Max-Wedge cars

From an engineering standpoint, Chrysler Corporation's maximum-performance horsepower hardware for 1962 was built into the most advanced new car offerings of all time. Not only did they package their action in the lightest of all the full-size vehicles available from the domestic auto makers, but Chrysler also executed their offerings in the most radical fashion.

And when you consider that the Corporation didn't even offer a reasonably sized performance car before the '62 model run (their 413 engine had been available in only in the biggest and heaviest Chryslers in the line), the release of the short-ram 413 wedge engine in Dodges and Plymouths was truly a forward-looking move.

Built up around better breathing for their biggest incher, the 413 engine block itself received little special attention outside of main-cap hardness checks and unique valve unshrouding notches cut into the top of each cylinder's bore. Crankshaft, connecting rod and piston forgings were of the highest grade available, while the long-duration solid-lifter camshaft and the adjustable rocker train were already-proven pieces borrowed from the well-tested Chrysler 300 letter-series line. The biggest performance improvers, however, involved new cylinder head and manifolding designs intended to move the maximum amount of air through a motor in a given unit of time.

The all-new race-oriented max-wedge heads had 25-percent-larger ports, a full 1/8-inch-bigger exhaust valves, reshaped intake valves, stiffer dual valve springs, no heat passage to the intake manifold and restructured deck surfaces for added clamping rigidity. Stainless steel head gaskets were also included for improved head-to-deck sealing, forged 13.5:1 pistons, shot-peened rods, hard copper/lead main and rod bearings, high-volume oil pump, baffled oil pan, and a completely new valve train with a solid-lifter, 300° camshaft. The only trouble with the dual valve springs was that valve-stem seals wouldn't fit.
This resulted in '62 413s suffering from excessive oil consumption�as much as a quart every 50 - 100 miles. Still, the owner's manual said the engine was safe to 6500 rpm�but for sustained bursts not longer than 15 seconds.

To top things off, the factory engineers developed a one-piece alloy intake manifold designed to use air flow pulses to help fill the cylinders. The intake was the unique short cross-ram Chrysler's cross-ram featured 15-in.-long manifolds criss-crossing over the engine and big Carter AFB 4-barrels mounted on integral plenum chambers above each valve cover.

The layout was a natural evolution of the long-ram manifolds Chrysler had used in the '60-'61 period. The internal runners' capacity, the size and shape of the dual undercarb plenums and the location of the carbs on the plenums were all resolved in a single compact casting specifically intended to feed the '62 413's high-flow cylinder heads. Assists in the inlet system were also provided by a multi-valved high-pressure fuel pump and by unsilenced, low-restriction air cleaners for the twin Carter AFB carbs. The new cross-ram aluminum manifolds were good for an extra 10-15 HP.

The all-new upswept exhaust manifolds were also quite exotic in appearance. Huge iron castings looped up over the fenderwells to carry individual passages back to big 3-in. headpipes and all indications were that the large-capacity tuned castings were every bit as effective as they looked.

Huge iron castings looped up over the fenderwells to carry individual passages back to big 3-in. headpipes. There truly was nothing else like them in the industry.

62-63 ramcharger exaust manifolds

Breathing efficiency was further enhanced by what, to this day, amounts to the most complete street and strip exhaust system ever installed on any assembly-line automobile. The headpipes were designed with dump tubes that could be quickly uncapped for street or strip racing. a balance tube connecting the headpipes helped to quiet down and to tune up the waste flow. Backed by dualhigh-capacity New Yorker mufflers, the system efficiently terminated in full-length, 2-inch tail-pipes. The system was so efficient that the engine lost only 30�40 HP with the dump tubes capped!

The headpipes were designed with dump tubes that could be quickly uncapped for street or strip racing. a balance tube connecting the headpipes helped to quiet down and to tune up the waste flow.

One with 11.0 to 1 compression ratio rated at 410 Hp @ 5400 rpm. and the
other a whopping 13.5 to 1 rated at 420 Hp @ 5400 rpm.

The 413-engined "Ramcharger" Dodge and "Super Stock" Plymouth packages also included extra-duty running gear and standard-style high-performance support equipment for all (suspension, fuel, cooling, electrical and lubrication) on-board systems.

Reported performances include a showroom-stock clocking of 14.4 at 101 mph for a 3440-pound, 3.91:1-geared, street-tired Dodge that was also equipped with an optional automatic transmission. Chrysler's three-speed Torqueflite was the only non-standard-shift factory trans ever fitted to an assembly-line super stocker, and what's more, gear changes with this unit were made by simply pushing a button! Using a pair of sticky Atlas Bucron tires, this same car, running with the exhaust cutouts open, clocked a 13.44 quarter at 109.76 mph. A 4.56:1-geared manual trans version of the 413 Dodge used basic strip tuning, tubing headers and 7-inch-wide M&H race tires to record a quarter-mile test best of 12.97 at almost 114 mph.
The 413's performances regularly put it into the winners' circles in both straightaway and speedway action.