354 Hemi. How good is it?

[sofa_king]

Hello,

Sorry to be a pain in the rear here, I was just wondering if anyone out there could tell me how strong and good of a motor the 354 Hemi is ?
Is it at all compareable to the 392 or even a 440 ? Sorry but just looking for these answers before I go too much further.

sofa_king

[TrWaters]

There are two schools of thought here. #1 : there is no replacement for displacement.
#2: Nothing looks like a hemi.

It all has to do with your application and personal preferrence.

TrWaters

[m139]

I have had 3 354 hemis and still have 2, one is a runner in a 1958 dodge semi tractor with 19,000 certified miles on it. As to how good they are, I used to work with a man that ran a slingshot dragster in the 1960's with a nitro-burning blown 354. while talking to him about these engines he claimed that the 354 was better than the 392 due to a stiffer block, shorter stroke, and better rod ratio, allowing them to run more rpms and still achieve the same output that a 392 would as a result. all of the early hemis are exceptional motors from a material and design standpoint. They are over-designed in the strength department and use good forgings and high nickel castings thruout. They also have oiled replaceable valve guides and replaceable stellite exhaust seats making them compatible with unleaded gas. in their blown 354 they ran a stock crank stock rocker train, and stock rods. as well as stock block ans heads with some modifications to the above and the motor was very reliable even on nitro. are the bottom ends as strong as a 440? well that depends on the 440 some had cast cranks, some had cast steel cranks, and there were also 2 versions of forged steel crank. Generally though I would say that the 354 will produce about the same or more H.P. although at a higher rpm than the 440 with about the same mods and the same or better reliability. the 354's also ruputedly had better flowing heads than the 392's due to the port profile. whth the way the deck and lifter galley of the hemi is designed and with those STIFF heads bolted on I would say the the blocks aer probably stiffer than a 440's even without the deep skirt design.