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Sounds great! Looks great! Still wish you had done the 3 two's though!
Just jerkin' your chain.
I have a question for you since you are a Hemi guy. I used to know where a 392 was that had been disassembled. The guy lost the main caps and the rod caps. As far as I could determine, it had a standard bore, but the block was covered with surface rust. Had a 4 barrel intake and a set of Firepower valve covers. Would this be worth fooling with? It was all in a shed that was falling down around it the last time I saw it and under a hill. it would be a chore to retrieve, but I could probably get it for hauling it off. It's been at least 5 years since I was there and it may be gone. Oh, it had a new set of Jahn's (sp?) pistons, too.
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“……..Still wish you had done the 3 two's though!.......”
I hear you Mike. After all these years with the other HEMIs this thing just doesn’t look quite right with just one carb, hence the biggest air cleaner I could find to hide that fact. :3dSMILE:
As far as the 392 the best answer I can give you it “it depends”.
The 392s are about the “Holy Grail” as far as the first Gen HEMIs go, they were only produced in 57 and 58 for passenger cars (and a few for marine applications) but they are out there.
The rust really wouldn’t bother me too much.....you saw what I started with on this engine. It’s probably buildable but it wouldn’t be cheap. 4 bolt main caps are available for about $850 a set, aftermarket rods are available for about $700 a set. Not too bad if you’re planning on building an all out race type motor but it starts to add up if you just want a street cruiser. Then there is all the other things you would need. Flat tappet cams are going for around $500 and look in the $12-1500 range for a roller setup. Gasket sets are about $200, valves are a little over $200 for intakes and exhaust, etc etc. Machine shop work will depend on the shop but will be about the same for similar operations on any other engine. Any neat intake will run in the $500 and way up range. Basically I could see this easily being a build in the $10K range. Not all that bad if you want an all out nostalgia race motor but a bit on the pricy side for just a cruiser.
Another option would be to gather everything up, clean it up as best you can, maybe have the block magnafluxed and throw it on craigslist. From what you describe you probably have $800-1000 worth of parts.
The last thing I can think of is to gather everything up, clean it up and paint it, build a plexiglass box around it and use it as a coffee table. Don’t laugh at one point I was going to do that with a display motor I had……that I eventually traded and the new owner built.
Anyway just my 2 cents.
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Thanks for the info. I'll contact the guy when I get through with the Healey.
The 10K figure was one I had guessed which was one reason I had not collected it when I first found it. It would make for very interesting shop art even it was just stuck together and sitting on a stand. Would definitely be a conversation starter!
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“…….It would make for very interesting shop art even it was just stuck together and sitting on a stand. Would definitely be a conversation starter!.....”
Oh Yeah. Up until I traded it I had an old 331 I did that with. Cleaned up the outside and painted it, put a junk crank in it so I could add pulleys etc. It also came in handy as a mock-up motor for both the 57 Plymouth and the 37 Dodge.
The only thing I would caution you on is not to set it too close to the Healey and then sit there some evening looking at both of them while downing a couple of adult beverages.
Here’s a cautionary tale for you if you want to waste 5 minutes of your life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw6A0luYMdg
It’s a disease I tell ya. :LOL:
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It sounds super nice Mike! Your build didn't take that long. Beat mine running. Haha
