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| · Mopar Performance · | 07.28.2006 |
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Diamonds in the Rough
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In the past 40-plus years, DaimlerChrysler has built many engine/car packages that could be considered “rare.” Many people may have these special vehicles and want to rebuild them or, perhaps, turn them into what is called a “clone” car. |
Over 40 years, engines can rack up a lot of mileage and there are parts of the engine that do wear out with time. In this short article (by Larry’s standards – Ed.), I will not have time to address the numbers matching restoration approach. Instead, I will consider the major parts like blocks and heads, because they do wear out or fail.
In the shades-of-gray clone approach or other duplication projects, there are some easy upgrades that can be added to your project. There are also sleepers to consider. Our main concern will be the basic assumption that you want to drive the vehicle when completed. This driving consideration means that even if you have all the original parts, numbers match and all that, you may not want to wear out those parts — so you put them aside and drive a duplicate set. The engines are in no particular order, but we will begin with the Hemi®.
The 426 Hemi was introduced in 1964 and used a “K” cast iron head. In 1965, the Hemi got an aluminum head. Both of these used a unique Hemi valve cover, which is really hard to find (and expensive). On these cars, use the new cast iron head (P4529898) or the new aluminum head (P4529336) and the new (1966–1971 style) Hemi valve cover (P4529339, black).
For all 426 Hemi engines, replace the block with P5007668. The 1964–1965 and 1968 race Hemi engines all used an 8-barrel crossram setup. Today the cross-ram manifold is P5007534 and the two special Holley carbs are P4452778-9. The air horns used on these packages are P5007809.
The street Hemi engine package was introduced in 1966 and used a mechanical cam. The 1968–1969 mechanical cam is P4529316. The 1968–1969 cam is larger than the 1966–1967 cam, so it becomes an easy upgrade for the earlier engines. The 1970– 1971 Hemi engines used a hydraulic cam (P4529315). Use single valve springs (P3690933, the 1970–1971 parts).
Also, the street Hemi engines used two AFB inline carbs, available from Edelbrock. In the mid-’60s, there was also a special marine intake manifold — an in-line 8-barrel, but for use with Holley carbs (P4510633). The location of the Holley floatbowls required the carb-pad spacing to be somewhat greater on this marine intake. The marine intake is slightly better than the production in-line.
You can use AFB carbs on the marine intake, but you can’t use Holley carbs on the production intake. Yes, there was a single 4-barrel package in the first couple years, but these manifolds are very, very hard to find. The large bathtub, circle track, single 4-barrel manifolds are somewhat more readily available. Although they may look neat, they do not drive at all. Use single 4-barrel intake (P4876188) for any 1–4 barrel package that has to be driven.
The Slant Six was introduced in 1960. There were millions produced. The rare ones were the 1960–1961 Hyper Pak and the 1975–1976 Feather Duster. The Hyper Pak used a long runner, 4-barrel intake package, which is almost impossible to find today.
 The aftermarket version of this intake manifold is a short runner 4-barrel. It should only be used in racing applications. What you would like is the large runner, aluminum 2-barrel intake (P4529115). This manifold is no longer sold by Mopar Performance. However, it was sold for 10 to 15 years. So if you can find one, it is worth the investment.
The small 4-barrel carbs that are available today are much too large for 225 cubic inches, so you want to stay with a 2-barrel carb with 350 cfm or less. Note: The production engines typically used a 1-barrel carb. The production cam was very small, so upgrade to a mechanical cam (P4120243) which has 244 degrees duration and .436" lift.
All of the production heads used 1.50" intake valves and 1.36” exhaust valves. The hot tip in the old days was to cut down 392 Hemi valves for high-performance applications, but that is no longer required. Use 1.70" intake valves (P4286785) and 1.44" exhaust valves (P4286786) — both are stainless.
The 440 6-barrel package was introduced in 1969 and was available through 1971. These are very popular packages for both street and race applications. These engines can be completely rebuilt or duplicated, starting with the block (P5007672) honed to 4.32" bore-size. Cast iron heads (P4529992) use the stock 2.08" and 1.74" big block valve sizes.
The aluminum 6-barrel intake manifold (P4529056) is available, along with all the carbs and linkages. The 3.75” forged-steel crank is P5007251, and the 6-barrel cam is P4529270. Also use valve springs P3690933. The cold air air cleaner is P5007737AB, while the non-cold air version is P4529057AB.
The high-performance version of the 440 4-barrel package is called the A134 and was introduced in 1967. It can use the same heads and block as the 440 6-barrel listed above. The production intake manifold was a dual-plane intake and made of cast iron.
The dual-plane intake (P4529118) is made of aluminum, but painted an engine color, it looks almost the same as the cast iron unit. The A134 cam is P4452783. It is similar to the 6-barrel part except that it has one attaching bolt, while the 6-barrel one has three attaching bolts. To help the heads flow more air, use stainless valves P5249199 (2.08” intake) and P5249201 (1.74” exhaust). This trick also works on the 6-barrel.
The 1972 through 1978 400 and 440 4-barrel engines used Thermo-Quad carbs and matching cast iron intake manifolds. The 383 and 440 aluminum intake manifolds can be used on these engines by using the TQ adapter (P4007522). These allow the TQ carb to be used on a standard carb pad manifold or it allows a standard type carb like a Holley to be used on the TQ-style manifolds. Note: Parts for the TQ carb are quite hard to come by today. The A134 parts also fit these engines.
The Max Wedge engine was introduced in 1962 as a 413. In 1963–1964, the Max Wedge engines were 426s. The 426 Max Wedge block, honed to 4.25” bore is P5007671*. Do not try to over bore the 413 block to the 426 bore size — the bore walls will get too thin!
It would be easy to use the 426 size in place of the 413, but if you must have an actual 413 bore size, then it would be best to sleeve the 426 down to size. Originally, the 426 Max Wedge and 440 race blocks were left rough bored at around 4.18”.
Remember that a rough bored block still has to be finish bored and then honed to size, so this would be too risky. The cast iron Max Wedge head number is P5007494. Most of the Max Wedge engines were built as cross-rams. The cross-ram intake is P5007330. There were a few single 4-barrel Max Wedge intakes, but they are very, very hard to find. For single 4-barrel applications, use P4876337.
The 4-cylinder 2.2 engine was introduced in 1981. The Turbo I version of the 2.2 was introduced in 1984 and produced through the early 1990s. The 2.2 Turbo II version was introduced in 1986 in the Shelby GLHS.
The most unique version was the 224 hp, 4-valve version called the R/T. These special parts, like the cams and valves, are available through Mopar service (your local dealer), but not through Mopar Performance.
 There are millions of 383 “B” engines built from 1962 through 1971. There was an in-line, 8-barrel carb package, rated at 335/343hp in 1962. A similar manifold is available from the aftermarket. The carbs were small AFBs (Edelbrock).
In 1968 the 383 became the base engine in the Road Runner package (and Super Bee). It used an AVS carb, which is available now from Edelbrock. Although produced with a cast iron intake manifold, use the aluminum manifold (P4529117), which looks almost the same once it is painted an engine color.
The Holley carbs used on 1970–1971 engines also fit. There is also a 6-barrel intake (P4529055), which uses the 440-6 carbs, linkage, air cleaner, etc. Although not an actual production package, it is still a very nice performer. The heads, valves and cam are the same as the A134 discussed above.
In 1972 the 383 evolved into the somewhat larger 400. The 400s were all built with 8-to-1 compression ratios and the TQ carb. There is also a 361 version, which used a smaller bore with the same stroke. There was a 4-barrel version of the 361 that was built up through 1966. With these early “B” engines, it is best totry to upgrade to a 383 Road Runner engine package.
The 340 6-barrel package was used in the Trans-Am “E” bodies in 1970. They had the highest rated horsepower of any DaimlerChrysler small block at 290 hp. They had a lot of unique pieces. The 340-6 used a special 340 HD block (P5007552). It has P4876785 aluminum heads.
There is a trick to this! The original 340-6 used offset rocker arms and the heads had the pushrod holes moved over. Several years ago, Mopar Performance made special 340 heads with the pushrod holes moved over like the original 340-6. No one wanted them! So they were dropped. The head listed above has the pushrod holes in the standard 340 location so, to use them, you use the non-offset rocker gear — standard stamped 340 hydraulics or 16 T/A or W2 exhaust rockers for mechanicals.
The 340 high-performance cam is P4452782, commonly called the 206. Use the 340 valve springs (P4120249). You could replace the stroke crank (3.31") with a special 3.58" stroke (P5007257 cast; P5007253 forged) and increase the stock displacement to 368" (commonly built at 372 using a .030” over-size bore). The 6-pack intake manifold is P4529054 and the 6-pack carbs (different from the 440s) and linkage are available from Mopar Performance.
 The 340 engine was introduced in 1968 as a single 4-barrel package. Use the aluminum 4-barrel intake manifold P4876335 — it looks very similar once it is painted engine color. The 1968 through 1970 340s used AVS carbs, now available from Edelbrock.
The 1971 through 1973 versions used the TQ carb. I recommend only considering the 1972–1973 versions. Use the same heads as above. Also use valves P5249185 (2.02" intake) and P5249187 (1.60" exhaust). Both are stainless and offer flow advantages over the production valves.
One small detail: The 1972–1973 340 engine used the 360 head (P5007950) and smaller intake valves (1.88"). This head is no longer sold by Mopar, but it has the 576 or 308 (last three digits) casting numbers. Definitely worth the effort to obtain!
The 360 was introduced in 1971, but no one took notice until it became the “E58” option. This meant that the E58 option got all of the 340 hardware, which made it a great street (or race) performer. It was used in the 1974–1976 A-bodies, the ’74 E-body, the 1976 and newer F-MJ bodies, and the 1978–1979 L’il Red Express truck. The 360 engine used the small-valve version of the high-performance head. The 308 and 576 casting numbers are strongly recommended. The 1.88” stainless, high-flow valves are P4876397.
This leaves the 318 4-barrel package. Most people do not even know that DaimlerChrysler even built these. Actually, they were introduced in 1978 and were called either the E46 or E48 option — the 318 4-barrel. Given a choice, you would like to use the “302” casting, which has the full, heart-shaped combustion chamber. But if you don’t have them, they are hard to find. They are not serviced and were not sold by Mopar Performance. The next best choice is to upgrade to the 360 head — 308 or 576 casting, but do not install oversized valves. Also use a one step smaller cam than you would in the 340/360 versions.
I have deliberately left one special package out. It is the 1966 275 hp, 273 D-Dart! Only 50 were built and very few people know about them. If you have one or want to build one, I would strongly recommend upgrading to a 318 short block. Otherwise, I would sleeve a 318 block down to the 273’s 3.63" bore size. You should use the 360 as listed above. I would recommend the aluminum 4-barrel intake (P4452891) for similar appearance, but a P4529116 intake will drive better. The original D-Dart had a mechanical cam, so I’d recommend P4529346, which has .490" lift. There are other larger cams, but they won’t drive as well. |
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