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568 Views 4 Replies 2 Participants Last post by pontiac owner, Jan 10, 2005

pontiac owner

Discussion Starter · Jan 10, 2005

I'm 60 years old. My first show car was a 37 Ford slant back 2 door I got when I was 14. My mom made the interior out some velvet looking bed spreads, and I bondoed the fenders on while filling the seams and dents. I shaved the door handles, and used a wire sticking out the hole in the floor to get the door open, should it shut with the windows up. Later, an older guy in the car club showed me how to use a choke cable and a radio antenna to operate the doors. I painted it prime with spray cans. Having a "show-car" covered the fact that I had to transport dates on the bus because I wasn't actually old enough to drive.
I have gravitated to more stock driver quality cars. I joined this site because hot rodders generally do their own work, and know how to solve problems that restorers tend to either ignore, or break out the check book. Also, rodders tend to appreciate each other's project, rather than want to find something wrong with it.
I was also sort of looking for a market for a couple 331 Hemi's I have, and the bodies they are mounted in.

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[email protected]

· #2 · Jan 10, 2005

Great to have you here. Your projects sound like mine - lots of DIY and backyard engineering and doing stuff that 'can't be done' 'cause we aren't smart enough to listen to people who tell us that! Are the 331s long or short bell housing ones? I'm in the market for a long bell housing core to back up the one in my Willys, but you are just a little too far away too afford the shipping cost!!

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pontiac owner

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 10, 2005

How do I tell the difference between the long bell and the short bell? Both are from 1953 New Yorkers. One is still in the car. The other is out of the car, but I'd sure like to include with the body I got it for--a 53 New Yorker 8 passenger Sedan.
Yes, Bakersfield is a bit of a trip, isn't it.

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[email protected]

· #4 · Jan 10, 2005

Those are both long bell housing 331s. They have a ~10" extension cast on the back of the block. From '54 on, they had a conventional flat back of the block like a SBC so it is easier to adapt a modern automatic tranny. They make adapters for the earlier hemis but it requires milling off the bell housing of the auto tranny. No problem but it does make them a little less desirable than the later model hemis.

See this;

Bummer - that is exactly the engine I need!

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pontiac owner

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 10, 2005

331 Hemi

Let's brainstorm a little, and see if we can solve both our situations. It cost me $500 to get the complete car with one of them in it shipped here from California. Off the top of your head, do you know what a complete 331 weighs? The one that is out of the car has 64,000 miles on it according to the dash board I took from the same car. Everything is there except the starter got broken.

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