426 hemi

[thallium]

    I'm getting ready to paint the daytona here shortly and I'll have to start thinking about putting in the drivetrain. Initally i was thinking of putting in a 318 so I could drive it everywhere and get good gas mileage, but I have been rethinking that whole plan. I've been thinking how cool it would be to put a 426 hemi under the hood of this daytona clone. If I gota a daytona, it's gota have something under the hood to back up the look.
    My question is, how reliable is the hemi? Anybody have any real world experience with them? I have a 440 in my 68 charger and I can drive that thing anywhere. I've already put over 10k miles on that engine. It has major torque and is really reliable. If I were to build a mild 426 hemi, is there any maintenace issuse I might need to know? It would be a hydraulic camshaft so no adjustment needed, and a single 4 barrel.  If I go with a hemi, it has to be low maintenace like my 440.  I have the money to do a hemi, I'm  just wondering if they are too much of a pain, i'll stick with a 440. Also, if I were to go this route, i'll have an engine builder build it instead of a crate motor. I just have no experience with a hemi only 383's and 440's.

[hemigeno]

Something along the lines of a crate hemi's specs would work very well for you IMHO.  Your engine builder might do a better job than MoparPerformance on quality-control from what I hear.  With a hydraulic cam, electronic ignition, and a single 4bbl (correctly-sized!!  ), you shouldn't have any more maintenance than you would for any other wedge motor.  There are just not that many variables in an engine that you'd have to mess with, just don't go too radical with the build-up so that it's not really a street-performance engine.  I don't think you'd like the results if you did.

However...

Don't expect that you'll have world-beater power just because you have a Hemi.  There's tons of eye candy appeal having those big valve covers under the hood, but a decently-tuned 440 can kick the snot out of a Hemi up through the mid-range rpm band.  It's not until you get to the high rpm band that the advantages of the hemi head really come into play, so be prepared to be stomped on when coming off the line.

It doesn't sound like thats why you wanted to put that engine in the car (actual killer performance), so you'll probably be fine.  There is a HUGE cool factor with the Hemi that'll go a long way with most car guys.  If you can swing it $$-wise, go for it.



P.S.  I'm too tired to think about whether this thread should be moved over to General Q&A, or to Engine/Trans/Rearend.  One of the other mods can figure that out...

[daytonalo]

Anyone who is concerned with fuel mileage needs to get a different hobby ! make it a hybrid !

[thallium]

i hear ya. My plan initally was to drive it to work everyday. That is why I was considering a 318.  The more I've thought about it, a daytona needs at least a 440 under the hood. It'll get 3.23 gearing out back with a hard shifting trans. I have two cars the road runner has 3.55's and my 68 charger with 3.23 gears. I'm really happy with the 3.23 gear. It's a good compromise. It can run on the freeway at 80 and still the car runs 13.5 in the quarter. Quick enough for most things on the street. I'm not going to make anything crazy, I want it to be able to drive anywhere, even make a trip across the United States maybe next summer. My own power tour with a friend.

[daytonalo]

Im about to paint my hemi daytona clone as well , have any pix of the car ?

[firefighter3931]

Interesting dilemma. The hemi is cool but as Geno mentioned ; it's a high rpm screamer. With a heavy car and 3.23's....i'd be more inclined to build a 493 with Eddy Heads. Conservative hydraulic cam ; no maintenance except for tuneups and oil changes. It'll cost 1/2 of what the hemi would to build and be waaaaay more fun to drive. But, it's not a hemi so if that's what matters most then this isn't the right answer for you.

The hemi head is really too large for 426 cubes and needs more volume beneath it. If you do go the Hemi route ; at least go to 472ci so it will have descent torque and off idle power. 


Ron

[Daytona R/T SE]

 Interesting topic,Thallium. I'd like to put a Hemi in my Daytona clone too, I've been looking into just buying the crate hemi from Mopar, prices seem to range right around 13K for the 426/465 horse engine. Mancini racing had them advertised for $12999 a few weeks ago,  when I talked to them at the nationals, they told me they had a waiting list a mile long for hemis, they couldn't tell me when I could get one, however, if I'd like to put my name on the list, then they'd get back to me 

Anybody else been told there's a waiting list for crate Hemis ?

[bullit68]

i drive my hemi 68 charger clone almost everyday to work(55miles round trip).its got a pretty healthy solid cam with a 4spd and a 410 dana.this year i put in the passon overdrive tranny internals.its nice with the overdrive,but i'm not yet used to the wider gear spacing.from a performance stand point i dont like it,but for cruising,its the way to go.with solid cams,the maintenance isn't as bad as you would think.i check the valve lash once every year or two and seldom do they need adjusting.even with this stout set up,a friend of mine beat me in a race with a 69 440 roadrunner.granted my car weighs 400 lbs more but he still beat me.with a hemi,you feel like a celebrity,because everybody is impressed and wants to see it.that gets old really quick.the thing about a hemi is,they're legendary for their performance,so it better perform well because everybody is gunning for you.oh yeah,i get about 12 miles per gallon.to work and back is about $25.but its great therapy.lol.

[BigBlockSam]

a decently-tuned 440 can kick the snot out of a Hemi 

build a 440 six pack car, they luv 323 rears. i knew you waren't gonna put a 318 in that daytona of yours. it's a monster car . you need a big block in there. Rene

[69charger2002]

i will have a 6 pack in mine. should be done in a few months. 440 6 pack is sweet. of course i just wanted to spend 3-4k on a motor and not 15k
trav

[BigBlockSam]

i got a six pack on my 68 and i built a 440 sixpack motor for my Dayton . can't wait to drop it in. six packs run hard and mine is super reliable. Rene

[thallium]

    What's up Rene, long time no hear.  I saw some pictures of your 68 in another thread. nice!  Daytonala, i'll snap some pictures this morning and post them here later today. Remember, it looks like crap right now, and it's a mockup of the parts before teardown, so look past the the crap paint. I had to sand down the fender scoops to make them fit. They had a 1/2" gap between the fenderscoop and fender. It fits nice now after many hours of my friend sanding.
    For sure it's going to get a big block now, no more 318 nonsense. I'm just not sure which yet. The six pack idea sounds pretty good. Run on two barrels for street driving and the outboards open up when it's needed.

[hotrod98]

You might consider going with a new fuel injected 5.7 or 6.1 liter hemi with the 5 speed trans. There's a company near here that specializes in building and installing late model drivelines in early cars. They have the motor mounts and other parts needed to install it.They even have plug and play wiring harnesses. Street and Performance  http://www.hotrodlane.cc/   
The 5.7 hemi in my wife's Daytona Ram pickup screams. It gets that big heavy truck up to speed quick, not to mention the excellant drivability and good gas mileage. Besides, you get to say that you have a hemi. Sadly, the general public thinks that the new 5.7 hemis are just like the old hemis that were in the musclecars.
Summit Racing no longer sells the 426 crate motors since they were unable to get them. I'm beginning to realize how fortunate I was to get mine last year. I talked to one of the Mopar Performance guys at the SEMA show and he said that since they had such a problem with quality control that they decided to use another company to build them and that there weren't going to be near as many built. He sent one of the first of the new versions built to Summit with my name on it. Otherwise, I don't think that I would have gotten one at all.
If you don't want a late model driveline, I suggest going with the six pak as well.

[Ghoste]

The quality issues sure did come back to haunt them with the Hemi Crates didn't it? 

[thallium]

Okay, here are some pictures from yesterday.  You can see the fenderscoops sit nice on the fender now, they actaually sat 1/2" above the fender before we sanded them.  You can see that the front spoiler is attached and my headlights are in the grill and grill plate is attached. It's a mock up with the rubber on. I just need to attach the hood and make sure everything fits nice, then i'll tear it down and take it to a painter. Then it's time to figure out which type of engine. I like the six pack idea.

the matress is for sale is anybody wants it. ha!

[BigBlockSam]

hey thallium
the car looks great. what color you painting her. Rene

[Ghoste]

I like the original color.

[Vainglory, Esq.]

Ooooh, a matress!

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

hey thallium since its a 70 u should add the six pack then some r/t door scoops and some crazy 70 colour and a vinyl top-MATT(like jerry junemans cars)

[thallium]

Rene, i'm leaning towards painting it this color. Maybe have some white hood stripes with a white tail.  I was going to paint it black with a red tail, but I'm really liking this color.  Some may think it's too much of a ricer color, but you just can't take away from this car no matter what color it is. It's got the lines where it counts no matter what color it is. I've change my mind on the color about a million times. The only reason I keep changing is because they all look good. This week it's blue. haha.   Matt, the vinyl top and door scoops  look nice, but they are not my cup of tea. I will probably end up doing the 6 pack. It will cost half as much and still give it something different to look at under the hood.  I've already got a 440 block and trans sitting in the garage.

[daytonalo]

What color is this daytona ?

[hotrod98]

That looks a lot like viper blue or the Intense Blue Pearl that was used on dakotas. I painted a 67 Camaro SS/RS that color with bright white stripes. It was one of the best looking colors that I've ever shot. The nice thing is it's not a three stage color, just base clear which makes it easy to shoot and easy to repair.

[BigBlockSam]

WOW! THAT COLOR IS SWEEEEEET! i started out to do mine  b5 blue with a white interior and  now it's black with a white tail . i agree with you , we'll know for sure when it's painted . please keep the pics coming . your car's looking great. i dig your solution for the headlights, looks very correct .  your getting  me excited about building mine, the 68 r/t  is  done.  now it's daytona time. Rene  

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

or thallium you could always go the stage IV route and do a hemi conversion and nobody will know the diference if u build it to stock specs and looks, and then it really is a 426 hemi-MATT(definitely go with the viper blue tho that looks SWEET!!! )

[Go Hogs Go]

I'm currently running a MP 472 Hemi in my Charger. I've had 440 and 383 Chargers before and this car will run away and hide from the other two. It feels stronger than the Viper up to about 90 mph. The Viper pulls strong up to 160. The Charger is not geared for that. If you buy a crate engine DO NOT run it without going over it first. The valve cover gaskets were split from the factory from over tightening, causing the covers to leak. The timing was retarted, and two valves were way out of adjustment. None of this is a real big deal, but if you ran it very long that there could be MAJOR problems develope. If you have a good mechanic, which I do, the create Hemi is a deal. If you don't, get a professional to build it.