Is this a real Hemicuda?
A Hemi car is more than an old Chrysler with a big motor and funny valve covers. When Chrysler let the elephant loose on the streets, its engineers could envision the stock unibody Hemi cars lined up at the warranty gate with problems such as, twisted frames, torn-out left springs, gear lube dripping from shattered rear end, etc. Chrysler had to make some improvments to their Hemi cars.
Now, almost 30 years later, the Hemi car is one of the most colectible commodities known to modern civilization. Let me explain what's different on the Hemi cars than the normal car. We'll start with the actual unibody itself.
What a lot of Hemi owners don't know is that their prized Mopar super-coupe is actually a convertible with a steel roof and full unibody. Because it is stiffened in the rear bulkhead area, the Chrysler convertible unibody is much stronger than the regular hardtop unibody. The actual bulkhead being bigger and stronger, the convertible unibody also has a reinforced box that sits in front of each rear leaf spring and ties the bulkhead into the siderails. These torque boxes serve two purposes. Benefit of stiffening the chassis, and they also reinforce the forward leaf spring mounting perches (lessening the likelihood of tearing the rear end out of the car during a serious 1-2 powershift).
All Hemi cars came through with springs packed an extra half leaf on the passenger's side. This works out as five full springs and onehalf spring on the driver's side, and five full and two halves on the passenger's side. These suckers hold up the back of the car, and they do an excellent job of controlling the rear end torque unevenness and wheel hop. Now take a look at the rear. If the Hemi car is a 4-speed configuration, then the rear end has got to be of the massive and indestructible Dana 60 variety. There's only one exception to this rule, A handful of original '64 and '65 Race Hemi cars, which relied on Chrysler's standard 8 3/4 axle. All Street Hemi 4-speeds '66 and later were supposed to have the Dana.
The Dana was also an extra-cost option on most automatic Hemi cars and common on early B-bodies. The '69 and newer cars sporting the Trak Pak or Super Trak Pak options have the Dana as part of the package. Hemi car came with an extra-thick steel plate welded to the floor of the car, directly above the pinion snubber. This plate's existence can be confirmed with a visual inspection. This was designed so you can powershift on cobblestone streets without the rear end jumping into the back seat and smacking you in the back of the head.
Take a look at the fuel line. It should be a 3/8-inch inside diameter, as opposed to the standard 5/16-inch line used on most other cars. The fuel tank pickup is also 3/8 inch.
Move to the front of the car , we find the Hemi K-frame. Without major welding, there is no way to mount a Hemi motor on a standard V8 K-frame. There's a skidplate welded to the bottom of the K-frame to protect the Hemi's larger-than-normal 6-quart oil pan. The easiest way to tell the differance between the Hemi and the regular V8 K-frame is that the Hemi mounting brackets differ from side to side, and the regular V8 frame has similar mounts on both sides. The Hemi's unique motor mounts are due to the tight placement of the factory exhaust manifolds. The Hemi has no mounting ears on the side of the block. Instead, the mounts bolt right into the side of the block.
Hemi cars didn't come with air conditioning, so if the underdash area is packed cold air equipment, the dash has extra vents in it or the firewall has obviously been patched up, then it's not a real Hemi car.
All Street Hemi cars came through with the large radiator support and big radiator found in the A/C-equipped cars. This radiator is visibly quite bigger than the standard non-A/C piece and is difficult to change over.
On 1966 Hemi cars on the driver's side inner fenderwell you will find a bracket that holds the starter soleniod and horn relay, along with a Hemi-car-only wiring harness.
All Hemi cars came with side-mounted windshield wiper motors. This was to provide air cleaner and/or fresh air scoop clearance. Most of the windshield wiper motors were 3-speeds, but some were variables.
Remember, duplicating paperwork and switching tags is all to easy and common, so when you're buying a Hemi car, it is a lot easier to get burned than you think.
If you are thinking about making a replicar for yourself, all of the factory bits and pieces should be considered mandatory equipment for a safe, and quality package. Here's your guide for buying a true Hemi car and making sure it authentic. This is also a guide to help you make an authentic looking Hemi car. It's an expensive process to make a true looking Hemi car, but not impossable unless you have the cash.
