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I picked up my very own what looks to be a '53 331 for $160 at a scrapyard as an impulse buy the other day, and now I am stumped as what to do with it. I have talked to quite a few street rodders and builders, in my region and at Back to the Fifties (where we displayed our RVSR black/yellow '64 F-100) and was unable to find anyone with a reasonable amount of knowledge on the engine whatsoever. The only somewhat knowledgeable answer I got is that it is mated to a "Clunk-o-matic", if that can me considered legit. I was wondering if anyone could help me ID this little gem in the rough, as I am hoping to make this into a nice summer project, instead of parting it out.




Thanks for all the help and know-how.
Boris

Well, I have no idea what you've got there...but just wanted to say Welcome to CHR anyhow!

Here's some reading that will get you started. It's a 51-54 331 (they were the only ones with the extended bellhousing). Does not really matter as the ealry ones were all pretty much the same. Should be a serial number stamped on the top front of the block in front of the valley pan. Tranny looks to be a an old fluid drive unit.

Once you get through this material if you have anymore questions just post.

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...threadid=15088

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...threadid=15089

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...threadid=15090

http://www.clubhotrod.com/forums/sho...threadid=15091

I guess my first question would be what is out there as far as aftermarket?
Ive seen the Hemi Hot heads site, but their prices seem a bit to high. What kind of stuff can be found on the used market? I looked through the entire swap meet at Back To The Fifties, as well as the vendors, and could not find any aftermarket parts whatsoever iv ebeen thinking about building my own intake, for which I would need 8 about 700cc motorcycle carbs- are there any of that size out there? I know near nothing about bikes, but dont most of that size use multiple carbs? what are reasonable prices for used parts? I saw a 354 crank, beat to hell and rusty for 150$, I passed. I think that is all for now, until I get the entire engine apart. Thank you for the welcome and for the information, greatly appreciated.

Ilya

The early HEMIs are NOt a cheap engine to go through. PAW and Hot Heads are a couple of the better ones for parts/prices (compare between the 2 there is a difference between the two dealers.)

A good place to get an idea of fair market value is to check E Bay. Use 331 Hemi.... 354 Hemi.....392 Hemi.... and early Hemi as your search engine. Just putting in HEMI is information overload.

After you get it apart and check the cost of rebuilding it and the price used parts go for you might decide to E Bay it out

Another suggestion (free one):
Disassemble the thing and find out what you have to start with. If you buy a bunch of stuff and then find that the block is busted, you'll be throwing more $$ in the pile. A good hot tank job and a little checking will give you peace of mind when you fork out the dead Presidents for the other stuff.

Got it all dissassembled, and it looks as though I got very lucky. First off, damn those heads weigh alot. Because the engine sat outside at a scrapyard, water got down into the bores and heads, so the heads will obviously need some reworking, and the bores have some considerable buildup, and honing or boring will need to be done. I have no distributor/ignition system whatsoever, and the spark plug tubes on one side of the engine are all destroyed, along with both of the valve covers. If I will be building this engine up, I would like to raise the compression around 10-10.5:1, naturally aspirated. Is the best way to achive this through new pistons? If so, who sells them? After pouring some penetrant down the bores, I got the engine to crank about half way, at which point I took out the crank, which looks spotless. No spun bearings, or as much as surface scratches on the crank bearing surfaces. I was relatively pleased with what I saw, and with the engine being covered in 1 inch of dirt all around, not a single bolt broke. The only trouble came from the crank pulley, but that came with a pop after some work with a puller and a big hammer. On a realatively low budget build, but with four large local junkyards, what would be a good build for this motor? Any and all ideas appreciated.
Ilya