Originally Posted by rscurtis

It's an original hemi car, not a clone, or "tribute car", the PC terminology used today. Actually, the engine ran perfectly, no noise, smoke, or blowby. The problem started when I installed an oil pressure gauge, and watched it drop below 10# on a hot engine. It also had a small leak at the rear main seal, I wanted to install the period-correct solid lifter cam, and I have to do some work on the RH exhaust manifold, so I figured the easiest way to deal with it was to pull the engine. I know some of the history of the car, it would appear it was drag raced at one point, which could explain the demise of the original engine. The block was cast in May of 1970 and is not VIN stamped, which tells me this was a service block or service engine. The VIN pad is stamped with the name "JOE LENNON", whoever that is. When I had it in the stand, the first thing I did was run the oil pump with a drill and saw the oil flood out around the lifters. They all have about .008-.009" clearance, but the spec is about .0015". I don't know if they wear this way or if it was not machined properly at some point. The passenger side bores have already been sleeved, but they're just a loose as the virgin side. The crank was obviously cut at some point, but it's way below factory specs. for an undersize. The good news is that the cylinders are only .010 over, and the rings are at the low spec. on their gap. They're not even broken in yet.
295 Coronet 440's were built with the hemi option in 1966. Here are a few more pictures. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/open-discussion/360233-got-new-project.html