'50s MOPAR Hemi question

Clarence L.Snyder clare.snyder.on.ca at ibm.net
Mon Apr 5 03:00:47 GMT 1999


> You planning to restore it? That would be a fun project. However a 325 hemi
> was not the most powerful engine of that vintage. That is if the 325 is
> really a hemi! If it is, it is the smallest hemi that I"ve ever heard of!
> <g> Are the spark plugs in the middle of the valve covers, or on the side?
> If not in the middle of the valve covers, then it's not a hemi, if in the
> middle of the valve covers, it's a hemi, but not (most likely) a '325'.
> Maybe a 392, or a 354. 

Obvious you haven't been around Mopar hemis long enough. The first Dodge
Red Ram Hemi was 241 cubes with a 2 barrel carb that looked like it
belonged to a lawn-mower engine (real small bores). What he has is,
undoubtably, a 325 Hemi.

Just a bit of experience from the 241 Red Ram end of things. I owned a
VERY rare '53 Coronet Sierra 2 door Hemi wagon for over 7 years. I wish
I knew where it is now! It was apparently the only such vehicle
registered in Canada - at least in Ontario. It came up from Van Nuys
California to Guelph Ont. in 1961 and stayed with a blown engine. I
bought it in '71 and rebuilt it, then jumped through hoops for several
months to get it registered. Drove it to PEI in '73 - with the factory
overdrive it was good for better than 30 MPG (imperial) and would really
honk, even in the heavy Coronet Wagon body (about equal to a 327 Chevy
II) It was .060 over with a "semi-grind" cam - lumpy, but it would still
idle at 650. Heavy was hardly the word to describe the engine (it was
extremely heavy)- but nor was slow!! 18 hours Kitchener to Murray
Harbour, including rest stops and ferry crossing.



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