1949 Wayfarer Covertible 241 Hemi Engine Swap

[Don Coatney]

Does anyone know of a machine shop in Northwest Indiana (near Chicago) that is good and fair to rebiuld a flat head or a 241 hemi??

Contact forum member Niel Hoback. He lives in Hobart and may know a good shop.

[Plymouthy Adams]

there are a number of ways to find a good machine shop in your local area..go to the part house that you use/trust for getting your car parts and inquire of them as to who does what and their reputation...or ..attend a local cruise-in or watch for ads to local car events. talk to some of the owners and get insight as to who what and where in your community.  Most folks may build their own engine but very darn few do their own machining..learn the machinist lingo a bit also so you will be able to follow along with their proposed plan of attack on your machining needs...learn to recognize the hype and string along of items not needed ......

[mboer70]

I contacted Niel but he does not know of anyone.  So I am still looking around.  I talked to one hot rod shop and they wanted like $20,000 to rebuild the hemi and trans and put it in my car exhaust and all.  to rich for me...  LOL

[Don Coatney]

Perhaps it is time to grab some wrenches and hone your skils.

[Don Coatney]

I see in your profile that you are a project engineer. What kind of projects?

[mboer70]

I dont have the tools to do it myself.     I work for a steel rack company we do storage rack for Archive storage so I do the quoting and installation drawings.

[Don Coatney]

I started collecting tools at a very young age. They are a good investment. For the price you were quoted from the hot rod shop you could invest in some tools and come out ahead even farming out the machine shop work that will be required. You will have a lot more ownership and sence of pride if you do the work yourself. When you need advice you can find it right here on this forum as there are a lot of well seasoned forum participants who can walk you through most anything.

[mboer70]

I may need to start doing that.

[wayfarer]

...OK, a blatant plug for our little operation at this point...

 

We have core engines available.

We have transmission adapters available.

We have transmissions available (but then, so does your local craigslist...)

We have rebuilt and shipped engines through the US as well as to Europe.

 

Since you are buying a core engine to start with then the only real add-on is some truck freight.

 

But, as noted, and reference was made to a project covered on the Hamb, you must have sufficient knowledge, skills and tooling to make such a swap. 

I encourage you to at least contact Dan (who finished Pete's project) and have a conversation about all that was required and then decide if you have the ability to pull it off.  If you really want the work done well and in a timely fashion and don't have the time/ability/facility/desire to do it yourself then sending the car out is not a bad thing.

 

Beautiful car BTW.

[pflaming]

Wayfarer: I would NOT replace that flat head for all the "tea in China". Without exception, when lookers ask what's under the hood and I show them the stock flathead, they swoon. One guy said, "You even kept the generator, How cool". I didn't even paint my engine, I just gave it six light coats of clear. That old cast iron looks great.  In my opinion you will drastically lower the value of a if not rare at least scarce car.

 

 Just yesterday, a guy was looking at my truck, I try to drive it every day, when I opened the hood, all he said was "WOW, an old flathead, now that's how you do it!"

 

I am restoring a 53 Plymouth convertible and will keep it STOCK.

 

Just my experiences: enjoy the car, it's a looker. 

Edited May 11, 2013 by pflaming

[wayfarer]

...okaaay...I was only offering information that I thought was appropriate to the OP's initial query.  Some folks love their flatty; some don't. It is neither right or wrong, it is just a matter of preference and disposable funding. We have all seen some very desirable cars with non-oem drivetrains and far too many with some damned shiverlay thing stuffed in them, at least the OP is keeping to the Mopar theme.

Yes, the OP has a beautiful car. Will a Mopar v-8 swap, especially an EarlyHemi, hurt the value or collectability if/when he decides to sell it? Not in my estimation, but only if the swap and all of the attending little bits are faithfully executed.

 

Wayfarer: I would NOT replace that flat head for all the "tea in China". Without exception, when lookers ask what's under the hood and I show them the stock flathead, they swoon. One guy said, "You even kept the generator, How cool". I didn't even paint my engine, I just gave it six light coats of clear. That old cast iron looks great.  In my opinion you will drastically lower the value of a if not rare at least scarce car.

 

 Just yesterday, a guy was looking at my truck, I try to drive it every day, when I opened the hood, all he said was "WOW, an old flathead, now that's how you do it!"

 

I am restoring a 53 Plymouth convertible and will keep it STOCK.

 

Just my experiences: enjoy the car, it's a looker. 

[mboer70]

Wayfarer.  Thanks for that response, I have not yet determind if I am going with the hemi or not, depends on finances but I would never consider anything but a Mopar engine to go in this car. I hate seeing someone put a shiverlay motor in a Mopar or Ford for that matter.  But that's me. to each there own. As far as value and collectability, I agree with you. I do not see how a hemi would hurt the value,  with some of these resto mods prices these days it could increase the value, but that doesnt really matter to me, this car is for me and I don't ever plan on selling it I love it to much. When I die my wife can worry about it. I will always keep the original motor and parts if anyone at that time would desire to put it back the way it was. If I go with the hemi I want it done right I am not looking to cut and butcher the car up, if I have to do that then I will keep the flat head in it...    pflaming.... You are entitiled to your opinion but your opinion isn't what everyone else has. You love your car stock and I am happy for you. your 53 I am sure will look great and I would never ever think about critizing you for leaving it stock. We are all Mopar fans here no reason to spread hate I can admire both stock and resto mods. I would care to bet that if someone asked what was under the hood and I said a Red Ram Hemi with 3 dueces you would see alot of swooning.  now for all the tea in China,  well that has got to have a lot of value and I could fill a warehouse full of Mopars if I had all the tea in China, I would make that trade in a heart beat..