Now this Dodge has a HEMI!
Greg Willoughby of Springdale Arkansas
drove his ‘33 Dodge down to let the team at Street &
Performance measure to see if the HEMI would fit into his
Street Rod.
It took a couple months to acquire
the car, but Greg finally got it home. From the very beginning
he wanted a state of the art drive line. Being a pilot he has
always enjoyed the latest technology, for power, reliability
and fuel efficiency. Immediately after getting the car, he
located an engine from a 94 Dodge Ram and transmission
from a 93 Dakota. However, he did not get the wiring from
either. Greg began what turned out to be an 18 month
adventure building a fuel system and wiring harness from junk
yard pieces, he also raided the local Dodge dealerships for
disposed of warranty harness to make the set up run. There were
no vendors, and MOPAR did not offer an harness for the street
rodders. They finished their car in October 1999 and two
hours later were on their way to Charlotte and the Goodguys
event. Greg’s shake down ride ended after a little over
2500 miles and two weeks of absolute joy. Since that ride
we have driven this car over 7000 miles each year to both NSRA
and Goodguys events as well as many weekends just enjoying
being on the road. They have averaged over 22 miles per
gallon with the 94 Ram engine, driving highway speeds and
pulling their trailer.
Greg is a Captain on an Airbus A320,
which is a fly by wire airplane. Having a drive by wire
driveline was very appealing to him. When S&P began
to get the new Hemi engines he knew that is what he wanted in
this car if it would fit without changing the looks of the car.
So last October he took the Dodge to S&P to
have them measure it to see if the HEMI would fit into the
engine compartment of the ‘33. Greg wanted the car
to have more power, to be unique, and mostly to enhance
his personal enjoyment.
The old Dodge drivetrain is removed to
begin the process of making the nessesary brackets and mounts
to perform the transplant. Although S&P can provide new
HEMI’s and transmissions, S&P used one of the low
mileage engine and transmissions they also had in stock.
The 5.7 HEMI was then set into place with
the radiator in position to measure for radiator clearance and
to begin the fabrication of the new HEMI engine plates and
transmission crossmember. This is also a good time to
check for hood and engine accessories clearance.
S&P’s new aluminum
adapter plates allow the use of a GM style biscuit motor mount.
(Driver Side)
Adapter plates come with 10 mm flat head
bolts. Be sure to use anti-seize on all bolt threads.
(Passenger Side)
Due to the trucks 5 speed automatic
transmissions larger size, the transmission tunnel had to be
enlarged.
Since the transmission will be mounted
using the mount on the rear of the case, a sawzaw was
used to remove the rear tail housing pad to allow more rear
crossmember clearance.
With the engine and transmission in the
proper location, Mark was then able to bolt the engine biscuit
perch mounts into place. (Driver Side Right Photo, Passenger
Side Left Photo)
S&P street rod Chromex coated 5.7
HEMI header for the passenger side was installed to check for
clearance of the engine mount, knock sensor and crank sensor
The driver side header was also installed
to check for the engine mount, steering shaft and driver side
knock sensor clearance.
Charlie’s Oil Pans located in
Norton, Ohio, provided us with this mid sump aluminum oil pan.
We used this pan to provide more ground clearance because the
truck oil pan is much deeper. When you change the pan to a mid
sump, you must also have the oil pick-up tube modified.
With the engine and transmission in
place, the transmission tunnel cover was made to fit over the
new 5 speed automatic.
After painting, the stock valve covers
and accessories were triple chrome plated by S&P and then
reinstalled.
Once all the mounts were made, the engine
and transmission was prept for paint.
The Mopar P/S pump was replaced with a GM
pump and reservoir. The Mopar P/S pulley was machined to fit
the GM shaft. This change was made because the Mopar pump made
to much pressure for the Mustang rack used.
Here is the 5.7 HEMI detailed and Chromed
out by S&P ready to have the five speed automatic
transmission bolted on and installed into the ‘33 Dodge
four door sedan.