Aussie Hemi 6's

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TNT440_Cbody

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I saw an ad for a pair of Aussie "Hemi" slant 6's for sale and wondered.... how cool would it be to put one of those in my car?

Do they have the same bell housing as a standard slant 6? Engine mounts? I don't know if the intakes and exhaust are included and I figured it's not even worth calling anyway if I need a custom or Aussie-only bell housing.

It would be pretty different, though! And then turbo it... 8)

Reading this forum has given me so many bad... er... good ideas. :snakeman:
 
I would talk to nqkjw he lives the country. If not him I'm sure he could direct you to someone who would know for sure.
 
Its nothing like the slant six. No parts will interchange. It is also really hard to fine replacement/tune up parts here in the states.
 
I used to have the name and number of a guy in California that imports the "hemi" 6 motors to the US. I wanna say his name was Steve?
 
that would be awesome if someone followed through with this and actually ordered one!
 
Steve hangs out from time to time on slantsix.org under the name OzHemi. Some (but not all) Hemi-6s have the same bellhousing pattern as an A/LA V8, and conversion mounts are available in Australia to install a Hemi-6 in various A-bodies originally equipped with a slant-6.
 
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View attachment 6packhdrs.jpg the hemi 6 came in three configurations 215 ci - 140 hp & 200 lbs/ft , 245 ci - 165 hp & 235 lbs/ft , 265 ci - 203 hp & 262 lbs/ft of torque , all hemi 6 's share the same 3.68'' crank just the bore sizes vary but a 215 cant be bored to 265 ci , the 265 shares the same bore size and piston as the 318 being 3.91 '' and can safely be bored to 4.00 '' producing 278 ci . it is interesting to know that the hemi six had been designed in the good old U.S of A . to replace the trusty slant 6 but was canned and australia took over the project in 1970 , the engine was a very strong design with a 7 main bearing crank the 265 came standard with 1.96'' and 1.60 '' valves and quite large ports , australia experimented with a number of modifications with the '' pacer '' available in 2bbl and 4 bbl form producing 215 hp and 235 hp , while the r/t had a larger cam , more compression and 3 x dcoe webbers producing 280 hp and 302 hp - e49 spec , the hemi 6 is quite a bit longer than the slant but can be put into any A body with a small amount of mods
 
Steve hangs out from time to time on slantsix.org under the name OzHemi. Some (but not all) Hemi-6s have the same bellhousing pattern as an A/LA V8, and conversion mounts are available in Australia to install a Hemi-6 in various A-bodies originally equipped with a slant-6.


interesting Dan! do you know which ones?? bigger cid ones maybe?
 
i read somewhere that these are just stright sixes that use the "hemi" name. nothing about the head is like an actuall hemi head. is this correct. they sure look like they have a lot of potential though.
 
Would these engines be for sale in so. cal. by chance, Temecula to be exact?

Yeah, probably the same ones. Did you buy them or currently own them?

These look interesting and fun but are they worth the hassle? It doesn't sound much worse than doing a V-8 swap except for sourcing the parts from OZ, so long as the bell housing from an A/LA engine will actually bolt up... tempting!
 
The Australia build Hemi 6 is nothing like a slant 6.. It's basically a straightline 6 cylinder that came out in 3 different capacities being 215ci, 245ci and 265ci. These engines were renowned in Australia during the 70's as this engined powered the fastest Australia production car at the time.. These engines are still available quite easily and a lot of them power some of the most impressive Mopars down under..

Check out these two vehicles powered by naturally aspirated 265 Aust hemi's...


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwBdUJU7ie4"]YouTube - TNT265 - 400hp+ Hemi six Pacer burnout[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NSQv1Zpkhw&feature=related"]YouTube - TNT265 Pacer from Dominator Engines Hemi 6 ***11.8 @ 116mph***[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThTEr-o_ees&feature=fvw"]YouTube - Centura Dies on the pad at Burnout Warriors 3[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXJL9l6Mnyk"]YouTube - Worked HEMI 6 with gear drive in VC[/ame]
 
the hemi 6 came in three configurations

No. Three displacements. MANY configurations. 1bbl, 2bbl, 4bbl, 6-pak, multiple different cams, etc.

australia experimented with a number of modifications with the '' pacer ''

No. The Valiant Pacer was not an "experiment". It was a production model with engine and other performance upgrades, available on the '69 VF-model (slant-6), the '70 VG model (Hemi-6) and the '71 VH model (Hemi-6).
 
interesting Dan! do you know which ones?? bigger cid ones maybe?

The ones used in the luxury Valiant VIP models. Those got put in front of Torqueflite automatics; the ones in lesser cars got the grossly inferior BorgWarner BW-35 automatic which was crude, rough, noisy, and less efficient but was built in Australia -- a big advantage given Australia's local-content laws of the time. There are different versions of the 245 and 265 engines depending on what transmission they went in front of.
 
To TNT440
No, I didn't buy one of the aussie engines but the person I just bought my 70 Dart from has 2 in his garage. I think he would like to sell them, and I don't think he knows of FABO. I will ask him and go from there.
 
The ones used in the luxury Valiant VIP models. Those got put in front of Torqueflite automatics; the ones in lesser cars got the grossly inferior BorgWarner BW-35 automatic which was crude, rough, noisy, and less efficient but was built in Australia -- a big advantage given Australia's local-content laws of the time. There are different versions of the 245 and 265 engines depending on what transmission they went in front of.

thx dan!
 
This screams twin turbos! With twin turbos I wonder if it would've taken down my GTR I had. One can only think of the possibilities.
 
This screams twin turbos! With twin turbos I wonder if it would've taken down my GTR I had. One can only think of the possibilities.

The thing that makes the slant six so desirable for a turbo project is its unusual infrasucture... its unusually thick castings and rigid archetecture.

This Aussie "Hemi" engine may well be a much better breathing normally-aspirated engine, BUT will it stand the hellish amounts of boost that would make for a 600-hp slant six workable?

Nobody SO FAR has built a 600 HP turbocharged slant six, (that I know of) but I haven't seen anybody try and fail.

That 600 number may just be a possibility with 40 pounds of boost, a BIG turbo and somebody with s lot of money...

I'm waiting... might take alcohol to do it, but I'd bet it's feasible!

Maybe we'll see...
 
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T0XvFBtJXc"]YouTube - Justasix Centura turbo hemi six[/ame] 9 second turbo 265 hemi , car has been in the 8 's and is currently being rebuilt hopes to run 7 's
 
Wow; that thing is awesome!!! Thanks for the video!!! Leaves hard... runs hard!


I LIKE it!!!:cheers:

Well, since nobody else responded, I have to say, after some research, I don't like it as much as I did.

Here's what I found out after reading some about that motor in Willem Weertman's book "Chrysler Engines 1922-1998"; he is one of the Mopar engineers who was there as it was being designed.

It is an outstanding 6-cylinder engine that has a lot going for it as a normally-aspirated powerplant. It's valves, at least in it's most OEM hi-po iteration, are really big, for an engine of its size! The intake valves in the 265 version, STOCK are 1.83" and the exhausts are 1.6".

It appears to be a good-breathing engine, with a lot of rpm potential.

In its most powerful version, it came with triple-sidedraft, Weber carburetion, dual exhausts, tubing headers, a long duration cam, and a 10-to-one compresssion ratio, stock.

I'm sure it was a killer on the street back in the day, and would make a formidible inline six engine, today, given its built-in advantage of a big bore (room for big valves.)

If I were trying to build a normally-aspirated, FAST, inline six, it would no doubt, be my engine of choice.

You could do a lot worse...

HOWEVER, if you're looking to build serious horsepower with an inline six, using a power-adder, like a turbo, for instance, I am looking at some design parameters that would seem to make the slant six a more workable engine, in the long run.


Its all about stiffness/rigidity.

To begin with the /6 was originally designed to be an aluminum engine, and when they decided to cast it in iron, instead, they left most of the original design parameters regarding block strength in place, because it was the cheapest and simplest thing to do. This resulted in a block that has a very thick deck, thick cylinder walls and a general overall construction that is probably one of the strongest blocks around. They used these motors in fork lifts and marine applications where longivity was the paramount consideration. The cylinder head weighs 84 pounds... and has a deck surface that is nearly half an inch thick. The block's deck is nearly that thick.

Can you say, "RIGID"????

It has a relatively short, forged (early versions, at least,) 4-main-bearing crankshaft that is torsionally a lot stiffer (according to Weertman's book) than the cast-iron crank in the Hemi 6, which is a 7-main-bearing unit that is said by the design engineers to flex more, under load. The /6 main bearings are 2.75"-diameter, the same size as the mains in a 426 Hemi/440 RB motor. Main bearings in the Hemi-6 are a quarter of an inch smaller, at 2.5"-dia.

While the /6 features thick, cast iron construction with no concessions to weight-saving, the Hemi-6 was designed to be a lightweight engine, and features thinwall castings, and it would follow that it would give up some block rigidity in that vein.

The slant six has rocker arm shafts; the Hemi six has rocker arms mounted on studs... You tell me which is the superior system...

I don't claim to know much about the Hemi-6 motor, but as a normally-aspiraated contender in the drag strip wars, I don't see how it could lose...

With 30+ pounds of boost, though, I don't think it's going to have a service life anything like as long as a slant six's...

Just my 2-cents...:homework:
 
Stock 265 valves are 1.960"in 1.600"ex. The 245's & 215's got 1.830"in 1.500"ex All valves were tulip style.

2.020" intakes can be fitted.

here's a NA 265 with Webers on an engine dyno being tuned making 300HP at the wheels

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1jRMjaHtO4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL"]YouTube - 265 hemi 400 + hp Faraone engines[/ame]


Cheers
Jamie
 
>
I remember a couple of things about the "leaning tower of power".

I remember the military used them a lot, on generators, power plants, pumps, cement mixers, etc.

They referred to it as a class "D" engine, noted for reliability and long life.


On aussie sixes, if I remember right, the aussie Ford 250 straight six head has a better combustion chamber,(hemi?), and uses a separate intake manifold instead of the one piece design of the US made head.

Those heads were sought after on this side of the pond, I am not clear as to what changes have to be made to make the change, but I am pretty sure there is some machining involved.

I am a big fan of sixes, and have owned Many in the past, and own a few now.

All of my 57' through 60' pick ups & panels have had a six in them.

It's a small medium duty but hard to kill 223 ci straight six.


If you would like to learn about sixes, and how to make them develop a lot of power, there are a couple of books that are must reads.

The first only cost a few dollars, it's an old fashioned book that explains clearly what the pioneers of six cylinder performance found out by trial & error.(you can only mill so much off a head...LOL)


The first is the
California Bill's Chevrolet GMC & Buick "Speed Manual" .

These books are cheap, one is 5 to 15 dollars, the other about $20.

For just a few dollars you get a ton of information on what works & what what doesn't.

I searched for a long time for a Ford six cylinder performance book and never found one, maybe a bit the same when it comes to one for a Mopar six.

A couple of old guys here in the Valley, years ago, had a six cylinder engine building service, these guys really knew their stuff.

My bad luck that I was not ready to build a engine when I met them, two years later they moved away and retired.
Last I talked to them I said, "what do I do?" , he said to buy the GMC book. He said what works on one six, works on all sixes.

They're all the same.



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This is the modern book on six cylinder performance.

It contains interviews with several of the six gurus
Including Bill Fisher

motobooks_2144_16333106



You can build a six so that when you romp on it, it tears down the street with the front tires lofted.

I've seen it,.... I love it.
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.




 
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Some of the first book


How much power can I expect to get from my engine?


Siamese (shared) intake and exhaust ports: how do they affect the engine?


Valve train

; how the parts function, comparison between G.M.C. and Chevrolet engines.
Heads; design, combustion chambers, port shapes and sizes, valves, dimensions, flaws.


Milled and filled? Ported and relieved?; what does that mean?
Speed equipment; aftermarket parts (both obsolete and current), cams, “split” exhaust manifolds
Aftermarket manifolds; why are there so many types? How are they different? 2 carbs vs. 3 carbs:
which is best, and why?


Carburetors; 1 bbl. vs. 2 bbl. vs. 4 bbl.? How large should the carburetor be, and why?


Nitrous oxide; can it be used? Should it be used? What needs to be done (2,400 words)?


Modern overdrive automatic transmissions; differences between models, shift controls, converter stall speed selection, ratio choices


Modifications

; what you can do yourself, including:
» Diagnosing and correcting multi-carburetor linkage problems (useful on V8 tri-power engines as well)
» Adapting an Eaton supercharger from a late model V6
» Making your own multi-carburetor intake manifold
» Planning a stroker crankshaft using 292 rods
» Alternate connecting rod choices
» Aftermarket 12-port heads, differences and advantages
» What is a “hybrid” head, and how to determine what must be done
» Improved piston design
» Calculating compression distance and ratio
» Up-grading the ignition and tuning the advance curve
» Choosing and installing big valves
» Modifying the head for better breathing
» Improving the original intake and exhaust manifolds
» Making or adapting headers
» Splitting the original cast-iron exhaust manifolds
» Fabricating a cast header out of common industrial supplies
» Analyze, compare, and select a new or re-ground high-performance cam
» Correcting the rocker arm geometry for hot cams, head milling, longer valves
» Improving the oil system
» How to predict a safe RPM limit
Data Tables

; showing both motor families, bore, stroke, rod length.
Sources

; listing suppliers of parts & services, etc. both mail and internet.
TRW Part Numbers

; lists many potentially useful obsolete numbers and applications.
Work Sheet sample

; to help you keep records and plan changes to your motor.
Please note: this is not a coffee table book, it is intended to be a research tool for those who seriously want to improve their stovebolt motors. It is not a repair manual. If your car won’t start, spark plugs foul, low oil pressure etc. my booklet will not help you. It does not contain information on tune-ups, or explain how to remove, disassemble, clean or restore the engine. If you do not already have this information do not buy this booklet. If your engine is stock and you’re pleased with how it runs now, this booklet is not going to be of much use, although you might find it interesting.




That's a lot for a few bucks.



 
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