426 Hemi

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Oldschool said:
I have been running Hemi's for decades, since the early 1970's and I have a pretty good feel for them and what they like and how they run. Folks say that the 440 will run with a Hemi on the street -- it will for 1000 feet or so, but then the Hemi starts taking advantage of the head design and will pull away in high gear -- every time.
Then folks say that you can make a 440 run with a Hemi. That is true if you make mods to the wedge and not to the Hemi. But if you make the same mods to the Hemi, it will widen the gap on the wedge. Not knocking the wedge engines - I love them. It's that the Hemi head design is a superior design for making serious power.
My current car is the 9th Hemi car that I have owned. I have had everything from numbers matching stock ones to SS/BA 1965 A-990 Coronet. I have pretty much raced them all in one form or another. I can say this with confidence - I have never had a similar build wedge motored car from any brand drive around me on the big end. Never.
That is why I settled on the current build - my 1969 Hemi Cuda. It will run easy mid 9's in full street trim, N/A, pump gas, at 3500 pounds. The previous engine was 528 CI and lasted from 2003 - 2014 and it was still running fine when I pulled it out for a refresh. It now has 572 CI and makes an easy 840-850 HP. Tough to get that out of a wedge this easily. Anyway, that has been my experience with the Hemi's..

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this man knows what he`s talking about. do the same thing to a hemi as the wedge, take real guess !
 
the original post ..is the hemi the ultimate engine, not most powerful.
as many have pointed out there are many things to consider.
 
AA fuel hemis are 8000 hp...the undisputed champ!
For a street car how light can an 765 lb 426 gen 2 hemi be made with
alum. heads,intake etc?
 
Bout 1000 hp per cylinder. Roughly 60 ci. per cylinder. Thats about 1 liter,isnt it?
 
hangn0ut said:
Bout 1000 hp per cylinder. Roughly 60 ci. per cylinder. Thats about 1 liter,isnt it?
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Well about... 426 ci, is close to 7 liters... 7 liter is 427.17 to be exact.
I think reason Chrysler stopped under 7 liters had to do with NASCAR rules at the time...
 
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SSing said:
Well about... 426 ci, is close to 7 liters... 7 liter is 427.17 to be exact.
I think reason Chrysler stopped under 7 liters had to do with NASCAR rules at the time...
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The current Top Fuel engines are capped at 500 cubes I believe which is a hair over 8 liters
 
ir3333 said:
the original post ..is the hemi the ultimate engine, not most powerful.
as many have pointed out there are many things to consider.
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I could make a case for the small block chevy,flat 4 volkswagon even the v-12 jag. But hp is a big part of it. No doubt. Pull a valve cover on my street driven hemi and my 1500 or so hp blown alky hemi and what do you see? The same thing! Factory stock valvetrain. Stock stands,stock shafts(well almost. Heat treated and rechromed I believe.)stock rockers. Out of the box pieces from 40 something years ago. No roller tips or polylocks or stud girdles. Just factory stuff. Was at my engine mans shop. Good looking motor on a stand. Modular ford smallblock. Overhead cammed. He points out the timing chains. And some red anodized aluminum pieces. Chain tensioners and guides. $2500.00 worth. Granted,I run a gear drive on the blown motor. Its been on it since the 70s. What I'am getting at is hemis can be whatever you want so easily. Powerful stocker? Its all there. Blown monster? All there. And the recipe hasnt changed in 40 years.
 
ir3333 said:
..Is the 426 hemi the ultimate engine?
your thoughts?
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Like others here, I'd say :" It depends".
If cost & rules are no consideration & you have reasonable mechanical skills & like messing with engines, I'd say "yes". But notice all the conditions I put on it. Most guys don't want to mess with that stuff, don't have a bottomless wallet and do race with rules. The only other engine I'd say MIGHT be better, based on my friend who has one, is the old 427 Cammer. His is an aftermarket block & heads, but from what I learned helping him, the FE block isn't quite as strong, that chain is a PITA and adjustments on that are even more critical than on a Hemi. And expensive?!?!? foregetaboutit!
 
hemicop said:
Like others here, I'd say :" It depends".
If cost & rules are no consideration & you have reasonable mechanical skills & like messing with engines, I'd say "yes". But notice all the conditions I put on it. Most guys don't want to mess with that stuff, don't have a bottomless wallet and do race with rules. The only other engine I'd say MIGHT be better, based on my friend who has one, is the old 427 Cammer. His is an aftermarket block & heads, but from what I learned helping him, the FE block isn't quite as strong, that chain is a PITA and adjustments on that are even more critical than on a Hemi. And expensive?!?!? foregetaboutit!
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Point by point. Cost is a major consideration for most members here,I believe. Rules however not so much. And I would like to think all our members have at least reasonable mechanical skills and enjoy tinkering with our cars. Especially the engine. That is what these forums are all about. By the way,that sohc 427,its a hemi also. At least thats what I remember. But Chrysler put hemis into cars anyone could buy. Fords hemi was over the counter race motor.
 
hangn0ut said:
Point by point. Cost is a major consideration for most members here,I believe. Rules however not so much. And I would like to think all our members have at least reasonable mechanical skills and enjoy tinkering with our cars. Especially the engine. That is what these forums are all about. By the way,that sohc 427,its a hemi also. At least thats what I remember. But Chrysler put hemis into cars anyone could buy. Fords hemi was over the counter race motor.
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Oh it's definitely a hemi! I never let him forget it!:lol: But its rev potential and valve size make it a bit better ( in theory) than the OHV motors. The problem back then was that the FE casting & oiling system wasn't as good as Mopars so you had to worry about THAT along with the timing chain stretch, splitting the block & not getting too stupid with cam specs. The Cammers simply didn't require as much cam as an OHV motor to achieve similar performance.
As to the rules, the only place they could run back then was P/S, an FX class or the Modified ranks. The hardcore Stock or S/S fans simply had no place to run Ford's best engine! Seems like they (Ford) kind of defeated the whole purpose of building the engine themselves!
 
Cammer was built for nascar. Built quite a few when nascar said no,not allowing either hemi unless they came in cars available to the public. We know who put them in cars. A whole lot of cammers were then sacrificed at the temple of nitro. Connie Kallita,sneaky Pete Robinson even Don Purdhomme went through lots of cammers. I think it won 1 national event. Pete Robinson's fuel car was unusual. He sealed the injector intake to a bellypan to create a vacuum under the car for traction. At a national event his hired driver said it felt wrong and refused to drive it. Pete drove it himself,crashed and was killed.
 
It all amounts to "Cubic Dollars" and what you are willing to put up with.. If you want a Hemi be prepared to shell out the money to buy or build one. Guys that play with Hemis are also masochistic as they are a B _ t _ h to work on sometimes............. But nothing compares to the visceral appeal of big inch, aftermarket, Race Hemi sitting in an engine bay.
 
Here's an example....................

605 Hemi.gif
 
The worst $$$ part about putting together a Gen II Hemi isn't the
shortblock or even the heads. It's the @#$% set of stainless steel roller rockers and stands that will run $3-$4k !
 
I grew up dreaming of the aluminum v10, had a viper poster on my wall.

Different generations probably have different opinions on this. My son thinks the 6.1 in our 300 is the pinnacle (although the hellcat has probably surpassed that now)
 
Old Man Mopar said:
The worst $$$ part about putting together a Gen II Hemi isn't the
shortblock or even the heads. It's the @#$% set of stainless steel roller rockers and stands that will run $3-$4k !
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Will be using stock rockers and stands on the latest hemi. Its all aluminum and north of 1500 hp for less than 10k.
 
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