| Supercharged '55 Dodge Truck |
| Mopar Muscle PentaSTARS |
| January 2005 |
| Mopar Muscle PentaSTARS |
| October 2005 |
| That Thing Got a Hemi? |
| May 2005 - My goal for a couple of years now has been to put a Hemi in the '55 and I have finally gathered almost all of the parts I need. I have ported heads with stainless valves, roller rockers, cam lifters and push rods, a stroker billet crank, and a complete 10-71 supercharger setup. I just purchased a Mopar Performance block on eBay, so all I need now are pistons and rods. The block will go to the machine shop for finish hone, line hone, decking and lifter indexing. I'll need to do some slight modifications to the firewall, fabricate engine mounts, and modify the cross-member a bit. Once the engine is installed I'll be off to DAH Headers to have Doug make some custom headers (again! he made my 440 headers). Although it's been hard not to show the '55 at this year's car shows, getting the blown Hemi installed should make next year's shows really great! Photos and more details coming soon... |
| ENGINE - OLD 440 |
| '68 marine 440 block bored 30 over, line-bored and decked |
| TRW 8.5 to 1 forged pistons, six-pack rods, forged steel crank, all internally balanced |
| '906 heads, three angle valve job with hardened exhaust seats, pocket ported and gasket matched, Comp Cams springs and retainers |
| SSI hydraulic cam, pushrods and rockers, Cloyes timing chain, BDS crank hub |
| Six-quart Hemi oil pan and 1/2" pickup, Milodon high-volume oil pump and windage tray |
| 6-71 large bore Mooneyham blower, BDS blower manifold, RCD drive snout and 8mm pulleys, Littlefield 1440 8mm belt, Mooneyham carb adaptor, two 650 cfm Holley double pumpers, Enderle dual-quad throttle linkage, BDS fuel lines, Aruzza high-performance fuel pump |
| Custom made headers by DAH, 2" primary tubes, 3-1/2" collectors, ceramic-coated inside and out |
| July 2005 - Out with the old, in with the new! I sold my 440 to Shawn Morton in Iowa to install in his beautiful red '68 R/T Charger. I completely refreshed it with new rings, bearings, cam and lifters, timing chain, oil pan and pickup, and a complete valve job. Then gave it a fresh coat of paint to match the color of his Charger. The cam was broken in on the run-up stand and then the heads were re-torqued, the oil was changed, and it was ready to be crated. I needed to come up with a way that Shawn could lift the entire assembled engine, blower and all, out of the crate and drop it into his car. So, lifting brackets were made out of angle iron and bolted onto the exhaust studs with lifting points at each end. By using two ratchet straps it was possible to lift the engine and lower it into the crate complete with the blower, carbs, air filters, and the works. Shawn said he loves the engine and how it looks in his Charger. He's always wanted a blown 440 and now he has one that I know he will enjoy as much as I did. |
| Frame & Suspension |
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| '66 Imperial 8-3/4" rear end with 3.55 to 1 SureGrip, Dutchman axles and leaflink rear suspension |
| Body & Paint |
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| Rhino-lined bed, cab, firewall and running boards |
| The Story |
| I bought my '55 Dodge truck from an impound yard several years ago and while it was in pretty worn out condition, it was also very straight. After it suffered a complete brake failure that led to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and ripped the front suspension out, I decided to turn it into a nice street truck. I tore it down all the way to the frame and grafted on a '67 Chrysler Imperial sub frame, along with a '66 Chrysler Imperial 8-3/4" rear end housing and a leaf-link setup with Dutchman axles and 3.55:1 posi. The frame was boxed and a custom 1x2 x-member ties the suspension points together. |
| Next, I put in a '68 440 block bored .030 over, TRW 8.5:1 forged pistons, forged crank, six-pack rods, '906 heads, SSI hydraulic cam, Mooneyham large bore 6-71, BDS intake, and two Holley 650 double-pumpers. The carbs are fed from a rear mounted 16-gallon fuel cell supplying a custom Aruzza Hemi fuel pump via 1/2" stainless steel line. The truck runs an 11" clutch and a 4-speed. For exhaust it has custom 2" headers, ceramic-coated inside and out, and a 3" Flowmaster system. |
| '74 Newport spindles and disk brakes, custom steel wheels with TA radials up front and 18.5" x 31" Mickey Thompsons in back keep it glued to the road. The interior has a '66 Chrysler Imperial tilt column, '91 Chrysler LeBaron power windows, door latches and locks, custom wiring, and the stock seat. |
| To spruce up her looks, body and paint ('70 Ford Mach 1 Red) is by Perfect Auto Body in Redondo Beach, CA, and the cab interior, running boards, and bed are Rhino-lined. |
| The end result of my blood, sweat and tears is the truck you see in front of you. These great old Dodge trucks are worth the effort and are here to stay! |
| Page last modified: July 29, 2006 |
| "Mopar" is a registered trademark of DaimlerChrysler and mopar5150 is not in any way affiliated with nor sponsored by DaimlerChrysler. |
| August 2005 - After talking with Dan Dvorak of Dvorak Machine in Florida, we decided that 517 cubic-inches will be the ideal displacement for a great street-stompin' blown Hemi. I'm crating up my new Hemi block, heads, crank, rockers and shafts to send to Dan and he will do all the machine work, the engine blue-printing, and final long block assembly. He'll provide custom pistons, rods, push rods, solid roller cam and lifters, and of course, a little bit of Dvorak magic. Dan isn't the only one mixing up Dvorak magic these days. His young son, Danny, is now building 426 1/4-scale Hemi models and I've ordered mine already! |
| June 2007- well the HEMI is here and on the run-up stand ready to run. I am going to replace the current front suspension with a 1978 volare front end and 2" x 4" metal tubing. To see step by step photos of the progress go to our blue sky website. |