Chrysler 392 Hemi powered Hillman Husky

dlyle

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After years of work I'm getting close to completion of my 1957 Hillman Husky. This has been a long term project that has taken way too long. It's probably been 10 years in the making but have just really started to get serious about it in the last 5 or so years. These things take time.

I started with a 1957 Hillman Husky and added a 1957 Chrysler 392 hemi and an all aluminum 4 speed top loader. The 392 fits surprisingly well and looks like it belongs in there. Front end is a narrowed Heidts IFS and the rear end is a narrowed Maserati/Jag IRS. Exhaust is by SpinTech.

I finally fired it up for the first time a couple of months ago (motor was done in 2007 by Mike Kodenko) and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Down to the smaller details now but hope to have it on the road before too long.

If anybody knows where one of these is hiding let me know. I still need some parts like a hood and rear door among other things. Hoping to find them in the same color blue since I'm not going to paint the car.


Details of the build can be seen here:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1957-hillman-husky-392-hemi-build-thread.866779/

Doug
:------
 

michael-king

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Beautiful work, did you redrill the cobra top loader housing to fit the Chrysler block?

You have a husky tiger and a Chrysler husky... Should have done a post 66 car for the Chrysler conversion... Or you need to build a replica of the prototype Humber super snipe that had the hemi v8 :D
 

dlyle

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Beautiful work, did you redrill the cobra top loader housing to fit the Chrysler block?

You have a husky tiger and a Chrysler husky... Should have done a post 66 car for the Chrysler conversion... Or you need to build a replica of the prototype Humber super snipe that had the hemi v8 :D

Thanks Michael. There is a Wilcap adapter between the motor and the bellhousing. Wilcap makes many different kinds of adaptors. The bellhousing was also dual pattern so no drilling was required to mount the David Kee toploader. Did need some offset pins to get the bellhousing to block right though. Tom Hall put the two together and also did the hydraulic throw out bearing and all the pedals.

I just missed out on the prototype V8 Humber. Was sold by a guy in Los Angeles. I did get the license plate frame he had leftover.
 

tiger260

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Absolutely love it!

So pleased to hear that you're not going to paint it.
Just need to get those wheels dirty now and it will be perfect.
 

dlyle

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Absolutely love it!

So pleased to hear that you're not going to paint it.
Just need to get those wheels dirty now and it will be perfect.

Oh they're dirty all right. Not sure they've been cleaned since 1969. Couldn't stand the new 200s wheels as the valve stem now comes out the side of the rim and doesn't look right.

The front skinnies were tough to find. They are only 4.5" wide and most have been hidden away by the guys with gassers. I had to trade about 13 wheels to get them including a set of wheels huge wheels that came on my first Tiger. The tires were 295/15-50 and the fronts were 245/15-50.
 

Tiger tamer

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Very cool. Love these old Husky's and the convertibles. California is neat too.
I need to sit down and go through the build of this Husky to see how you managed to fit that monster in that engine bay. Doesn't look as though you have cut the firewall.

Cheers Mal
 

dlyle

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Very cool. Love these old Husky's and the convertibles. California is neat too.
I need to sit down and go through the build of this Husky to see how you managed to fit that monster in that engine bay. Doesn't look as though you have cut the firewall.

Cheers Mal

The build shows pictures of what was done to the firewall. Most of the time when you see these builds the firewall takes up too much room in the passenger compartment. I wanted to avoid that. With the early Huskys there is about an extra 7 inches of hood and engine compartment so the hemi really fits nicely. Most people comment on how it looks like it came from the factory that way. The engine sits behind the axle center line too so manual steering is pretty easy.

I was able to keep the floor mounted pedals and seats in their stock locations. We were even able to reuse some of the transmission tunnel. There is a little package tray that will hide everything we've done to the firewall. The radiator core support is also in its stock location and has the sheetmetal piece with rubber on top still in place. This seals the core support to the hood and directs air through the radiator. I had a special radiator built for it and it turns out to just be about .5" wider than a Tiger radiator. Probably could have used a Tiger Radiator.
 
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Tiger tamer

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Nice work Doug. I thought there must have been extra room in the engine bay over the later Husky to start with.

It will be interesting to see how cool it runs, though you probably have some idea now you have it running. Though you are in winter now.

Cheers Mal
 

dlyle

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Nice work Doug. I thought there must have been extra room in the engine bay over the later Husky to start with.

It will be interesting to see how cool it runs, though you probably have some idea now you have it running. Though you are in winter now.

Cheers Mal

Thanks Mal. Yes, lots of extra room. The frame on the earlier Husky is much more flat than the later Husky and that allows for some extra wiggle room around the exhaust manifolds etc. Was a little tricky figuring out the steering though since the hemi is so wide.

The hemi guys say the motors are not difficult to cool. This one is only .020 over so that should help. So far it runs right on the thermostat at 180.....and that was while a half gallon low on water. It is winter though so the true test will be this summer. I don't think cooling will be a problem though. If it does run hot then we'll make a fan shroud. We have some large cut outs on the fender wells that will hopefully allow some hot air to escape. Most of the air that comes in the front is forced to go through the radiator so it should be efficient.

My later Husky with the 302 is more crowded in the engine compartment and that one also runs at 180 with no fan shroud and no fender well openings. No electric fan on either car. I don't like the look.

Look how tiny a 260 looks in an early Husky. This could almost be done with stock suspension. I think these early Huskys are half a foot shorter than Tigers and the later Huskys too.
 

DD (CA)

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Awesome hillman... and AR hub cups?

Doug, thanks for sharing the build on jj... its incredible. I'll freely admit to being more than a little jealous of the project and the amount of knowledge in it... its great. That said, I'm also wanting of that cobra scattershield, lots of trick details in there...

I'm sneaking in a self serving question... before I cobble something else together...

The american racing plastic hub centers you have look identical to those i have for the 14" libre. I find myself missing a (1) metal cup and (1) of the bolts used to attach the cup to that plastic center. In your wheel quest, you happen to come across any extras? If no, I'll go back to AKH with the question...

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see it in the flesh...

Derek
 

dlyle

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. That said, I'm also wanting of that cobra scattershield, lots of trick details in there...

I'm sneaking in a self serving question... before I cobble something else together...

The american racing plastic hub centers you have look identical to those i have for the 14" libre. I find myself missing a (1) metal cup and (1) of the bolts used to attach the cup to that plastic center. In your wheel quest, you happen to come across any extras? If no, I'll go back to AKH with the question...

Thanks for sharing, can't wait to see it in the flesh...

Derek

Thanks Derek. There is a ton of knowledge sunk and gained in this car. Couldn't have done it without lots of mistakes and the help of many people. Have a great friend who is a machinist that was always eager to help. If I ever needed a spacer, flywheel drilled, custom bolt etc he was there to help....often last minute on a Friday afternoon. Leaned on Tom Hall for several different pieces including marrying the motor to the tranny and for doing the brakes, clutch, and pedals. Could have possibly struggled through it but wanted it done right:) Those pedals were not easy to figure out....for me at least. Tom seems to love that type of challenge so it was right up his alley.

For me it's all about the details and getting things the way I want them. That makes the build process slow. I'm working on redoing the oil gauge that sits on top of the motor. It's ok where it is but I want it in a different location so it looks better and is easier to see. I've had to buy all kinds of adapters, tee fittings etc because I want it a certain way. Every little detail requires a trip to the auto store, Summit or some kind of research to find the right solution.

The alternator bracket took months to get right. I bought five different brackets trying to find one that worked. Many of these had to be machined and customized before trial fit. One was a lower mount but the frame rail was too close. Another mounted up top on the driver side but would have required a 59" belt and that wouldn't work anyway because the thermostat housing was in the way. Another mounted on the passenger side but would have required pulley swaps and a few odd spacers. Finally had to make my own out of aluminum and polished it to look just right.

The rear wheels were another tough detail. The Maserati/Jag rear end needed to be narrowed down to less than 49" inches and I needed a wheel that would fit the wheel well. Through research I found the American Racing 200S wheels that are 7" wide are 8" outside to outside width. I learned they also made a 6 3/4" wheel that was only 7.5" wide. So a 1/4" narrower wheel that is actually 1/2" narrower. Of course these wheels have a peanut shank lug nut hole that needed to be drilled for "normal" lug nuts. This required another trip to my machinist friend Mark. It's these little details that take the time but make it all worth the effort in the end.

Those wheel caps you mention were another detail. In several years of looking I have only found those wheel caps come up for sale one time. There are plenty of snap-on caps that look the same but I wanted a cap that wouldn't fall off, get stolen, or rattle....and was original to the wheel. I managed to find a set and they're on the car now.

Nothing wrong with self serving questions here. I may just have one extra cap and cup from my wheel treasure hunt....and boy was it a hunt. For what it's worth this car started with the wheels. Went through magnesium wheels etc.....bought some from AKH too and that didn't work. I had my wheels decided on and purchased and then the build began. Needed them first so we knew how much to narrow the front and rear ends. Talked to a lot of guys that couldn't find a wheel to fit after narrowing a rear end. The guy I got my wheels from was a whole other story. He has everything. Need a wheel for a 1951 Indy Roadster or a Mickey Thompson Cross-Ram intake???? He had everything! Tractor trailers full of stuff. 427/435 HP Corvette motors, 409's, any kind of wheel for a hot rod. Was a lot of eye candy.

Anyway you're welcome to come down and help me dig through boxes to find that wheel cup. I had a set of those Libre wheels on my Tiger but they used round caps. Give me a measurement on the cap you have so we can make sure they are the same diameter.
 
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DD (CA)

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Too good! Hah!

The funny thing... I remember bidding on some of those caps 2-3 years ago, online but it was only really to try and get a single mounting cup. So my buy in idea was low and the car had no chance of being on the road, so I've not been looking at all. Typical attitude I suppose. Figures this would be tougher than I might expect.

I actually like the look of the round ones you're showing here, but nope mine are like yours with the fake nut. I'll have to measure the diameter and get back to you. I can see there may be more than a few iterations.

Very lucky to have Tom and gang to help with engineering, amazing resources locally.

Thanks so much for the parts bin offer, regardless of what I find on my end, will have to take you up on the offer to see the project(s) regardless.
 
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