I call the four door 1954 Chrysler Windsor I bought “Grandma.” She is big, fat, 67 years old and a little wrinkled; my kind of gal since I am 90 and consider her to be “youthful.” Grandma was created with a flathead six-cylinder engine. I decided to give her a pep up by transplanting a 331c.i. hemi from a rambunctious 1955 C300 that passed away but donated its 300hp engine. The engine has been totally rebuilt as I described in a previous blog. Once up and running, Grandma will have more than double her original power. I wish I could get that deal!
The transplant team consisted of Johnathon Douden, Jay Severson, and myself. Johnathon is a professional mechanic who, on his days off, likes to do more mechanical work. Jay, whose daughter is my neighbor, is new to the team. He is a retired senior elevator technician who, after enduring the ups and downs of his job, has retired (you knew that was coming). I am not sure that he knew what he was in for by joining my team, but he showed up and performed heroically.
The site of the procedure was my garage, which has all the specialized apparatus, including a 1000-pound chain hoist hanging from the rafters and a “cherry picker” engine hoist rated at 1000 pounds when extended. Since the hemi with the transmission attached weighs over 1000 pounds, we elected to put our faith in the conservative rating that we are sure the Chinese used when they build tools like this.
The pre-transplant procedure requires that the torque converter, adapter plate, and bell housing be attached to the block. These are very routine tasks, which of course are anything but routine. The torque converter has 8 studs that fit into the end of the crankshaft, and then have to be anchored tight with bolts, which require getting started by using long pliers and agile finger and thumb balance as there is no room for any tools. Jay got all of them secured using admiral patience and dedication – and he only skinned one finger. We eagerly started installing the irreplaceable aluminum adapter plate, which, in theory, should only take a few minutes, but actually took over an hour. The aftermarket oil filter adapter barely touched the edge of the adapter but ended up making it impossible to install it by just a hair.
This resulted in the following sequence on my milling machine:
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“Wow – that did it!”
But the plate seats now won’t go all the way down! It just needs to go a little further. Some dye checking revealed that the opening was just a little too tight.
Back to the milling machine and . . .
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“Wow – that did it!”
Jay got the privilege of putting the torque converter back on. His proficiency improved with this additional experience, and this time he only skinned a knuckle.
Now for the bell housing. This also, in theory, should only take a few minutes to bolt on. The team agreed that we should first trial fit the aftermarket 12-volt starter that will replace the “guaranteed to fail” 6-volt original starter. The new starter fit perfectly, and Johnathon tested it to be sure that it would engage properly. Before that step, we had to figure how to bolt it to the bell housing as the top hole lined up, but there was no stud or bolt up possibly due to a size mismatch.
We put the bell housing on the milling machine to modify it to take a bolt with the resulting operational sequence:
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“There – that should do it! Nope – needs a little more removed.”
“Wow – that did it!”
The last pre-transplant procedure was to bolt the transmission to the bell housing, which should be easy. AND IT WAS!
Phase 2
The engine is now fully ready for installation in the car. This is an “all hands-on deck with paid up insurance policy situation.” Johnathon (being the youngest and strongest) was assigned to the pit where he would maneuver the tail shaft onto the cross member, and advise the two of us located top side how to maneuver the engine dangling on the cherry picker. In most shops, the team member that does this lays flat on his back on the concrete under jack stands hoping to avoid a crushed skull if the hoist fails. Johnathon being in the safety of the pit could artfully dodge away should the engine decide to smash through the floor on its way to the center of the earth. To avoid this misfortune, the team decided to erect a safety pole to add support to the fully loaded cherry picker arm.
When lowering an engine into the engine compartment, it is essential to know that everything interferes with everything to the point where you think that it will be impossible to make it fit onto the engine mounts. The hoist operator has to have a very deft hand on the piston control of the lifting ram. One little excess twist on the valve, and an expensive fix happens. I happen to be a virtuoso when it comes to valve control. I know the significance of every creak of the ram and can respond to it with finesse.
The sparse conversation goes something like this:
“Up a little higher.”
“Roll the car forward.”
“Down easy now.”
“Push it, Push it.”
“Stop. Stop. You are on the drag link.”
“Not so fast, damn it!”
“I need help – this is too heavy!”
“We are crushing the heater box! Go back up.”
“Pry bar, pry bar – only off a quarter of an inch now.”
This dance goes on until finally we hear: THUNK.
The engine mounts settle safely into the frame mounts, and the tail shaft is on the cross member.
BEER TIME!!!
Phase 3,4,5 ——
Stay tuned!