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  #1  
Old 06-25-2006, 11:54 PM
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Default Whats a Hemi like?

Hey guys. If you dont know yet im only 15. My experience in the musclecar worl is limited. I never really went to many car shows but this summer I am a regular at the local saturday night cruise. Ive heard soundclips of Hemis, but never seen one in real life or, even better, ridden or, YAY THE BEST, driven one. Can any of you guys tell me what its like?
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Old 06-26-2006, 12:56 AM
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heh...

I'm kinda in the same boat. I've never even sat in a 426 HEMI car.
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Old 06-26-2006, 04:37 AM
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Well they are about the same width and weight of a 318...Detroit.
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Old 06-26-2006, 12:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by B1owner
Well they are about the same width and weight of a 318...Detroit.
And about the same torque?
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Old 06-26-2006, 12:52 PM
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LOL, same width and weight.
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Old 06-26-2006, 01:10 PM
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Assuming you speak of a 426 HEMI. The sensation when riding in one in proper tune is like taking off in a 747. I recall that my dad had a 440 Magnum that I thought was just as quick as the HEMI cars. Or the sensation during accelration was very similar. I would go as far as to say my Dads 440 may have been quicker.

Rock`
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Old 06-26-2006, 01:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scatman 340
Assuming you speak of a 426 HEMI. The sensation when riding in one in proper tune is like taking off in a 747. I recall that my dad had a 440 Magnum that I thought was just as quick as the HEMI cars. Or the sensation during accelration was very similar. I would go as far as to say my Dads 440 may have been quicker.

Rock`
I have heard that before. The other night, there was a show on tv that said the 426 street Hemi was not really happy on the street and that it needed tuning attention often. It went on to say that a 440 6Pack would usually out-accelerate the Hemi unless the Hemi was in perfect tune. Even then, it was often very close.
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Old 06-26-2006, 02:21 PM
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In stock form, the 426/440 wedge was as quick as a 426 hemi. The hemi had better breathing and would perform better at higher RPM---whereas the 440 would fall off at higher RPM. Said another way, the hemi wanted to turn RPM, the wedge did not---the wedge had to get the job done with torque.

In modified form the 426 hemi was superior to the 426/440 wedge. This was due to the breathing of the heads. The hemi always had a different sound.

On the street, the hemi wasn't much better than the wedge---but it did have sex appeal.
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Old 06-26-2006, 02:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by B1owner
Well they are about the same width and weight of a 318...Detroit.
The 318 Detroits have something that all Hemi's need though........a supercharger.

If you want to see a big ass motor, you guys ought to have seen the BAE blown alcohol motor i drooled over at the machine shop last week! I dont see how an engine stand ever holds one without buckling over.
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Old 06-26-2006, 03:51 PM
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I know all about how some people say a 440-6 was faster. I just wanted to know, when you hit the gas, how different it felt. Ive heard that they wound up very quick. Ive heard soundclip and from what i can gather, they sound different. The exhuast seems to pulse much harder, sort of like a machine gun. Anyway, in my opinion I dont care whats going on, if the Hemi has a good driver and some good tires its going to run down everything. I do know that the Hemi was harder than any other engine to race because if the way the carbs were setup. It was easy to open it up too quick. The Hemi could breath, pure and simple. It was easy to take one until 60 mph because the guy spun the tires but if you were stupid enough to stay on it, the Hemi would run you down everytime unless, maybe, if you were in an LS6 Chevelle. Thats probably about the only thing that could accelerate like a Hemi over 5000 rpms, in my opinion.
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Old 06-26-2006, 04:20 PM
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Think in terms associated with an orchestra. The baritone would be the HEMI. B-RB`s would be Tenors, and the LA`s would be Alto.

Rock`
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Old 06-26-2006, 04:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scatman 340
Think in terms associated with an orchestra. The baritone would be the HEMI. B-RB`s would be Tenors, and the LA`s would be Alto.

Rock`
Some of the RB's and lowdecks around here have a real high sharp rap coming out of the water box. I wouldnt say they were tenors...unless they are in a low-slung tube car that "swallows" the sound
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Old 06-26-2006, 06:37 PM
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I have owned two Hemis and three 6 pack cars. I think that thre hemi will out perform the 6 pack when set up right. The problem that a lot of the Mopars have is hook up. They put so much power to the pavement it can be hard to hook. The 440/6 can really fly especially when the secondaries open, but the Hemi will put your fanny in the back of the seat every time. You can get so much more out of a Hemi than you will ever get out of a wedge motor.
Nothing sounds like a Hemi, nothing!
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Old 06-26-2006, 07:48 PM
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Thats basically what I think/have gathered. Most people think that the key to the hemi head was allowing the use of larger valves. However, it goes beyond that. It really allowed the valves to become much more unshrouded. Most people wouldnt dare to do it, but im sure that if you stick a bigger cam in a Hemi its gonna really wake it up. What kind of things did you do to your two Hemis?
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Old 06-26-2006, 09:28 PM
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I've owned a '68 Hemi GTX 4spd car since 1981. I've had a few friends with 440 sixpack cars. I've owned more than a few 440 -4bbl. cars. IF you kept the Hemi in proper tune none of the other cars would touch it. The 440 cars would get the jump off the line because of their better low rpm torque. But come 2nd gear the Hemi would be coming around the 440 and walking away. From about 3000 rpm on up the Hemi pulls like a freight train and doesn't stop pulling.
Most owners of Hemi cars didn't keep them well tuned. In that state more than a few were beaten by 440's. I kept mine well tuned at all times and feared no one. Dave
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Old 06-26-2006, 10:23 PM
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Yeah, thats why they switched to hydraulic lifters in '70
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Old 06-26-2006, 11:22 PM
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My Dads Boss had a 70 Mercury Cyclone, tacky as all hell, but it had the Boss 429 Motor, "almost" a hemi. It was in presine shape and my dad got it for a weekend to put a few miles on it. He often got one of the collector cars to get a few miles in so as to keep all the parts road worthy. Well, we wrung that pig out on an open piece of freeway at about 5 Am on a Sunday. Mind you this is a "semi" hemi, Ford called it the blue crescent or something. Well this thing pulled from about 3000 past 7000 in about 3 seconds and we were in second gear. It had a C6 so we just dropped it down to see what it could do. It sure could breath, Ill give it that. And this was with the stock cam, as you would drive it off the showroom floor. Not bad for a Ford, but a Hemi was in a lighter car, I doubt anything was heavier than this car. It just pulls forever, until you get off it or it gets off itself...I can imagine what the 427SOHC was like approaching 8000 RPM.
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Old 06-26-2006, 11:48 PM
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He must have dropped the Boss 429 in himself. Yeah, i know a little about the Boss engines. They needed two carburators too but they only had one. The things just sucked in air and gas like there was no tomarrow.
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Old 06-26-2006, 11:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by quickd100
I kept mine well tuned at all times
Seems that the key word is 'tune'... Why?

Was the HEMI harder to tune than other engines? Did it have some unique characteristics that made it hard for owners to tune?
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Old 06-27-2006, 12:12 AM
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Well for starters it had mechanical lifters.....
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Old 06-27-2006, 12:15 AM
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I think the hemi would have run better with one large four barrel. Did those dual quads really ring or was it roar?
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Old 06-27-2006, 03:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PistolGrip440-6
Well for starters it had mechanical lifters.....
Ah, the youth leaps out!

Mechanical lifters were the norm on many, many engines in the '50s and '60s. They were to be expected in a high performance engine, although many standard engines used them too. The 318 A engine used them until the end of its production.

Solid lifters were not an issue for most people. Valve adjustments were part of a tune-up and were not really a problem. Point adjustments/replacement were more of a pain, especially if the distributor was on the rear of the engine.

A wicked lope at idle along with that familiar valve clatter were the sounds that gave any performance enthusiast a shivver.
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Old 06-27-2006, 05:51 AM
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My experience with a 426 hemi is very limited, but I tried to tune one last summer for a couple of days. It was said to be hopped up with a race cam, 12.5:1 pistons and so on. At least it had headers, and some unknown carters on a street hemi intake. Anyway, I got it to run decently and the very unexperienced driver managed to drive 13.2 with it in the 1/4. I really liked the engines behaviour, it liked rpm and pulled up to 7000 like nothing, yet idled decently and pulled well through the whole range. The power it made didn't make me excited compared to a well educated wedge; it was like a good, hot wedge but without the enormous low end grunt.
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Old 06-27-2006, 03:10 PM
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Having owned my share of them I have to say... on the street... they're just another engine (cool, but nothing magical)... I had my first one well tuned and got beat by a 350 chevy in a camero... (not your odinary 350 though..)...

I recall back in the day... I was 16... all of us "car nuts" would gather in the Texaco parking lot... it would be a "see what I did to mine" kind of thing... every one would have their hood open... you have to admit, you open the hood of a 69 GTX with a big boy in there... everyone there had to stop and look...

If you can let it stretch its legs they will pull hard, further than any other engine I have ever seen...

If you put a blower on one on the street... you get so much torque you can't keep the tires on the ground... I just lost a contest the other night against one of those 4 wheel drive turboed rice burners.. at least I couldn't pull away from him (and it was over before I could really let the ponys loose) only because, even at just over 1/4 to 1/2 throttle I couldn't keep the tires from breaking loose... I am still working on getting some rubber under the car... (I still have small 60 series 14" tires with 3.91 SG in it)... and working on getting it on the ground.

I'm sure the other driver was real proud of himself for being able to stay with me.. but then I didn't build it to be a street racer... just somthing to turn doughnuts down at the Pamida parking lot... it does that very well...

But I do agree there is nothing that sound as good as a HEMI... I have mine running through 2 1/4 TTI headers, 3" TTI pipes, and DynoMax mufflers... Sounds Grrrrreeaaat... at least to me....

As for the 429 "Boss".... Don't kid yourself... Ford had an engine there... too bad they were in such limited production... I would love to have one of those... it would fit soooooo nice in the wifes 69 Mach 1... ( at least I tell her, it's hers....wink wink)
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Old 06-27-2006, 03:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick
Mechanical lifters were the norm on many, many engines in the '50s and '60s. They were to be expected in a high performance engine, although many standard engines used them too.
Oh, I know they were on alot of engines but they were just one thing to maintain that would be there if they were hydraulic. I love the sound that they make too, even though most people would refer to it as racket, but back then thats how you knew if an engine was serious or not. Just listen for the lifters.....
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Old 06-27-2006, 04:30 PM
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When I read about all the tuning woohs of the Hemi, I kind of smile... At the age of 16 I was pretty much taking care of my own tune ups... solid lifters... I don't know.... adjust them what, 3.. 4 times a day???? dual carbs at least that often and dual point dist.. again 3... 4 times a day...

I don't think so.... what made the Hemi so hard to tune? Mine ran great.. it had a flat spot when I first got it but after playing with it a little, it got to be fairly snappy....

I was 16... if I could do it.. any knowledgable gear head could do it with their eyes closed....

Of course I ported my first lawn mower and manufactured a header for it, at the age of 7.... (with my dads help, of course..)
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Old 06-27-2006, 04:45 PM
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What exactly did you "play with"? Timing? BTW, I looked at your profile, and you have the same birthday as me! Congradulations, you have the birthday of all geniouses lol. It must have been great to have a Hemi anything at 16.
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Old 06-27-2006, 05:39 PM
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My friend Bucky Hess has a 66 hemi belvedere, bone stock with 40,000 original miles. Went 13.98 in the 1/4 at our local Mopar show last year. My 440 powered 66 Satellite went 14.00 just before he ran. Pretty even cars I would say.
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Old 06-27-2006, 05:44 PM
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The street Hemis came with progressive linkage for the front carb... Mine had a little trouble coming off the idle circuit real quick... a little cleaning and adjusting seemed to take care of the problem... it ran great with just the rear carb, the flat spot only showed up when both carbs where hooked up... but like I said... a little playing with the setup, and ba-da-bing... things worked nicely...

Back then all I did was play with the engine... that's not to say it always needed it... it was just what you did.... I really loved that car... to bad I was too young to appreciate it... Glory days kind of thing...
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Old 06-27-2006, 05:46 PM
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Oh yeah. I always wondered if they could be adjusted very much. I know that they made it hard to race from a standing start. What could you adjust, how fast the front primaries opened?
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