291 hemi useable/serviceable?
Poly bell bolt pattern? Maybe a 273-318LA-340-360 bellhousing would bolt up as well? :angel5:
Exactly, nope.
The diameter of the bell is the same, but the bolt pattern is different. And there isn't enough meat on the block there to drill new holes for the different pattern.
The adapters are pretty simple though, and are available from a few different sources now for just about every transmission you'd want to run, from 833's to 700R4's and everything in between. I believe Quicktime also makes some bellhousing's for the hemi application and more popular transmissions now.
Yes, Bob Walker, the owner of Hot Heads is your guy. He can tell you all about them. The Desotos are good engines. I would get them both if you can. The smaller cubic inches is not as much of a handicap as would be with a non Hemi engine simply because of the heads. You can get well over 300 HP without a problem. Oregon Cams can regrind the stock cam core to one of many grinds they have for 75 bucks. That's who did mine and they did a real nice job. Just look through the Hot Heads site at what all is available. They also have a Hemi book that tells all about them and what all interchanges.
Bob is a good source of info, and the Hemi book is a decent start, but the book especially has more than a few inaccuracies, some are pretty blatant.
The HAMB is probably the best source of info by far, although there's a lot to sort through. The Hemi Tech index is a great place to start if you have some time.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=118764
The DeSoto's are great engines, I actually think they're more useful than the Chrysler's. Sure, you can't beat a 392 when it comes to break-neck horsepower, but for driving around on the street the DeSoto's are spectacular. As Rusty pointed out, a 291 is easily capable of 300 hp, and that's a pretty mild build. Just raise the compression up to around 9.5:1 and have the cam reground and you're there. No porting or anything fancy needed, just a little compression and cam.
This 291 made 374hp at 6600rpm, but it has DeSoto 330 heads, 10.5:1 compression, and a HUGE cam for a hemi. And really bitchin weiand 4x2. I just may have one of those. :wink: Buggers are hard to find. :D
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=601899
[ame]http://youtu.be/ecByN0N8Tww[/ame]