Chrysler Big Block Redline??

[Sir Dodge alot]

Story told to me by my former brother-in-law, provides a real life example. When he was the dealership service manager, he had a '69 Hemi Road Runner as a company car. At the end of the model year, it was replaced with a new Hemi 'Cuda, and the Road Runner was sold to a Penn State student. One Monday morning, the kid was running late for class, and confessed to running 7000 rpm from Oil City to State College. He pulled the car into the shop with a bearing rapping.

Bill Clark figured it would be cheaper to install a new short block under warranty than to repair the original engine. He told a mechanic to lock the accelerator down at full throttle. The crew took a coffee break, and when the Hemi stopped running, they surveyed the damage. The engine had locked up, but the rods held. The original engine was rebuilt under warranty, and the Road Runner lives to this day as a numbers matching car. My brother-in-law raced that car with a modified pan, but it was removed when the car was sold, to keep the warranty intact.

Crazy story, they don't build them like they used to! Impressive endurance, couldn't blow them up even if you tried!

 

[Sir Dodge alot]

My only experience with a 361 was the one that was in my 69 Charger when I was a kid in the USAF in Sacramento, Ca.
That was long before I knew anything about anything.
I bought the car off a used car lot.
Opened the hood, saw a 4bbl big block, checked the 5th digit in the vin(H), figured it was a 383 in need of a good tune up.
A tune up revealed no added performance.
And the high-15 second runs in 1/4 seemed off.
It wouldn’t really even do a burnout on the street.
I did some digging and found a “C 361” stamping under the distributor. Okay……now things make a little more sense.
Found a 440 to rebuild, and started moving forward with that.
In the meantime I’m still driving the car with the 361……..and driving it in a manner you’d expect a 22yo would.
One day I really wound it out hard…….. and it just shut off.
No fanfare, no drama……..it was like you just shut the key off.
I figured I blew it up.
It turned over with no effort……. Then I thought maybe the timing chain failed.
After messing around for 20-30 minutes……… it restarted, ran rough for a minute or so, then was fine.
Apparently it had floated the valves hard enough to allow the lifters to pump way up, which hung the valves open…….and then the motor shut off.
When the lifters finally bled back down…….. it fired back up.

As someone else has said previously, it's got a factory emergency shut off switch. XD

 

[padam]

It’s really amazing how well that Stone Age stuff worked. I don’t think it was an accident. Real engineering work was being done in Detroit in that era.

 

[1966satellite]

You will float the valves with that tiny stock hydraulic cam, way, WAY before you endanger the internal pieces.
I'm betting there is no reason to take it past 4500, no horsepower to be found, but you won't hurt it at 5000.

A small lift cam won't cause valves to float. Light valve springs will.

 

[1KoolBee]

i got my ‘68 383 Bee about a month before my 16th birthday. I found that with a small cam and better intake/carb, she would rev to about 6300 and then either hit valve float or run out of air. Never blew up no matter how many stupid things I did to it. That motor is still in the car today, still running, nearly 50 years later!

 

[toolmanmike]

i got my ‘68 383 Bee about a month before my 16th birthday. I found that with a small cam and better intake/carb, she would rev to about 6300 and then either hit valve float or run out of air. Never blew up no matter how many stupid things I did to it. That motor is still in the car today, still running, nearly 50 years later!

View attachment 1697544

Bigger bore and shorter stroke than an 350 Chevy. Long rod though. I get a charge out of the Chevy guys that brag about their 6" rod motors. All is good until I tell them my 273 has a 6.123 rod and they blow a gasket.

 

[flyingfeathers]

What i have learned in the in 9 years that i raced my rr 383 with rear. mod carb. headers and 4 speed 6000 is pushing it sometimes the valves float. The prime shift point is 5500 and and going through the traps at 5500 is a safe bet any thing over that is playing with fire unless you want a full bore race car.

 

[Stumper]

This is the dyno of a stock stroke, 030” over 440 I had in another 62 Savoy years ago. It made power past 7000 rpm. Spun up like a small block…

 

[RemCharger]

This is the dyno of a stock stroke, 030” over 440 I had in another 62 Savoy years ago. It made power past 7000 rpm. Spun up like a small block…

View attachment 1705881

Are you at liberty to divulge in the specs ?

 

[Sir Dodge alot]

Just thought I should update with my results of WOT on the engine, heard the engine tapping out/rev limiting at 5500. Unknown speed, probably not fast enough.
Like @flyingfeathers has said, it's playing with fire, I think I heard some form of valve float but it was indeed my first time pushing the engine that high in the RPM.
Now I know where my limit is, well... For this particular engine's limit.
Sounded pretty good though!
Engine also is running smoother now.
I guess I gave it the old Italian tune up!

Got up there pretty quick with the looser Torque converter.

Now. Time to throw the whole toolbox and parts catalog at this engine Lol.

 

[Dennis H]

Mine stopped pulling at 4850 Chassis Dyno. 440. No reason to go above 5k. Basement power. Up shift.

 

[Stumper]

Are you at liberty to divulge in the specs ?

I sure will but will have to dig them up. It was a full roller
, balanced motor of course, big lunati cam, Indy ported heads, intake. About 11.2 compression. I’ll see if I can find the details.

 

[Snook]

I had shift points at 7200 RPM for my 451 400 based stroker, never a problem and that 451 loved it...

Chuck (snook)

 

[RemCharger]

I sure will but will have to dig them up. It was a full roller
, balanced motor of course, big lunati cam, Indy ported heads, intake. About 11.2 compression. I’ll see if I can find the details.

That would be great. I have a similar build

 

[Krooser]

My friends used to run their oval track 383's to 6800+ for 25-50 laps on a dirt half mile 40 years ago... no fancy rods, no moly bolts..

 

[Sir Dodge alot]

Mine stopped pulling at 4850 Chassis Dyno. 440. No reason to go above 5k. Basement power. Up shift.

No more upshifts, I'm out of all the gears I can use!
Pushbutton A727 on this jalopy.