I have been working with a local (Colorado) guy named Steve on a C4 chassis build proposal for his 55 2DHT. He's really a Mopar lover, and has a couple of them, a nice late 60's Charger and a Cuda. He has always liked 55 Chevys to so he bought one and wants to do something unique with it. Steve contacted me and asked if it was feasible to install a 426 HEMI in a C4 conversion frame. I told him just about anything's feasible with enough time and money.

He bought a foam mockup block that I've put in a frame we've been building and have been doing some measuring for clearances. The tough thing is he doesn't want to cut the firewall, since it's already smoothed and ready for paint. So I have no choice but to move the engine forward as far as I need to for clearance. The oilpan he brought over has a center sump so it has to go since it hits the k-member....we'll find one with a rear sump. The HEMI engine has a skirt that extends below the main caps, so we can actually cut the front of the oilpan to make it flat to clear the steering rack since it sits over the top of it in that forward position.

I don't know for sure what he plans to do in the front of the engine but the water pump pulley extends all the way to the radiator support. He's going with a cross-flow radiator but the fan situation may be an issue. Personally I'd go ahead and cut the firewall and move the engine back some, but I don't know if I can get him past that roadblock. Plus the engine is 30" wide across the heads. He's kinda hung up on the fact that the body is in the body shop ready for paint and doesn't want to modify it now. Engine positioning is just about the last thing we do so we have time to figure that out.

I have done some measurements for hood clearance since he plans to use stack-type injection in the car. I think I can get him about 12" from the top of the engine block to the bottom of the hood. He says he can make the stacks shorter if needed so I hope that's enough clearance. I am unsure of transmission tunnel clearance and I'm betting he doesn't want to cut the tunnel either. We're trying to find a tri5 cowl section to see if it fits.

Here's a couple pictures of the foam mockup engine in a frame we used to build a clip that's going to Connecticut next week.

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I told him I can build the frame, locate the engine where he wants it and build the engine mounts but making everything else fit into his car is his responsibility in the end since I don't have the car to work with. He may need some custom headers too.

His frame will be a seamless one with an AME center section, C4 Dana 44 HD rear, C4 front suspension, the HEMI and a Chrysler automatic transmission.