1957-58, 392 hemi in a 1970 barracuda ?

[bad fish]

i was just wondering if this has been done , i know the 426 is the preferred motor of Cuda and Mopar muscle car in general, and the older 57-58 392 more often seen in hot rod cars of days past, but i happen to have a couple of these, instead of buying a 383 or 440 and yes i know the 392 is a small block, just wanted to hear from e-body guys on what they think , and yes i know in the end its what i want to do with my car is up to me, also if its been done what issues are foreseen will it fit without doing full on surgery so to speak. thanks for any constructive in put. oh ya, yep I'm a newbie, be gentle hehehehehe.

 

[moparleo]

There has been recent resurgence in hot rodder's and nostalgia guys looking for 392's so it would be a good time to maybe sell them and use the money to buy something more modern that would have many more parts available.
The 392 complete weighs 750 lbs. You will have to fabricate almost anything you need to make everything work in your car. You will need a crankshaft to torque convertor conversion kit to run a modern torque flite or any other since in 1957-58 the torque convertor bolted directly to the crankshaft, no flex plates back then. and on.....
They make about the same horsepower as a 340.

 

[bad fish]

i some what agree , and the 727 trans bolt up using a adapter plate i have that part and 727 trans , seeing i used it in my 33 Plymouth 5 window. motor mounts would be an issue for sure and a new drive shaft for sure. but still wondering if it has been done that's all, thanks for the input

 

[Cuda Hunter]

I've seen one picture of an ebody with an old hemi in it. Can't find it.
So it has been done. But I have no info to help you with other than that.
If you have the parts already, I'd say go for it.
Please make a thread about it so that we can enjoy and try to help and learn during the journey.

Can't wait to see a thread on details of your 70BH.

 

[rklein71]

An A-body Barracuda, even smaller engine compartment. 354 Hemi-powered 1967 Plymouth Barracuda

 

[bad fish]

rklein71 thank you for the attachment, love the look, and the info for sure, i know it will be easier to do e-body motors or say Mopar motor but just need to be convinced of that seeing i have most of old school stuff from my hot rod days

 

[rklein71]

I think I would do a new hemi and make it look old school if you want that look.

 

[heminut]

Yes! I have done it and it's not that hard to do if you really want to do it. It's an impressive thing to see when you open the hood, especially if you have a dual 4bbl setup! I'll tell you straight up, you cannot run power steering, those engines are so wide you don't have room for the bigger power steering gearbox. Headers are also an issue, there aren't any made that will work! I modified a set of shorty headers to work but it wasn't the best solution. Chrysler had some cast iron exhaust manifolds that flowed really well and would work great, and last I knew they were being repopped. If I were doing it again that's what I would use instead of trying to make a set of shorty headers work.

The thing is, those engines weighed well over 700 lbs., at least 200 lbs. more than a Gen III Hemi. If you look at my avatar, you'll see that my Cuda now has a Gen III Hemi in it and my 392 is now residing in a friend's 35 Dodge sedan street rod! Like someone else said, those 392 Chrysler Hemis are in high demand among the right people as they were only made two years and are quite hard to come by. You would be best served selling the 392 and using the money to buy a Gen III Hemi, and I'm sure you could easily make enough on the 392 to pick up a nice Gen III.

If I haven't managed to talk you out of that swap, feel free to PM me and I will go over everything that it takes to put one in a 70 Cuda. I used to have an article online detailing the whole swap, but it's been years since it was published and I'm not sure it's even still out there on the 'net. Found it, it's still there!

Mopar's Infamous Hemi - Hemi Tips and Tricks

Tribute to Chrysler's Hemi V8 Engine

www.thehemi.com

I will also tell you what it took to put the 5.7 Hemi in it too, which I did before there was a lot of aftermarket support.

 

[bad fish]

holy cow that was awesome, thank you Heminut for all of your info, not sure i like all the answers but i needed to hear it from all of the above mopar fans, i think for now im gonna shelf my idea , more then likely for the greater of the past sell my 2-392 hemi and let the hot rod side of mopar fans enjoy them, i appreciate everyone's input thank you, back to the drawing board, until next idea thank you ALL !!!!!

 

[heminut]

. You will need a crankshaft to torque convertor conversion kit to run a modern torque flite or any other since in 1957-58 the torque convertor bolted directly to the crankshaft, no flex plates back then. and on.....
They make about the same horsepower as a 340.

The 392 crank flange holes can be threaded with a tap (no drilling necessary) and a 426 flexplate or flywheel (130 tooth needed) will bolt right up to the flange. The flange offset requires that you use a 1" spacer between the back of the block and the transmission, which is available aftermarket. That is all that is needed to bolt up a small block torqueflyte or manual trans bellhousing.

As for HP and torque, that is all dependent on you engine build. My 392 definitely made more power than the 340 I had in my first Cuda and the both had about the same compression ratios and cams. The thing about these old 392's is that they are literally torque monsters! The torque my 392 had was WAY more than the 340 was! The 392's were a long stroke engine, which made for lots of torque, and the optimum shiftpoint on mine (ascertained by many dragstrip passes) was right around 6200 RPM. They were not a high RPM motor.

 

[bad fish]

The 392 crank flange holes can be threaded with a tap (no drilling necessary) and a 426 flexplate or flywheel (130 tooth needed) will bolt right up to the flange. The flange offset requires that you use a 1" spacer between the back of the block and the transmission, which is available aftermarket. That is all that is needed to bolt up a small block torqueflyte or manual trans bellhousing.

As for HP and torque, that is all dependent on you engine build. My 392 definitely made more power than the 340 I had in my first Cuda and the both had about the same compression ratios and cams. The thing about these old 392's is that they are literally torque monsters! The torque my 392 had was WAY more than the 340 was! The 392's were a long stroke engine, which made for lots of torque, and the optimum shiftpoint on mine (ascertained by many dragstrip passes) was right around 6200 RPM. They were not a high RPM motor.

thank you for that info , that looks like the easy part of the swap, as mention in other post no power steering, header issues, and I'm sure more that i haven't looked into as of yet, but thank you for your comments and info i do appreciate them.

 

[bird]

i was just wondering if this has been done , i know the 426 is the preferred motor of Cuda and Mopar muscle car in general, and the older 57-58 392 more often seen in hot rod cars of days past, but i happen to have a couple of these, instead of buying a 383 or 440 and yes i know the 392 is a small block, just wanted to hear from e-body guys on what they think , and yes i know in the end its what i want to do with my car is up to me, also if its been done what issues are foreseen will it fit without doing full on surgery so to speak. thanks for any constructive in put. oh ya, yep I'm a newbie, be gentle hehehehehe.

Why not! nothing says Hemi more than an old gen I hemi saying chrysler fire power on the valve covers. outstanding. top it off with dual quads and cal custom 40/40 scoops. bird

 

[mayhem]

Headers are a relatively simple fix too. Years ago I got a set of 392 header flanges from Dale Wilch (RIP) and a set of 351C long tube headers. I whacked the flanges off the headers & welded the 392 flanges to the 351C headers. Worked like a charm.

 

[heminut]

Headers are a relatively simple fix too. Years ago I got a set of 392 header flanges from Dale Wilch (RIP) and a set of 351C long tube headers. I whacked the flanges off the headers & welded the 392 flanges to the 351C headers. Worked like a charm.

I'd like to see pictures of that! With all due respect, having dealt with this swap I have to say I'm somewhat skeptical.

 

[mayhem]

I'd like to see pictures of that! With all due respect, having dealt with this swap I have to say I'm somewhat skeptical.

Hello 'Nut, I'll see if I can find some & post them for everyone. BTW, one step not mentioned was the need to rotate the 351 "D" shapped primary port to align with the 392 flanges.

 

[57fury440]

I would do it if you already had the engine. I have owned an E body since 1972 and have put engines in a bunch of them since. Small block E bodies ride a lot nicer than Big Blocks in my opinion. However, the extra weight of the 392 is not that much more than a 383/440 unless you spend lots of money on aluminum parts.

 

[mayhem]

After an extensive search of the shop, man cave & attic, I can not locate any pics of the 392 w/351C headers. It is entirely possible they went to the new owner when I sold the car. Best I could do was find a handwritten reference to page 28 of the July 1991 edition of HP Mopar. Hopefully someone out there has a library of old mags & can tell us exactly what it says.