Hot Rods Were there many 413 wedge gasser race engines back in the day?

We always hear about the 392's so I was just curious.

 

No data but I am sure there were a few Mopars going down the track. I know when Dad was dirt tracking they ran the 413’s in the sixties and seventies. Not everyone could afford or use the hemi’s wether 354,392 or 426’s. My avatar ran 413’s.

 

In the late 60's, there was a guy in my neighborhood who had a 38 Chevrolet Coupe with a 413 in in it; automatic with a push button shifter.. It was also for sale, but he would't even consider selling it to the 16 year old kid I was at the time. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

There were A BUNCH in the Stock and Super stock classes but can't remember seeing more than 2-3 in the gasser classes.

 

IIRC, both the Dragmaster Dart and Tony Nancy had 413" AA/Dragsters. In the NHRA gas-only days, the wedge heads could be competitive with the hemis. Once they went back to allowing nitro, that was the end of the wedgers.





jack vines

 

Thats awesome, thank you!

 

Not to many back in the day but I have one now

 

The max wedge Mopars were about as aerodynamic as a brick with cement chucks stuck to it,but when they started showing up at the strip and running in the A/S class,the GM guys got a little suicidal.

One of the funniest "auto trader" ad I ever saw was a 50's style t-bucket with a suicide front axle,motorcycle wheels up front,23T tub,and small circular gas tank at the rear. The ad read "96 inch wheelbase,4:56 posi rear,413 Max Wedge,push-button 727. Car is fast."

I was eating in a burger joint while looking at the ads,and spit food out when I read it. It even had the Max Wedge cross ram manifolds,with both carbs sticking out past the cowl.

Yeah,I bet it was a "fast car".

 

As a kid .. I had an old magazine poster of two 1964 Dodge Polara Max Wedge factory drag cars. A convertible & a hardtop.

Both with the factory hood scoops to the front leading edge of their hoods. One red, one white .. whatever roll bars or cages they had.

Auto dealer sponsor in big letters down their sides. Wish I remembered who.

Worthless information, I know .. but was on my wall, way up high .. because they were bitch'n. Lance Reventlow Scarab was up there, too.

 

Sounds like the T that Bob Norwood (far better known as a Ferrari tuner in Dallas) built when he worked at Anderson motors in Grandview, Wa in the 60's. He also ran a 413 powered 62/3 Mopar sedan known as Rambunctious that was pretty quick and later tuned Steve Hahns national record running stock/super stock class Mopars. That T got with the program but a couple of guys who had ridden it said it could be a scary ride. Car was metallic blue in the 60's.

 

I think the "little old lady" had one in her Dodge....

 

So did the guy racing against the "Fuel-Injected Stingray" in "Shutdown".

There was a point in time when they were on top.

Didn't last long, though.

 

I recall the 62 Plymouth Savoy's that had delete just about everything. No radio, no heater, no glove box, no backseat or a couple hunks of upholstered cardboard, no carpets no padding under the rubber mat, cop or taxi front seats, or cheap ass seats from the base a 100 van , aluminum front bumper and fenders. Side windows either fixed, or went up and down with a nylon strap, nothing in the trunk but the spare tire. And battery. And the max wedge up front with the cross ram intake.

 

Such a great car!

 

Nice roof line on a butt ugly car....but they sure showed their tail lights to quite a lot of 406 Fords and 409 Chevrolet’s in there day...

 

Thanks to the motors being in trashy, beer can cars that were probably 250 lbs lighter at the least than anybody else. The '63 Plymouth Belvedere 426 wedge was around 3350 lbs. I had a '62 409 BelAir hardtop that weighed 3680 lbs with a half tank of gas and the Fords without any lightweight stuff were even more.

 

Credit for the photo unknown, it was initially posted in the Willys pickup rear fenders thread by @swade41 .

 

i just traded a 440 for a 413 to go into my '63 Belvedere. both being just stock. ain't nostalgia great!!

 

Butt remember they were ugly.......

 

Someone was thinkn’..... and someone was sleepn’

 

Had a 426 max wedge but my Winnebago had a 413 headers and all and it was the fastest one around. Not kidding, a lot of motor homes had 413s.

 

the max wedge manifold is a one piece design with both carbs on top of engine all fitting between the valve cover's, those long ram intake runner's were nothin to do with the max wedge race program

 

….and still a good place to look for one. There are plenty of derelict mh sitting in the brush.

.

 

Well, maybe............but I don't think it was the drag racer that they had in mind when they were designing and building thin skinned rattle traps for the general consumer.

 

Just possibly the Police. I knew a guy that had a 62-340 hp Corvette, got a little drunk and was going to outrun the Cops. At around 120 on the freeway, he wound up with an Oregon State Police car on each side of him, new blue Dodges ! I agree, they were light and tinny, but damn fast.

 

Not a drag car , but a real hot rod built in 1966. A good friend of ours put this together back in the day with a ‘63 426 cross ram engine and trans. The pictures I took today are with same 426 but now with 6/71 and dual quads. All steel 3 window coupe originally purchased for $30 bucks the owner he tells me. Nice to see someone able to keep something that long!

 

usually when you see this much hatred from a guy with a boat anchor 409 under the hood it's because he was just handed his ass by a kid in dads 4 door big block mopar

 

I think that as race motors go the 413 max wedge got used mostly in FX type of cars.




That is not to say that it did not find its way into the "gasser" ranks but whenever I think of one I my mind always leans toward a factory sponsored car.