The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Small Hemi engine

Has anyone ever thought of replacing the 235 engine with a 276 Hemi (Desoto )engine and 2 speed fireflite trans. in an AD truck. I have two hemis. 276 and a 354. Both are lighter than the 235. Haven't done it yet but it is kinda kicking around in my head. Also have a late model 1990 350 chevy, a 235 1956, and the original 216 for my 1949. Just a thought for discussing. Thanks, Steven

If it fits it ships. The 276 was that the Desoto hemi? Or maybe later it was used in the Dodge cars.
John

I had a 55 Dodge Royal Lancer with the little hemi- - - -nice engine! It will be a novelty, for sure, but I think I'd choose a different transmission if possible. The Powerflite shared a common problem with the Chevy Powerglide- - - -two speeds, too low and too high! If you can adapt the small Torqueflite (901?) to the hemi, you'll have 3 speeds and a lot more rugged transmission to boot. I don't think the Powerflite shift quadrant had a Park position, just a transmission mounted drum-type parking brake, IIRC.
Jerry

All engines are built as both hemispherical and polyspheric (except as noted)
DeSoto (no polys): 276, 291, 330, 341, 345
Dodge: 241, 259 (poly only), 270, 315, 325
Chrysler: 301 (poly only), 331, 354, 392 (hemi only)
The only cross-brand exceptions I know of:
Dodge D500 354
DeSoto mid-price used Dodge-based poly motors
1955 Plymouth used Dodge-based poly motors

No, no he wants a M6 transmission behind it.....LOL

John

Yep, the old jerk-o-matic!
Jerry

We should probably ignore posts co-authored by Jack Daniel, Jim Beam, Johnnie Walker, and Jose' Cuervo!

Probably ignore this,
Blown 354 with a 901 trans. Why settle for vanilla when rocky road is an option?

Maybe a Plymouth Hy-Drive.....

[/quote]Maybe a Plymouth Hy-Drive..... [/quote]

We're speaking a foreign language these Chevy-holics don't understand. I drove a 51 Chrysler 5-window coupe with an M-6 transmission most of my senior year of high school.

Jerry

When I read M6 I thought the conversation switched to using Military Tank parts. Probably more reliable than the Chrysler stuff

If we are speaking military... let's mount the M-2 on the M-3 and have some fun!

Maybe a Plymouth Hy-Drive..... [/quote]

We're speaking a foreign language these Chevy-holics don't understand. I drove a 51 Chrysler 5-window coupe with an M-6 transmission most of my senior year of high school.

Jerry
[/quote]


Jerry, do you remember the Supermatic, I believe it was called. The first Chrysler semi automatic transmission. It was a three speed with overdrive and the 1st gear removed. 2nd and 3rd was your ranges and the overdrive was the automatic shift of it.....Fluid coupling/clutch in front of it all.

Then there was a short lived one Lincoln used before the war call a Liquidmatic.

John

There were several variations of the semi-auto used by Chrysler Corp. over about 15 years, late 1930's to mid 1950's. At least one was a vacuum-shifted type, and several names were used for the one with two forward shifter positions, one reverse, and an electric upshift for a total of 4 forward ratios. Dodge called it Gyro-matic, Chrysler called it M-6, and I believe DeSoto called the same setup a "Tip-toe-Matic". All of them had an independent fluid drive bolted to the crankshaft with a manual clutch between the fluid coupling and the transmission. I believe the first full-auto trans was the 2-speed Powerflite in 1955, followed by the cast iron Torqueflite 3 speed a year or two later.
Jerry

I think the last improvement of it was the replacement of the fluid coupling with a torque convertor. Can't remember what the name was they called it in the Dodge pickup trucks......

John

I thought this would be a good topic for discussion. Keep it going. Steven

Maybe we should have a forum for old Dodge trucks??

John

A Dodge motor might give that beautiful AD of yours some mighty awful indigestion.

Figuratively speaking.

Brad

I've got a lot of thinking to do but I have the engine on the stand. Doing some clean-up before taking it to the shop to vat it out and check for cracks. I think, if everything is OK, that I'll build it anyway,run it on the stand and then think some more. This might be to much for my 63 year old brain!

Back in the late 1950's when the round track racers started getting away from flathead Ford V8's, it was amazing what a MOPAR hemi would do for a 34 Ford 3-window coupe!

If you get a chance to see "Thunder Road" with Robert Mitchum, check out the hemi in his 1950 Ford whiskey runner.
Jerry

Best tranny Chrysler ever made was the 'Turbo Entabulator'.

Hey, speaking of Thunder Road, the grocery store scene where the FBI agent gets killed, belonged to one of my relatives in Asheville, NC.

I don't know if they solved that problem later on or not. But dad had a '52 Desoto with the hemi V-8. Trouble was the lifters would float at high rpm......

John

Hello "Hot Rod" good to hear from you. I haven't seen the show but will look for it. The old Hemi's like my 276cid weren't that big but boy do they look big. If I have something wrong with this Hemi I have a 354 to fall back on. Very little difference in the weight and still lighter than the 235.

I've got a few hemi's laying around the shop and I find it hard to believe they weigh less than a 235 6cyl. They are stupid heavy.

depending on what site you look at the 276 Hemi is one pound lighter than the 235. Other places have it even lighter. Even it is just one pound lighter it is still lighter. The 354 is about 720# with the poly being 691 to 700#. The weight on the 276 is 629#. When you think about it the block on the Hemi is not that big, it's the giant heads that make it heavy. Good set of aluminum heads and you would go under the 235 quite a bit. Hope this helps.