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Early 276 Hemi
I have a chance to buy an early DeSoto 276 Hemei that has only 12,000 miles on it. It' been stored for 35 years and I pulled the valve covers and heads and the cylinders look good, very little rust and after new gas and oil and filters it started right up with the carb needing a rebuilt . My question is this a good engine to built on. I was thinking of a .060 overbore with better high compression heads and a mild cam along with a dual plane intake and a 600 cfm carb. Stock HP was 160 amd compression was 7.1 to 1. I would like to get around 230 HP and a better compression of 8.5.. I'm not worry about the $$, but dont' know much about these early Hemi. Are modern valve train available for this engine?
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I don't know much about them, either but they sure look cool with those monster heads. If it's for speed I would think low cubic inches and basic 1950's engine design limitations and weight would play against you. Depends on what you're planning on doing with it, showing or racing.
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Of all the hemis, Desotos are the rarest, and hardest to find speed equipment for, simply because of the limited numbers compared to Chrysler or Dodge hemis. That being said, my Son Don bought a 291 Desoto that is waiting in the wings to be built for his 30 Tudor project. When I was researching it for him I called Hot Heads to ask if it was a good engine and the guy said "There are no bad hemis, they can all be built to be great motors."
You mentioned in your post that you don't mind spending the money to do it, and that is what it takes to do a hemi.........everything is costly for them, but the end result is well worth the "wow, it's got a hemi in it" factor. Gastrick on here pulled the sbc in his 32 and put a hemi in it, and IMO it changed the complexion of the entire car. It was always cool, but just cooler now.
Don
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That's what I've been thinking of. I'm not going to race it not with 230 HP or so engine, just want to drive it and show it at different shows. Probably if I buy it I will put it in a 37 ford coupe that my buddy been begging me to buy.:)
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alot of the top end parts can be re built rocker arms re arc rebuilt .valve spring push rods .better valve seal and valve s will not be hard to get .the lifters can be re built and cam re gound . this may be a better way to go as the lifters and cam metal makup up is better then the china stuff . pistons can be made if you want a forged piston thru many .JE .Ross . many others bearings may be hard to get .but they make bearing for 36 caddys and i did not think that was going to be EZ it was not to bad .
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the early hemi will give you an under hood bonasza that is unable to get with anything else , even the 350/350 guys jaws will drop
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These make pretty good little engines. I installed a 330 Inch Desoto in my 49 F-1 and I really like the motor. Speed equipment is really tuff to find. you mention "higher Compression heads" well there arn't any of those. You are stuck with the stock heads and doing work to them, but that shouldn't be a problem getting some decent compression out of. Pistons will do the compression thing, and Egge as well as Hot Heads is a real help there. The valve train is NON adjustable on all Desoto's, now with that said there is a conversion set-up to convert to adjustable rockers, not cheap but it can be done. Nobody has made a Cam Blank for years for these motors, once again Hot Heads has the answer as they can have your Cam reground anywhere from mild to wild.
The simple things can and are a problem for these Hemi's from Desoto. Stuff like water pumps, oild pumps u know the simple stuff. Is no longer being made and even a rebuilt water pump, finding one is a nightmare. There is however a conversion to run a Small Block Chevy water pump on the Desoto motor's. You will need to replace the timing cover to do this and that means your "Stock" cam will have to be modified to fit under the cover. That also can be done at the same time you have the cam reground. The oil pump issue has also been addressed and there is a pretty simple deal to convert the stock and no longer available oil pump over to a Small Block Mopar oil pump.
It all can be done tranny adapters are out there as well to run just about any modern tranny you would want. It's just expensive to do. Parts are the problem there out there but you are going to pay. It is going to cost somewhere around 4 or maybe 5 times as much to build a early Desoto Hemi as it would to build a nice SBC. Is it worth it? Yea to me it was, nothing like a Hemi!!
RS
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yep the last nail head i did i had sent the cam into ERSON for a regind and use adjustable push rods .after cutting the heads regrinding the cam valve job re face the lifters moves stuff abit nice to have them .crower . trend . smith . and others i think can help with the push rods . this really is not much diferent then building a big stoker engine alot of parts are custom but its fun to make things work
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Hombre, Pat, thanks for the info. Never thought about not having anyone to buy newer heads from but I can redo the stock. The water pump is not big deal as I have the means to get one. The cam to save money will be recut. Yeh it's going to take money and I might just run it stock for awhile after I get the cylinders honed. never had a hemei but always wanted one, that and a 409:)
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Yep as pops said I have a 55 291 Desoto hemi I am saving for something cool. It wont be a 500 HP motor when Im done with it but it sure will impress at the local cruise in :)
These engine are expensive to build but fairly bulletproof and reliable when done. dad keeps reminding me that these engines and cars were cross country machines much like a Ford Focus back in their day. Build them right and there will be no problems. See the Hot Heads web site.
Don Jr.:)
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Neat! What did you end up doing?
Just for the record for others, for just showing and cruising on this rare and engine... I believe I'd be tempted to pretty much leave the internals stock... sure a little carb or maybe a little paxton to gain a few hp... but a 12k original IS SOMETHING in and by itself! Heck, if it were me, I think I'd clean it up and give it factory original paint sceem with the 160 hp and brag on its originality... it will still cruise down the interstate just fine... even in TX or Montana. Those old gals cruised just fine in their day with double the weight of a normal rod of today. It'll likely get 20 mpg too. With only 12k there is no taper to speak of... re hone and ring it if needed... but I'd be real leery of boring it any more than the tiny amount of taper it will have. Who knows? In 40 years it may need that metal... and there are very very few still around.
On that engine, I'd even tighten the oil change interval to 1500 miles (or less even, its the dirt in the oil that wears them) to help preserve it.
Dave
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Saw your reply and scratched my head. Had to look back a few years as I had this in 2012. Keep it stock and traded it for a 409/409. Since then I bought a 331 Hemi.
