Saw " Mystery 444 Hemi "...Anyone else ?

Do You think these guys who were at the Forge Invitational stopped by
one of those Smokey Mountain White Lightening stands before they
printed this documentation ? LOL ! Should We give them the benefit
of the doubt ?

It says " One and Only " Mapar Twisted Chamber Ball Stud 444 Hemi
A279 Mystery Motor.....

 

Note stamping on block - 444 B

That mean this is a B version vs. an RB version?

Love to have one either way!

 

In the 60's ...Chrysler was building seven Big Block " B" engines

( 361, 383, 400 ) and " RB " ( 413, 426, 440, 440-6 ) Engines plus

the 426 Hemi. Given these code series....apparently 444 B was

continuance designation ? Anybody ...please jump in on this.

 

I had never heard of this untill the one showed up on EBay. Read a few years ago in a magazine about plans for a sb hemi around 350 CID planned around 70-71.

 

The one on E-bay is a RB block stroked to 472 CuIn. It seems someone found an extra pair of heads, and started buildin this example. The one pictured with the Orange Valve Covers from the Mopar magazine is the one bolted into Tom Hoovers barracuda notchback.

There was another even more interesting prototype Hemi, a DOHC setup that Chrysler was doing in the mid 60's when ford came out with the SOHC 427, NASCAR finally poot their foot down on that one, so Chrysler went the Aerodynamic route with the Charger 500, Daytona, Superbird models

 

From Allpar:



Dual overhead cam Hemi

A 426 dual-overhead cam Hemi was actually produced - two of them, in fact, and both were made in 1964. The DOHC Hemis were made to counter Ford's response to the 1964 426 Hemi, the 427 SOHC, but when NASCAR ruled against Ford's engine, there was no need for the overhead-cam Hemi.
Neither of the DOHC Hemis were ever placed in a car; one was destroyed, the other moved to the Kansas City area. (source: Muscle Car Review. Thanks, Stéphanie Dumas.) Recently, famed engine builder Larry Shepard told us that he has the A-925 cylinder head and other related parts, purchased from the late Dan Napp.
An article by Tom Shaw in Mopar Muscle went into more detail. The DOHC Hemi was project A-925, and it would need to be much more powerful than Ford's SOHC 427, but still rugged enough for racing - and able to conform to NASCAR's rules. Two possibilities were considered, according to Shaw - one using two cams positioned between the heads, in the "valley;" four valves on each cylinder were operated by lifters, pushrods, and lifters. This expensive setup was an unused contingency plan. Nearly as ambitious was an engine with aluminum heads, dual overhead cams, and, again, four valves per cylinder, with pent-roof chambers. (Chrysler had been working with four valve per cylinder engines for a never-completed Indy run in 1963.)
The dual-plane intake manifold had eight runners per side (Chrysler was into efficient and innovative intakes) and made of magnesium - but designed for a single four-barrel carburetor, as required by NASCAR.
The cams were driven by a cog belt, using external cog wheels at the front of the heads. Because the cams were directly above the valves, valvetrain mass was low, so the engine could rev high - a 7,000 rpm redline was specified, high for the era.
Shaw wrote that no DOHC Hemi ran under its own power; they were driven by an electric motor to check the valvegear. Research stopped in 1964 when NASCAR banned the SOHC 427 and Chrysler's own race Hemi. One DOHC Hemi still exists.
DOHC Hemi Update:

Jon Field wrote that there was a third (at least) DOHC Hemi made — and that he owns it, a 301 cid aluminum-block-and-head engine with twin cams, two cam covers on each head (the plugs are between them), hydraulic tappets, brass valve seats, and four Weber two-barrel carbs (165 cfm each). He says the oil pan holds 10.6 quarts, and that the engine has stainless steel headers, and an aluminum intake; it is apparently functional and runs on regular gas. We don't have any information on where it came from and whether it's a Chrysler effort or an aftermarket modification.

 

The DOHC Hemi....any more recent published articles or website links on this ?

The 444 Hemi on ebay ...is being represented that John Arruzza owned
and sold after doing a lot of work on it also.

I am west of Springfield Illinois....Your to the south ?

 

The car was promoted to me as the only Ball Stud Hemi Cuda.The motor and the car were 2 seperate entities.The car was used just to place the motor in there was never any experimental history between the both of them.Very neat piece and very nice owners.Great piece of Mopar history !!!

Tim Lopata
president
The Forge Musclecar Classic / The Forge Invitational
www.forgemusclecarshow.com

 

This engine was featured is a few magazines....refered to as the "Doomsday Machine"...
This thread covers a little bit on both the 426 DOHC and the 392 based one as well.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=225304&highlight=doomsday+hemi

 

Someone aught to get an outfit like Edelbrock to copy those heads in aluminum. The lower block is basically the same as the 383/400/440 that did get produced, right?

 

Hot Heads, perhaps? though he specializes in early Hemis.

 

Awesome show....unbelievable the quality of the entrants....the enthusiam

of everyone was awesome ! I've been to a lot of show over the years......

The Forge Invitational is one of the best shows ....! ! !

Respectfully....However...NOT the show brochure...but the owner's

brochure states as follows " Powered by the One and Only


Mopar Twisted Chamber Ball Stud Hemi A279 Mystery Motor ".....this is

proving


NOT to be factual.....with two MORE 444 Hemis that have surfaced so far in just a


few days. One on Ebay...another with a former Chrysler R & D individual.

Thanks for writing and the great show You and Your staff puts on.

 

The egay engine is close to $10K w/18 hours left, as of 11:30 pm CDT Friday.

 

news to me, I never knew about this one until now, wow!!

 

Thanks for the compliment.I'm sure thats the info that was given to them when they purchased it.At least they did have the only one at the time someone told a mag it was the only one.I was more interested in the emissions part of the engine that the rareity.I'm sure their on the phone calling the previous owner asking what happened to 1 of 1? It was my understanding that info came from John.

 

The gentlemen on Ebay claims He bought His 444 Hemi from Aruzza too.

I know if I was told 1 of 1 .....then found out later it was NOT 1 of 1....I would
defnitely be doing more than phone calling.....

It might be more than 1 of 3 or ? ......one can only speculate....from what I
have been told ...during those times....departmental changes....and lot's
of internal Chrysler transitions were happenning.....so for some of these
A279's to " fall thru the cracks " would seem to be entirely possible.....

On The Forge Invitational....this show for those of Us who really like to
relive Our youth by seeing Factory Hot Rods....all brands....lots of very
rare low number units were there !

When is the next Forge Invitational scheduled for ?

 

There is a lot to do and to fabricate on a A279 that is in parts .....

Since there is no available manual to go by....how would one even know
how to verify the inventory of parts ?

This challenge would not be for the someone who did not have the fabricating
ability....right ?

 

When is the next Forge Invitational scheduled for ?

September 13th less than 2 weeks.This year our feature is the Mustangs to include the Boss 429s,one of each color, plus chevrolet plus chrysler.

 

Harrell Pulde ? Todd Werner ? Other headliners ?

As You might expect LOL given My username ....are
there any Altered Wheel Base entries ?

about same # of cars as last year's fabulous show ?

 

Don't know what Todd is bringing he just shows up with 2 Semis.I know the falcon from last year is returning and the gentleman with Ron Pellegrinis 65 a/fx might attend.What do you have is it 60's original or a tribute car?

 

I've had following article from HighPerformance Mopar on my site now for quite some time; SITE

Or see the pics below;

 

... if Ihad that in my office, I'd be smilin' JUST like Mr. Landy!

 

I am wondering if the other 2 engines started as just heads and not complete engines.That would explain the Cuda as maybe having the only complete 444 Hemi.

 

Looks like it's back on EBay again.

 

I looked at it last year. Here are pics I took.

 

And to add to the tale of this engine design us guys downunder had access to another engine that was developed from the Chrysler V8 ball stud rocker hemi - the Australian built 6 cylinder 225 245 and 265ci Hemi engines used to power the Locally produced Chrysler Valiants during the 70's and early eighties. The Chrysler engineers allowed the head design to be reproduced in a stout, strong six cylinder engine for Australia and New Zealand. Another one of those Chrysler stories where you never say never

 

I reread my post from 2008 and I have to admit I unknowingly I lied. My pal has the other rare HEMI, the DOHC one. Never been run and it was an engineering piece (I think I recall) to test the feasibility. Sees it has broken exhaust stands on it? I read about it in a recent MOPAR magazine and saw my pal's name. So sorry for lying back 6 years ago.
Tom

think