Let's talk max wedges

[unclemax]

The most beautiful engine Mopar ever built. The 413/426 max wedges. Not the long rams found in Chryslers but the 15" short ram first introduced in 1962. This engine was so far ahead of it's time in 1962 it ain't even funny. And it was not called a "max wedge". The Dodge version was a "Ramcharger" and the Plymouth version was the "Super Stock". It is more rare than a hemi, more beautiful than a hemi, and in stock form flat outran the hemi. In Motor Trend AUG 62 they called it an "awful bomb". They tested it at 13.44 @ 109.76 on 9.00 x 14 Bucron tires! It came standard (!) with 3" exhaust head pipes that came back to a 3" factory cutout that provided 70 more horsepower when opened. I quote Motor Trend: "It's awfully hairy - a pain in the neck on the street (though not bad on the highway)." High idle, no heat on the intake manifold, huge manifold passages, no vacumn advance, high valve overlap, drinks gas like crazy, loose clearances guzzle a quart of oil every 100 miles and the engine clatters like an old farm tractor. Don't you just love it. A factory race car it was. You can talk all you want about GTOs and Vettes and even Hemis - These 62 cars were the very first SUPERCAR and they still demand and deserve all the attention they get. You still see them on the dragstrips all the time - when was the last time you saw one on the street?

[Maxwedge]

I love em(imagine that) Nothing cooler than a fast car with something different under the hood. And a wedge with the short rams and the racing headers DEFINATLY has underhood appeal.
I love em so much I have started buying parts. Right now I have a nascar 426 wedge Super speed way intake from the 1964 races. Its a low rise single plane intake..Cool
almost bought the bare heads bu tht eguy was crazy and wanted 1100.00 for the pair...oh well..
Maxwedge

[Stan Cameron]

I run a 62 426 max wedge in my 69 road runner. Changed to Indy 440-1 ported & polished heads and Indy single 4 manifold with 2" adaptor for dominator. The manifold has been port matched and polished. Use a Chuck Nuytten 1050 dominator.

Best run so far is 9.74 @ 138 mph.

Love those MAX WEDGES.

Regards,

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Cameron's Racing
Division of GOTNUTZ?
MotorSports
66 Belv 2 440 auto 10.76 @ 125
69 Road Runner 426 wedge auto 9.74 @ 138
99 Dakota Pro Stock type
truck (under construction)
79 Lil Red Express Truck
96 2500 Ram 5.9
99 Durango 5.9

[Maxwedge]

Before I moved from Indiana to Los Angeles a friend of mine Just put a set of those Indy
Heads on His fesh 1970 Chrger R/T. It was a 4 gear car with a 6-pac.
I am wandering here anyway I never got ot ride in the car with the new heads because I moved....How much Better???are those heads than the max Wedges???I have ridden in one or two Maxwedge cars.. so its easy to compare
The reason he swapped the heads was once he took the intake/carbs off to get them tuned he looked down at the cam and one of the lobs was whiped. and when he took the heads off he ran the numbers on them and they ended up being 383 2bbl heads.SUCK so he got new heads/springs/rockers/pushrods/cam/timing chain and distributer....SUCK
anyway
maxwedge

[hemi-1]

I was 11 years old when the 413 super stock motors were introduced. Still have the May 62 issue of Hot Rod magazine with a picture of the motor on the cover--you know, the one painted orange with a blue intake and exhaust and chrome air cleaners and fan. Still one of the neatest looking motors ever.

I got to ride in one in the spring of 1967 in Fort Myers Florida. It was for sale. A metallic red 63 Dodge with a three speed stick and 4.56 gears. And only $700. The owner wouldn't let us take it on a test drive, but he did give us a ride in this mid 11 second car. I was impressed!! I tried to talk my Dad into buying it (not as our primary transportation, of course), but it was a bit too radical for him. He did buy a Hemi Charger three years later, though.

[unclemax]

The total is the sum of it's parts. You can't have a max wedge with a single four bbl. (I know, I know, they did make a few for NASCAR). But a max wedge as we know it is a dual quad ram inducted motor with 3" upswept exhaust manifolds going back to the cutouts under the doors. The max wedge is as much a visual treat as it is a performance treat. But you gotta have it all. A max wedge with headers looks like a head without ears! I was 15 when they came out and I too still have the book with the blue & orange max on the cover. Back in my little hometown a guy has one - a 62 Dart - and of course it was the fastest thing around. Five years later I owned it and I drove it through all the musclecar years. Caught plenty of flack for my "old fashioned" car when guys were driving road runners, super bees, cudas and all the rest. But the flack stopped when we lined up on the old airport road. Ah those were the days!