemi cut-away and a few existing examples displayed, maybe a possibility that someone has old damaged parts that could be modified to replicate your missing components? The YouTube video shows possibly that engine turning over? https://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/video-introducing-the-1952-desoto-firedome-hemi-v8/ The 1952 DeSoto FireDome V8 display at the '52 Pan Pacific Auto Show in Los Angeles Best photos I could locate on the interweb of the one you posted. ...The iconic Chrysler “Firepower” Hemi V8 came out for the 1951 model year and was a sensation, beating the overhead valve Cadillac V8 by 20 horsepower and powering the Hemi equipped Chryslers to Caddy beating 0-60 times too. In one fantastic technical innovation Chrysler moved ahead of rivals Lincoln and Cadillac, and kicked off the horsepower wars that lasted for over 20 years on street and track! By 1953 Chrysler had introduced Hemi power to the DeSoto and Dodge lines as well. In 1952 DeSoto got the 276 Firedome Hemi V8, and in 1953 Dodge rolled out the 241 Red Ram Hemi V8 for its top of the line Royal models. The senior Chrysler and Imperial cars used the first generation 331 Hemi until 1955. For 1956 the 354 Firepower Hemi was rolled out, and finally in 1957 came the “raised deck” 392 Hemi for Chrysler New Yorker and Imperial. Desoto ran with the 276 Firedome Hemi V8 from 1952 to 1954, then upped the ante to 291 cubes in 1955, then 330, in 1956, 341 in 1957 (and the high performance Adventurer for 1956) and the ultimate iteration of the DeSoto Hemi, the 345 cube Firedome V8 for the 1957 Adventurer. Dodge rolled from the little 241 Red Ram Hemi power plant in 1953, to the 270 for 1955 and 1956 with the high performance Super Red Ram an option. After that it was Poly head engines for Dodge. Plymouth had to wait until 1955 for V8 power, and even then it was a Poly head engine. When Plymouth finally did get a Hemi it was the ground shaking 426 Street Hemi in the early 60’s....
I went to H.V.C.C. in the late 80's and in the automotive shop they had a cutaway of a 348 ci Chevy Motor , A lot of the parts were chromed and everything was smoothed and painted inside and out .
Joel, I put a post on the Forward Look facebook page for you. Hopefully some of the parts turn up. But if they don't, I think it may be easier to just get a bandsaw after a bunch of early Hemi castoff parts and finish it off yourself. Stock '51-53 stuff isn't too hard to find and usually priced better than the "more desirable" 354/392 parts.
Yep, roller lifters. And a hollow exhaust valve - sodium cooled? Looking closer it seems the entire valve train is non-original. Not a stock engine.
thanks for all the help! At this point I would rather spend the time to try and find the original pieces than to machine new ones. Just for historical purposes. Especially knowing that the transmission is out there somewhere.
Would the transmission have had an electric motor mounted internally to turn the drive stuff on the back of the crank?
This one is not a factory cutaway. Maybe it was, and was extensively modified later. Here is another couple pics of the same cut away Hemi.
Contact a guy named Mike Andreziak at Chrysler Historical. Tell him that Dan from the motor room sent you. He may be able to help you.
And forged steel cranks, hardened exhaust valve seat inserts, full pressure oiling system, hi-tech intake manifold design. To say the early hemi was ahead of its time is a monumental understatement.
From what I see/hear, although the many forums that exist for us car junkies seem known, I have never met anyone that could list more than a handful and they are never the same list. There may well be someone with the parts/pieces that simply does not know what they have or where to post such info. The Hamb is a great place to be but not the only place. Perhaps someone would start a thread for the sole purpose of collecting a more comprehensive list. Keep up the search.
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