For Sale 1976 Newport 392 Hemi $6500 Cdn

[twostick]

What wasn't mentioned was how they adapted the existing TorqueFlite to the A-block bolt pattern on the rear of the Gen I Hemi? Other related interfaces? (Thinking the A and B/RB pattern is different?)

If it's still got the orig exhaust manifolds, probably not much more power than a 400-4bbl?

Neat that it happened. Just curious "WHY?"

CBODY67

Once you remove the RB 727, an LA 727 should fit just fine.

Kevin

 

[ws23jrt]

A friend of mine swaped a 833 4sp into a 57 new yorker . This was in the early seventies. I recall him saying it was no big deal.

 

[Big_John]

What wasn't mentioned was how they adapted the existing TorqueFlite to the A-block bolt pattern on the rear of the Gen I Hemi? Other related interfaces? (Thinking the A and B/RB pattern is different?)

Once you remove the RB 727, an LA 727 should fit just fine.

IIRC, the bolt pattern is the same as a A motor trans, the issue is the crank flange. The usual route is to use a spacer at the bellhousing and an adapter to mate the flange with a flexplate and newer style torque converter. I looked into it for a '62 Dodge D-100 I had. I had a 392 and the truck.. and no money. I have some valve cover gaskets for one if anyone wants them.

The problem is unless you really work on it, the 392 isn't the performance engine some think it is. A good 383 will smoke it as it sits. While not as pricey as a second gen Hemi, they aren't cheap to build either. One of my friends built a 392 and installed it in a '70 Charger back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth. He's a pretty sharp guy and still one of my good friends, but the only way that car would be fast was if you pushed it off a cliff.

 

[CBODY67]

There's no doubt the first-gen Hemis were outstanding motors, but in stock form, they had "credible power" rather than "outstanding power", by observation. Those wwiiddee valve covers looked impressive, but if you could have seen the exhaust manifolds, they were not similarly impressive, just connecting the exhaust ports to the exhaust pipes. Part of the way things were done back then AND the adaptation of a modern V-8 into a basic chassis designed for straight 6s and 8s. Then, the smaller cfm carburetors of the era came into play, too. IT looked more powerful than it might have been. In some of the old literature of the time, one advantage (according to Chrysler) was that the Hemi didn't accumulate carbon in the combustion chambers as other cars' (usually alluding to the Buick Nailhead V-8) engines did.

Usually, even the most radical cams used back then would have specs that would be mild by modern standards. I'm not sure what the Hot Heads people have available, though.

That first-gen Hemi is an iconic motor, but later wedges (and HEMIs) made more stock horsepower from similar displacements. In the world of drag racing, few other engines could match it, though. Used to be in NHRA that any engine with a "hemi" cylinder head was classified as "Chrysler". The "Donovan Hemi" was related to the first-gen Hemis. The Keith Black is related to the RB HEMI. Interesting stuff!

CBODY67