I have a buddy in Michigan who has come across a complete, stock, street wedge with a crossram and carbs. The guy who has it wants to sell it to him but we are trying to come up with a price. I am not sure of the year but I do know that it ran when it was pulled and was replaced with some sort of crate eingine!!! Anyway, if anyone may know of a rough price estimate I would appreciate it. Thanks HAMB Hack
Depends if it's a Stage 1, Stage 2, or Stage 3.. Heads and intake are big bucks right now. Original Cross Ram and carbs alone are well north of 2k Bill
Street wedge did not come with 2x4s it was single 4made 365hp so if it has an original cross ram it will have max wedge heads.The price will go up.
You said two telling things: " Ran when pulled" and "Was replaced with a crate engine." Why did that have to be done? Not many reasons to pull a perfectly good motor and put in a new one unless the guy was downsizing cubic inches and wanted a more drivable motor, or if the wedge was crap. You are probably not going to steal this one because of what it is, so before you plunk down big bucks I would want to really research numbers and the exact condition internally of this motor. You will also want to make sure it really is a 426 and not a 383 or something else........I would be measuring the bore and stroke. I'm not a Mopar guy but don't the valve covers and/or air cleaners have some markings like Stage 1 or whatever? Don
The stage III was the dual quad cross ram engine but it was available on the street in 1964. So that may be part of the confusion.
well since its an "RB" you cant tell a 413 from a 426wedge or a 440 (except by part number) and as was mentioned the street wedge didnt come stock with two 4's it could be a real 413 maxie if it has the max wedge style exhuast manifolds you can add another grand easily the engines probably worth 4k high end hopefully the guy doesnt really know or care what it is and just wants it out of his way a rebuildable 440 4bbl with a steel crank goes for around 600-1000
Well drivability was the problem but this was years ago. Once again this is a friend in Michigan and I have not seen it. Its supposed to be all "orig" never any major engine stuff changed. I guess I need to try and get more info. Thanks again guys and ill get some more info and post it. Hack
That reason for pulling it might be reasonable. During the gas crunch 70's guys were pulling out some very desirable motors and swapping in anything that could get them better gas milage. I scored a Mach 1 351 Cleveland 4 barrel, top loader 4 speed, and 9 inch N posi rear end just because the guy wanted the 289, C4 and non posi rear out of our 68 Mustang because his Mach 1 wasn't worth anything because of gas prices and availibility That might have been what was going on with this 426. Don
Agree with Don's analysis--lots of cars had the higher comp motors pulled during the gas crunch--bought an orig 62 340HP Corvette from a lady who drove it to work for many years--during the gas crunch they took off the orig heads and put on large chamber heads to lower the comp. but left everything else the same--glad she kept the heads--put it back as it was.
I could be wrong on this(hopefully a real Mopar expert can chime in.) but I believe maxwedge heads only have 4 valve cover bolts per head as a-posed to the regular 6 on common b/rb's. This might help for a quick visual inspection.
1964 and newer big blocks have 6 bolt valve covers, max wedge down to 361 2bbl. 1963 and older, all big blocks were 4 bolt covers. If it is a street wedge (single 4 barrel, 365 horse) I would think $500.00-$1000.00 for a rebuildable engine. If it turns out to be a real Max Wedge with cross ram, carbs, adjustable rockers, etc...$4000.00 on up.
The engine number is stamped into a pad at the front of the valley intake to the left hand side There is also a casting in one of the sides of the block that will tell you the month, day and year of casting. I'm pretty sure the size of the engine is cast into the side of the block - my 426 is out of the car but wrapped up and ai cant quite remember all the locations. While 426's came out in '63 the first full year of manufacture was more like 64 onwards
The street wedge was 365 hp single four barrel and basically the heads and such were same between 413, 426, and 440 wedge. The Max wedges had somewhere around 12 -12.5 compression, the heads and manifolds had ginormous ports and valves so they couln't be intermixed with the wedge pieces. This was my '64 wedge Carb and intake are aftermarket because Carter carb suck.
Back when the hydraulic 426 wedge 4 barrels first came out and I street raced my 427 57 Ford they were like money in the bank. You could make out the deposit slip, they were flaming turds. I dont think they ran a whole lot better then a good 383. Would I like to have one now, hell yes!
I do know one thing about these 426 wedges, they were top end machines. One night in 1966 I was street racing my tripower GTO against another goat and our local cop showed up just as we were lining up. The cop had a plain white Dodge with a 426 wedge and four speed in it. I took off and he came after me. My speedometer only went to 120 and the needle was buried about 10 mph past that. My buddy riding shotgun said " You better kick this thing because he is coming up on us." The only way I lost him was I got on some back roads and the GTO cornered a little better than the Dodge. I had seen that cop car before that at a local gas station with the hood up and it had the two fours on a cross ram. Don
everyone here is right. street wedge single a.f.b. carb only. if you know it is a 426 and has a cross ram. it has to be a '63 or '64 max wedge. however '62 413's looked the same from across the parking lot. numbers on the machined pad on the top-front of the block will tell you for sure. should start with a t or a v and may have a m.p. may not show the whole engine size. 41=413 42=426. could also have a h.c. for high comp. would like to hear all the numbers. you can p.m. me.
About the only other way I could see a crossram is if someone put a 383 longram on it and those intakes with the carbs and linkage will go agrand all day long.
I have one and have built several. Mine is a nascar Max wedge. Note cast-in valley tray in manifold as opposed to street wedge and 413 440 open manifold wth "turkey pan. " intake gasket tray assembly. This manifold is a rev2 (Revision 2) A Max wedge has also no heat riser passages in the head. so it is easy to spot for those familiar with these engines. MAx wedge had solid lifter cams and adjustable rockers. I converted mine to hydraulics but still have the rockers. I run my own grind cam and I do street drive it. A lot. Someone asked my the other day about it so I will tell you what I said. I sit at cruize night and grin because I KNOW despite my cars mild appearance it would be a rare rare night there was anything there that could kick its butt. It is the one car I own that I have never said to myself "I wish this car had more power." It has enuf to do anything I want to do with a street driven car. The usual comment I get if I take someone for a blast is "Don, I had no idea!" I would say make sure what engine you have but dont let it get away.The pain of price melts into oblivion with the first hard squeeze of the throttle. Your chances of having a second chance at one are slim to none. A street wedge 426 can be made into a Max wedge . Pistons , bore notches , heads intake and cam and MAX Wedge manifold will cover most of it. Some Max Wedge are 11.5 to 1 and some are 13.5 to one. Traditionally the 13.5 to one came in the cars with the aluminum front ends and 2 headlight grills as opposed to 4 . Mine is of the 11+ to 1 variety. I use sunoco 94 for fuel and it is completely happy. I run a big cam so the 11+ to 1 compression ratio is a STATIC COMP RATIO and not the actual compesssion ratio because nothing happens on the compression stroke pressure wise until the intake valve has shut. I never take it for a drive that it doesnt get to see 6500 RPM. tis my rule. Buy it , you'll like it. Don
Today we went to a local swap meet and there were a few guys there selling Mopar stuff. One guy had a 64 Plymouth with a Max Wedge 426 in it (drag car, cage, slicks, etc) and he had $ 45,000 on the window. Another guy had that same exact cross ram intake that we are talking about on this thread for sale, just a bare intake, and it had $ 2000 written on a piece of masking tape. I know that is just his asking price, but it looks like this 426 stuff is not cheap. There was also one guy selling earlier Hemi engines (392's) one that looked stock and said it ran was $ 1800, and two that were built were priced at $ 6500 and $7500. Those are not the same series as the 426, I realize, but just throwing that in here. Don
Re the valve cover bolts. Early Max wedges have only four bolts as stated but the later series (Ie Stg III) have the conventional 6. $45000? Not far off. I was asked last week what it would take to buy mine. I said $43000 and I would have to think of it long and hard and might still say no. They really are that much fun. One might suggest it isnt worth that but that it what it will take to get this one and obviously the one Don saw as well. Don.
Very enjoyable thread, guys. Buddy of mine, a 'Nam vet had a max wedge. He's not with us any longer, but he still had all of his extensive collection when he passed away.