Making a Hemi out of a 383

[nitrometal]

So, after a year or better of collecting parts and a lot of pondering, I started tearing down the engine bay and mocking up how I'm gonna make my 383 look like a 1970 Stock Car Hemi.  I stripped down some parts that were in the way plus more because eventually I'll pull everything out and paint it Petty Blue & Hemi orange.  All went surprisingly well and I hardly busted any knuckles. 

These photos are,
#1:  The 383 stripped down.
#2 & 3: The Hemi valve covers, bathtub intake (top only) and the Holley carb with the LeMans style float bowls.

The "new" parts are just sitting on the motor in approximately the location I need to put them.  Next up is how to mount them and make it look convincing.

So far, the only thing that I see that will make me cut it up and make it difficult to return to stock will be cutting the cowl induction / air cleaner intake hole in the firewall.  I'm willing to do that because it will really set the look.  Plus, I'll get nice cold air down the the intake!

I do have a bit of a dilemma and I would like to hear ya'lls opinion on it.  If you look close the valve covers are modified units from Dick Landy Inc. I bought them a while back on eBay because they had the 4 tall breather tubes that Nascar used to connect the sides together with the crossover tube, they were ugly and I didn't want to ruin a good set and the price was right.  When I got them I saw the decals and the obvious mods he had made.  The guy selling them didn't know what he had.  Man,  I'd hate to use these covers because of his legacy and demise because I will have to modify them a little bit more.  Would you use them or mount them in a display case?

I'll put another post up in the engine section later with some better photos of them.  They are rough and well used and I would swear they were acid dipped because I don't think they weigh anymore than a sheet of heavy cardstock paper.

Anyway, take a look at the photos and give me some feedback on how crazy I am!!!   

[pandamarie]

Looks good so far, sorry I cant be any help with that conversion but if you would like to sell that eldebrock intake I would be interested.
I thought the hemi had 5 head bolt per cylinder and the B and RB only 4.

[nitrometal]

Looks good so far, sorry I cant be any help with that conversion but if you would like to sell that eldebrock intake I would be interested.
I thought the hemi had 5 head bolt per cylinder and the B and RB only 4.

I'll still be using the Eldebrock intake. I am making a copy mold of the bathtub and modifying it so that it sits down around the original carb & intake and I still have the streetability of my dependable 383.  As far as the hemi bolt patterns (I'm not installing heads just covers), I'll make an adapter plate so that the hemi valve covers will bolt down over the smaller B/RB heads.

The whole idea is to make the 383 look like a hemi without spending $14k.  All I want is that "WOW" factor when you open the hood. A trained eye will see that it's fake. Of course, by the time I get done fabricating all these parts to look like they belong there I'll have $14k in labor in this project, right?

[moparstuart]

 very cool glen peters did that with his 440 on his petty bird   

[Aero426]

Phil, you should talk to Glen Peters in Iowa.  Glen had a Petty replica Bird (since sold).  He made some nice looking fake Hemi valve covers.  I think he used two pairs of 440 covers to do it.  

[Chargerrtforme]

Hello, stupid person here.  You mean to tell me you can put Hemi heads on a 440 block and valve covers and 2 carbs and look like a Hemi engine?

[BigBlockSam]

 

[moparstuart]

Hello, stupid person here.  You mean to tell me you can put Hemi heads on a 440 block and valve covers and 2 carbs and look like a Hemi engine?

no he didnt put the heads on just valve cover to make it look like a hemi at first glance .

you can put the stage v hemi heads on a 440 , but this was just cosmetic to look like a hemi .

[nitrometal]

I've brought up this project before and Glen Peters name was mentioned then.  Is he on the forum or does someone here keep in contact and can get me in touch with him?

I would love to hear how he went about it and especially see some photos!   

[mauve66]

i thought that was stage VI engineering that had the hemi head for RB blocks???

cosmetically, i think it will look cool

[Aero426]

Phil, check your email.

[dads_69]

There is a '69 Roadrunner where I live w/a 383 block and 426 Hemi head set up on it. Built in the mid 80's but also took many mods to make it all work together. Cool idea yes, but in the end, he spent damn near 10 grand when completed.
A little over two years ago now I was gonna do the same thing since Ma mopar up here couldn't get me a 426 block on time, 9 months of waiting and still nothing, I got pissd off and sold my hole Daytona clone project, car new Hemi motor/body parts I had for 426 $4600.00.

Mark

[FJMG]

i thought that was stage VI engineering that had the hemi head for RB blocks???

cosmetically, i think it will look cool

That's  what I remember from the nats around 1990 or so? I have the brochure here somewhere, IIRC the kit included heads pushrods rocker gear and I think you could use the B/RB cam but I'm not sure. Was a pretty neat conversion I thought.

Regardless you got a very different project ahead of you nitrometal.

[hotrod98]

That's almost as crazy as putting a Superbird wing on a 69 Road Runner.  

We're cloning the cars...why not clone the motors?  

[nascarxx29]

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/1969_chrysler_newport_440_block_conversion/index.html

[richard pettys 73]

That's almost as crazy as putting a Superbird wing on a 69 Road Runner.  

We're cloning the cars...why not clone the motors?  

[Chargerrtforme]

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/1969_chrysler_newport_440_block_conversion/index.html

Great thread, thanks.  That's cool.

[Howie]

Way to go phil. Why not use those DLI valve covers. I would. Where did you come up with that carb? I bought one and stuart hooked me up with the #s to get it rebuilt and its brand new now. only cost me a couple of fingers and a thumb.

[maxwellwedge]

Looks good so far, sorry I cant be any help with that conversion but if you would like to sell that eldebrock intake I would be interested.
I thought the hemi had 5 head bolt per cylinder and the B and RB only 4.

Small Block 4 H/bolts per cylinder  -  B-Rb 5 per cylinder

[nitrometal]

Way to go phil. Why not use those DLI valve covers. I would. Where did you come up with that carb? I bought one and stuart hooked me up with the #s to get it rebuilt and its brand new now. only cost me a couple of fingers and a thumb.

Howard,

I found the carb on eBay for only $30.  It's possible to rebuild it, maybe with a lot of work, but I bought it for the fuel bowls.  I'll call you soon to see how much those fingers cost you!  By the way, how's your Daytona coming along?

Larry,

I like the way your Road Runner looks with a wing.  Maybe I should put a small one on my Hemi clone motor.  That would be crazy, huh?   

Some of you guys aren't getting the point about what I'm doing here.  I'm not making any engineering changes to make the motor work like a Hemi.  These are all "cosmetic" fabrications.  All I'm going for is the "WOW" factor when you pop the hood.

I've researched the Stage VI heads and you may as well get a new hemi.  They were a alternative before Mopar started reproducing the original hemi block again.

[WingCharger]

So, what are you doing to the spark plug wires to hide them, and make them go through the covers? Same question about the distributor?

This thread is really cool, and I am keeping my eye on it!

[nitrometal]

So, what are you doing to the spark plug wires to hide them, and make them go through the covers? Same question about the distributor?

This thread is really cool, and I am keeping my eye on it!

Wingcharger,

I'm glad that you're enjoying this.  I'm pretty confident that I can pull this off.

Well the plan is to keep the original valve covers on there (so that the oil stays where it belongs) I may have to massage them a bit. Does anyone want to trade the chrome Moroso valve covers for some original stamped steel ones (they can be rough/ugly as long as they can seal)?

Then I'll build an adapter plate that bolts to the B/RB head and upsizes to the hemi configuration. The hemi valve covers will be a empty shell. Then I can feed the wires normally through the hemi cover then through the adapter plate and back to the block in it's normal position.  If you look at the first picture vs. the others, the hemi valve covers are so massive they hide my headers and the rest of the block underneath there. You won't be able to see the plug wires snaking back down there.

As far as the distributor goes, I'll leave it where it's at.  Was it relocated on the hemi? From what I've seen it looks the same.  On early hemi's it was located on the back of the intake manifold.

[Ghoste]

The distributor was in the same place on the 426 as the other RB blocks.  Remeber it was just adapted for the Hemi head usage and other than that it's the same basic block architecture.
I have pics somewhere of a car where they had done exactly what you are so you shouldn't have much trouble.  I can try and dig them up if you think they'd be of any use to you.

[WingCharger]

I was thinking some dummy wires would run to the HEMI covers. That makes sense though.
I might do this one day to a car.

[hotrod98]

I have a nice set of new hemi spark plug wires. I wonder if you could use the boots off of them and slide them over a set of regular plug wires. If you want them, just e-mail me your mailing address and I'll send them to you.
 
I wonder what's going to happen to the heat coming off of the headers. Will it be trapped up inside the covers or are you planning to add a piece in there?