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392 Hemi (Old School) Is There Any Market For Them?

I know a guy with 4 of them, two with a single 4 barrel, wants north of 1k each.

20200903_123453.jpg 20200903_195232.jpg
 
$1000 is not unreasonable. And he may still own them 'cause he doesn't advertise !!
 
I've known him 20+ years, bought multiple cars/parts from him, first saw them early this year. I know he has 2 cars with early hemis.
I posted on another forum and the consensus was they were worth it because they appeared complete as one could find, plus a 4 barrel intake.
I don't have any knowledge on what early hemis actually sell for, but he knows his Mopars.

Screenshot_20180223-170838 (1).jpg
 
They are a pretty cool old motor. There’s a guy on Corvette Forums who has a stock 392 in a 65 ( I think from memory) Corvette convertible with a Dana rear. It’s a hot rod but a real conversation piece.
 
polyjohn said:
Next most expensive ”white elephant” is the Poly, a poorman’s hemi.
But if you ain’t mad or loaded, you Is in da Hemi-Boat too lol...

Prepare to be boarded and abused (financially) of course...:thankyou:
Click to expand...
Not sure I agree with the 'white elephant' tag you put on Polys, but I too love mine. Also, wasn't that much more to build a Poly than a 340 or 360. Except, of course for the headers, $900 from TTI, and try to find a nice iron 4 brl intake. The fun part is how they fill up the engine bay and when people say, 'what's that?'
 
Machining a hemi is no more expensive than any other motor. Internals are as reasonably priced as any other Mopar. Where it starts to get expensive is when you need a trans adapter - close to $500., an aluminum intake - $450, an aftermarket timing cover - $200, waterpump adapters - $50, valley cover - $100, valve covers - $600+, headers, oil pump adapter, etc, etc.. Building a stocker ... no problem. Hot rodding one - big bucks !! And a stock iron 4 bbl intake will get you $200 any day of the week. So at $1000 a pop for those motors - a bargain.
 
I've seen them go for $1k to $6k for ready to run 392. They are still desirable because they're so bullet proof, high nickel content block and all forged internals. I'm running a '57 392 Hemi in my '55 Coronet Lancer.
 
You can check hothemiheads.com web site also, they have swap meet section to sell those
engines and also sell parts to rebuild also. I have a G1 392 in me 40 Ford. I'm on the Hamb website also there is interest in gen 1 hemis there also.

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A 392 in the pictured condition that is not stuck should fetch $2000 - $3000, depending on the market area. $1000 is a pipe dream.
 
It's worthless. But I am willing to take it off your hands for free. Just to help you out, you know. LOL.
 
Just a few questions based on things I've heard about early hemis.
I'm thinking I can find online, but this thread exists so why not.

Is the 354 somehow different from the others?
What's up with some have bumps on the valve covers, under the plug covers?
Is there a difference between truck and car engines?
Was there ever an 8 plug head made for these?
 
matthon said:
Is the 354 somehow different from the others?
What's up with some have bumps on the valve covers, under the plug covers?
Is there a difference between truck and car engines?
Was there ever an 8 plug head made for these?
Click to expand...

Chrysler, Dodge and Desoto all made hemis of varying sizes during that time period. Parts are NOT interchangeable between makes.

Some Chrysler parts are interchangeable and some parts are better than others. For example, the 354 heads are the best stock heads. A 331 poly block can be used for a 331 or 354 hemi. Boring this same block to 4.000 allows the use of a standard 392 piston AND will yield a very nice 10.5-1 compression with a 354 crank and rods.

The "bumps" are clearance for adjustable rockers. HOWEVER, do not think that a motor with those valve covers will have adjustable rockers. The "Chrysler Industrial" motors where most of those covers are found did NOT for the most part have adjustable rockers.

Truck and car engines ... go to Hot Heads website and all that info is there.

An 8-plug head - maybe some hardcore racer made a one-off set but I seriously doubt it. If anyone had it would have been Big Daddy !!
 
354 was a short deck version of the 392. Kind of like 383 relationship to a 440. The bumps on the valve covers signified engines with solid lifters. These bumps were for clearance of adjustable rockers. The good ones were from Chrysler 300 letter cars, but most were from truck and industrial engines. Truck and industrial engines would likely have lower compression and tamer camming than a car engine. Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler divisions each had their own versions of Hemis in the '50's. Each version had a short deck and a tall deck variant. There was virtually nothing interchangeable between each make's Hemi. Plymouth never got a Hemi in the '50's.
 
I found that the only thing you really cannot find is a cam, don't mean a high performance cam I mean a cam at all (which I don't think is an issue for a 392). Fortunately I had the stock cam and had it rewelded and cut into a performance cam. Everything else I could find, new pistons (was bored .030 over), rings, bearings, etc.
 
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