What makes a hemi different from a maximum wedge? – Jalopnik

Let’s pretend it is May 1962 and you are a diehard Chrysler -Loyalist who loves dragracing. You could look for a used 392 Hemi, but good luck that the bottom of the bottom cannot be dressed after beating an 8-71 fan and walking nitromethane. Unfortunately, the 417 Donovan block with its 72-Stud-Lager belt is nine years away from the debut, so that will not help. However, you can set a pile of cash on a new “maximum performance” Wighthofig 413-Cubic-inch Best, simply called Max Wedge. You heard that Chrysler’s 413 pushed the 300F GT to a top speed of almost 145 mph on Daytona Beach in 1960, and now the engine is being prepared for a quarter of mile runs.

The 413 Max Wedge was a real monster, making it up to 420 hp, more than one horsepower per cubic inch. In 1963 the Max Wedge grew to 426 cubic centimeters and offered a maximum of 425 street-unfriendly horsepower, but it was not nearly the best Mopar offer. The Hemi returned in 1964. Boy, Chrysler just can’t stop the hemispheric combustion chamber. It always weighs the advantages and disadvantages of the Hemi and ultimately decides that the power is worth the disadvantages.

In a hemi, the combustion rooms, as the name suggests, are about half a turn, which enable massive valves, efficient combustion and excellent air flow. In a maximum wedge, the valves are directly next to each other and perform a single file in line with the cylinder banks. Although this ensures a lighter, cheaper Klept train and smaller overall dimensions, it limits the size of the valves and the power of the power. Nevertheless, a 413 Max wedge-driven Plymouth Savoy at nickname was the first factory stock car that ran in the 11s to the quarter.

Before we explore the ministeriae of the nomenclature of Chrysler and the details of the Max Wedge and Hemi engines in the early 1960s, we have technical differences further investigate. Inspect this photo and write down the variation in the design of piston and klept train. The upper half shows hemi components, including the flooded rocker arms needed to activate valves set under dramatic corners. The pushrods rise between the rocker shafts, and both inlet and outlet valves each get their own shaft. Also note the dome -shaped piston, which gives a good idea where the valves are in the head. The lower half of the photo shows the much easier wedge headstick train. Rockers work on a single rocker shaft and pushrods are more or less parallel. The piston is flat for all purposes.

Regarding Branding, in 1962, at Dodge, the engine was called the Ramcharger 413, and in Plymouth it was the Superstock 413. Basic compression was 11: 1 and good for 410 hp, but an optional main cracking 13.5: 1 compression version made 420 hp. While some modern engines need today’s premium gas, a Max-Wig with high compression 104-octaan Sunoco requires. Both engines had the coolest -looking “crossram” inlet with double carbohydrates with four barrel, forged internals, a high -lift cam and a bewildered oil pan.

In 1963 the relocation increased to create the Ramcharger 426 and Super Stock 426. Horse power to 415 for 11: 1 engines and 425 for 13.5: 1 engines. In May 1963, Chrysler made small improvements and called the engines “Ramcharger 426A” and “426 Super Stock II.” After some further refinement in 1964, the engines became the “426 Super Stock III” and the “Ramcharger 426 III.” These figures are where the “phase II” and phase III “nicknames come from.

Unfortunately for the Max Wedge, 1964 was the year that Chrysler brought the Hemi back. The “Race Hemi” moved 426 cubic centimeters and had 12.5: 1 compression. It even got aluminum heads in 1965. Thanks to the success, the “Street Hemi” was born. Although it had a lower compression ratio of 10.25: 1, a milder ridge and cast iron heads, it still had 425 hp and crushing performance. In the meantime, the WighOoofd did not died, it just became second banana. Chrysler hit it up to 440 cubic centimeters and used it in everything, from the comfortable Chrysler 300 Land Yacht to the sharp, Mustang/Camaro-Vecht Dodge Challenger and Plymouth ‘Cuda, where it made up to 390 hp.

In a horse race, manufacturers will do crazy things, and the sixties saw enormous experiments. Ford’s Single-Overhead-Cam 427 generated more than 600 hp and was sold through speed stores. Chevrolet added fuel injection to Corvettes and produced aluminum blocks for the rare ZL1 427. Pontiac’s RAM Air V heads had inlet gates so large that the only place for the push rods, good, directly through the harbor. Oldsmobile even developed a 32-valve 455 that, just like an LB7 Duramax diesel, still used an overhead valve setup. Chrysler even tried to push the engine technology forward with a huge prototype double overhead-cam Pentroof 426, which means that Dodge tried to dump Pushrod V8s at a certain moment.

And American Motors Corp. Was there, uh,. Look, the 390 and 401 are great engines, but apart from the 327 fuel-injected in 1957 that never actually achieved the Rambler rebel, the engines of the company were quite conventional. If you want a crazy AMC, view a Randall Gremlin 401-XR.