In the Army, there are little tech magazines that come out called PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly. They’re comic book-style drawings combined with technical information that are used to not only get the attention of a G.I. who has a few minutes of time on their hands, but can even be used to push information out in a swift manner. The adventures of Master Sergeant Half-Mast, Connie Rodd and other helpers provided information of all types to soldiers. These bits of information went well past what the schoolhouse would teach you before you were cut loose to the world of the military. Case in point: for my job classification, I was in school for nearly a year…and it was barely scratching the surface of what I would learn over the next several years. It’s handed-down knowledge that comes from those who do know that really works in hands-on situations.

And I couldn’t help but get that feeling watching this 1951 technician training video from Chrysler. The FirePower engines were the first round of hemispherical headed V8 engines to hit the market. Powerful and potent, the 331ci FirePower had the grunt to move Imperials, New Yorkers, and could create a deafening blast from the Chrysler Air Raid Siren, still the loudest siren ever created. But in 1951, this was a far cry from the flathead six and the straight-eight that came before. And those techs at the dealership had to know how to work on those machines to make them run right! With the help of “Tech”, dive into the depths of a 331 and it’s new-for-1951 advancements. Shame nobody in this video knew what “hemi” would mean in a few short years…