1957 Chrysler 392 Hemi Engine & Casting Numbers

I bought two early Chrysler Hemi Engines that I accidentally found in an old salvage yard. One is a 1951 Chrysler 331 and the other one is a Chrysler 392 hemi that came out of a 57 New Yorker. The 331 hemi is a complete engine and is all together. The 392 hemi engine was disassembled so I wanted to check some engine and casting numbers before I paid for it.

It’s easy to find what the engine numbers and castings numbers are for these old Hemi Engines, but there is not a lot of information available about where some of the engine and casting numbers are located. Sixty plus years of grease and grime don’t help either.

 

Possibly the most important number is on the block itself. The engine number. All early Hemi engine numbers are stamped on the top of the block in front of the valley cover. This number identifies what size hemi it is, what year it is and what kind of vehicle it was in. Mine is a 1957 392 out of a New Yorker, and NE57 is the correct engine number for this hemi engine.

 

The engine block casting number is on the top of the block too, on the passenger side roughly above the third cylinder. A 57 392 hemi block casting number is 1673729. The correct casting number is on the engine. If you look closely at the front of the block you can see the engine number stamp.

I felt better knowing it was the correct 392 hemi block. Other parts like connecting rods, pistons and heads are fairly easy to identify. I wanted to make sure the crankshaft was from a 392 hemi too, but I could not find any information online about where the crankshaft casting numbers are found on the hemi crankshaft. The correct number for the 57 392 Hemi Crankshaft is 1673755.

After I cleaned lots of grime from years of storage I found the correct casting number in two locations on the 392 hemi crankshaft. One was cast into the side of the third counterweight from the front of the crankshaft. I found the same number on the side of the fourth counterweight from the front of the crankshaft. (Below) I don’t know if the number was always put on the 3rd and 4th counterweights (probably not) but it’s probably safe to say it will be on the side of one of the counterweights.

Now I just need to rebuild it and find the right vehicle to put it in. A couple of candidates I have are a 62 Chrysler 300H or my 1983 2-wheel drive Dodge Ramcharger.

Mark Polk

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