I recently found a guy with a 413 motor. I would like to put it in a 1940 Plymouth sedan. The block has a hair line crack. He has two blocks and they are both cracked in about the same place. Was there a problem with these or did this guy just screw up. I know this motor was potent in it's time. it looks exotic. If I am very lucky I might be able to find a cross ram intake. Are these around? does anyone have pic's of this set up? Mopars are cool almost like prehistoric animals.
Cross Ram intakes are available from both Chrysler and A&A transmission, althought he A&A is a direct copy of the original and is a bit pricey. The 413 is a smaller version of a 440, and most of the stuff fits, so parts is not an issue. I've never heard of the block cracking unless something made it so. Where are the cracks?
Block cracking is definitely not an issue inherent to the B/Rbs. That guy is probably just screwing them up. I wouldn't call them exotic, but they are great motors and under-appreciated in the traditional community
B/RBs don't normally crack the block although I have found several rods cracked on the small end over the years. No not exotic at all and I believe that the biggest reason that they are underappreciated is that they are majic. Most of the fellas I talk to think that they are a mystery. Its beyond me why. I think another reason they are overlooked is that the oil pump/filter being out in front make them a little more difficult to adapt. If it aint bolt together don't do it.
The 413 is a Raised Block (RB), in the same family as the 426 wedge and 440. It was the HP motor for a couple years in the early 60s and a common industrial and motor home motor into the 70s. With the cheap stroker kits available now, you are better off finding a 440 and getting more inches replacing the rotating asembly if power is the goal. If you want a big block for the looks and are on a tight budget, you are better off finding one that isn't cracked. I'd pass on those either way. Since the 40s main issue with a swap is the narrow area around the steering, and Darts did come with big blocks in 68-69, I'd research how those were done and how guys are swapping BBs in A bodys. It should be something that would fit with some work. Check out bigblockdart.com.
I don't know this from personal experience but I have heard amongst Chrysler 300 Letter Car guys that the 1959 and some very early cast 1960 413 blocks were weak castings. Now maybe that was peculiar to the high performance blocks (stamped "HP") that 300 guys would be concerned with or maybe not. Offering the comment for what its worth. Check the casting date on that motor just for curiosity and find out. There was no performance option to the '59 300E Chrysler - they were all dual quad out of the factory at a base 380HP and 450lb torque which ain't bad for basic! By early '60 though Chrysler was hand assembling a performance option 413 of 400HP and 465lb torque for their 300F Special Gran Turismo cars that went to Daytona Beach Speed Week. That engine was mated to a Pont-a-Mousson 4speed manual trans in the 4300 lb coupes. Yes, the cross rams can be very impressive. The attached photo is of my 300F Special. This is the "short long rams" with the divider in the ram tubes only running 15" instead of the full 30" length. The 400HP Specials had red air cleaners rather than the gold of the 375HP versions. There are also sweeping cast iron factory headers and other aspects to these engines. Six F Specials were the fastest American production cars ever to run on Daytona's sand. Also attaching a pic of Andy Granatelli's 300F Special Daytona and Bonneville entry for 1961 with dual Paxton superchargers. Andy went 189.990 mph in Utah.
Strong motors...crossram will be pricey...If you get one try to find one with AAQA casted into the front of the block..You can do a dual quad setup which looks cool and cheaper than the crossram (long or short).. 413 is a rb block which includes the 383rb, 413, 426 and 440......tough as nails
Where are the cracks on the blocks in question? Were they from freeze or stress? Not likely from stress, unless you are making over 600 HP. The A&A crossrams can be had with regular big block port sizing to use them on non max wedge heads, so you can bolt on a set of 452's with a cross ram.
Given the op is in the balmy NE I'd suspect freeze damage, which of course, can be repaired. Look into Lock 'n Stitch. http://www.locknstitch.com/ The first significant reinforcement to the block was made for 1967. Easy to spot on the sides of the block around the core plugs. .
I believe the cross ram you are looking for is a Soneramic Commando. I tryied to get one and stopped bidding when it got over $1000. That was three years ago too. I am sure if you found one in person you could get it for much cheaper though. good luck!
I'd also suggest going to 440 source to get more info on these beasts. Here is the block page, there are many more. http://www.440source.com/blockinfo.htm
the only thing about the early 413's was the 8 bolt crank which makes it hard to mate it to later "440" mopar flexplates/converters and flywheels i like 413's!!!!
It depends upon what your intentions are. If you are building a race car there is tons of pieces available, 440source being just one supplier. If you are building a street rod type, and I sort of assume you are, I'd just put rings & bearings and go. For a driver, I'd use a steet Hemi grind .484 lift hydraulic cam...they are priced right, idle nice, and work good. Depending on the year 413, it may have four bolt valve covers, which were stopped in 1964, and you may have trouble finding gaskets for it. The compression on it is probably 10.25 to one, which needs good gas. You may want to consider swapping to the later 452 heads which have hardened valve seats for the unleaded gas. The A&A crossram is pricey...Mopar Performance also reproduces the cross ram, you can get them for both the standard wedge head and the Maxie. They both are pricey, though, they run about $1300. Edelbrock still makes an inline dual four intake...you can find them around and with a couple of 625 Eddies would probably work real good.
I have a '61 413 in my '60 Plymouth and haven't had too much trouble finding parts over the counter from AutoZone, although so far it's just been gaskets. Defintely make sure you consider the year of the motor as there are various differences as stated above from cranks, valve covers, trans, starters, etc.
Okay, here's a weird question about these motors... When these came out, did they start using alternators as well or were these still generator motors?
While we're talking 413s, what years was this engine displacement available in Moparland? I'm thinking it was first offered in 1959 and last available in 1965. Any other thoughts?
i got long rams in my 68 dart, theyre on a 440 though. makes decent power i didnt build the motor for big numbers, more of a cruiser but it got dynoed at 263hp/363ft lbs at 4400rpm at the wheels. i also learned that if the runners are separated half way instead of seperated the entire way, theyre a lot more rare and make power to a higher rpm
Yes, you have a set of "short long rams" there and they are far more rare. There were two castings. One for the '60-62 cars and another for the '63-64 cars. I'd have to look up the casting numbers to tell you which you have. Did you have a problem with port sizes? The ports on the rams are quite small for the early 413 cyl head. The 426 max wedge and 440 ports are much taller. Just wondered what you did in that respect?
they werent too bad. i put the 440 intake gasket up against it and took a sharpie and colored over all the aluminum that showed inside the port holes, then just dremeled it out. i did both intakes in 10 minutes tops, thats how little i had to dremel.
These photos are lifted from the internet. They are of the display cross ram Letter Car 413" motor at the Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, MI. If you haven't been to this museum and you like Mopars, you are really missing something.
they didnt haha. but not by alot, i had to do one 5" notch on the right inner fender under where the carb sits, other than that it cleared everywhere
They continued making 413ci engines well into the 1970s for RV and Industrial applications. There are some differences between these engines and car engines, mainly in head design, camshaft, and compression ratio. But they used the same basic block/crank/rods architecture as always.
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