Thread: Hemi in my '32 needs firewall moved back! :(

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Yep, I put my mock up 392 hemi motor in my '32 tonight & was all excited at first. The steering cleared! But then upon measuring for the front blower pulley clearance I see that the pully hits the crossmember. So the motor will have to go back 2 1/4"! And then, of course, the steering hits! But so be it, I'll just have to deal with whatever comes my way! So motor back & steering re-routed a bit.... Bill

I can't remember what you pulled out, but here is a good example of why the SBC (or almost anything else ) is so much easier to do than one of these old monsters.

Both the SBC and the Hemi are on the same stand, bith have stick bellhousings and are set back in the stand at the same distance. The fan setup is is the same on both.

After looking at both and especially listening to both no matter the extra work, it's worth it

Originally Posted by billlsbird

Yep, I put my mock up 392 hemi motor in my '32 tonight & was all excited at first. The steering cleared! But then upon measuring for the front blower pulley clearance I see that the pully hits the crossmember. So the motor will have to go back 2 1/4"! And then, of course, the steering hits! But so be it, I'll just have to deal with whatever comes my way! So motor back & steering re-routed a bit.... Bill

And probably the trans tunnel enlarged ..............

Kitz

Oh well, if it was easy everybody would be doin' it........

On the bright side the upper radiator hose is shorter

MIke that was great! gotta me laughing.

Red

......LOL, good one Mike! "the radiator hose is shorter"!... Oh, I pulled out a SBC {400}..... But I think the "monster" will be worth the trouble!

Yes Kitz, the trans tunnel needs to be enlarged. Actually I believe I'll just
cut the firewall around the trans adapter & then back into the trans tunnel. I won't move the whole firewall back. The shift linkage bracket needs to be re-fabed, the trans cooler lines made longer & 2 frame crossmembers need to be moved back.... I think I can handle it! {if not I'll pay someone who can!}....

Yes Dave, VERY true! But everytime I start to get discouraged I just go lift the blanket that's covering my Hemi & look at it & WOW! I feel that same WOW no matter how many times I look at it! And I haven't even heard it run yet!

Oh yeah, while I was under the car checking out what needed to be done I noticed that the 4 link bracket on the frame was starting to tear off! And that's with 499 Ft. Lb's.... Wait till my frame 'meets' it's new motor!.....
Thanks everyone! Bill

An old wheelbarrow makes a nice new panel for doing this.

....Ah ha, good idea Tech! Thank You! ... But you know what I was also thinking; My blower drive pulleys are 4", don't they make 2" ones? That would give me 2 more inches of clearance! Bill

ps, but it wouldn't look as good ;(

Bill one thing to watch on these is the distributor clearance.

Sorry I don't have a better picture than this. I'm running an original castiron dual point housing (converted to electronic) which is about as small as you can get (to give you an idea the original cap interchanges with a Mallory unilite) and it still sits back in the the firewall recess.

.....Thanks Mike! I went out & measured again & if I go back exactly 2 1/4" my lower blower pulley clears the front crossmember by 1/4". And my Mallory unilite just barely hits the rib on the firewall. So I'll have to notch into that.... Thanks again, Bill

Here is a couple of shots of my 354 in my Roadster.
I moved the firewall 1 1/2" on the right side and 3/4" on the left to clear the valve covers, installed the fan to be sure it cleared the lower rad hose and was about 1/2" away from the rad. I did not change the stock foot wells, only the parts of the firewall that interfered with the valve covers and the distributor. I left all the stock reveals in the firewall. It worked out very well.
HemiDeuce.

I can't see the firewall. It's too shiny.

nice

Here's one when I was colour sanding it.
HemiDeuce.