I can't say for sure if my motor has that radical of a cam simply because it idles fairly nicely, albeit a bit lumpy. That's why I felt it sould be able to handle the "idling w/AC" comment if it were equipped with the heavy duty cooling system. Perhaps the cams got more and more radical as the years progressed up to 1970, or perhaps they toned the cam down a bit to keep the car more "real world driveable". Can't say for sure.
It does overheat if sitting in traffic for more than 20 minutes, but I do attribute some of that to the fact that it's the original rad! When that happens I just run the heater and it stays within the safe limits.
We had a family road trip with my wife and the inlaws on a hot summer day last year, and ran into a traffic jam because of a collision. Had to resort to the heater that day..... boy it was HOT in the car then! <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Sat Dec 11 2010, 01:35PM ]</span>
I think I see the confusion-once again, I have befuddled everyone because I assumed this stuff was common knowlege. There were several different big block police package motors available: (1) 335 horse 383HP, (2) 400 horse 383HP with a 284/292 .480" cam (3) 375 horse 440HP (4) the special order CHP 450 horse 440HP with the 284/292 .480'' cam (5) the "special" 550+ horse 440.
I think you have the "California Highway Patrol" engine - or in your case the RCMP - these were balanced and blue printed 440's with a 284/292 .480" cam (a grind hotter than the street hemi used). The CHP ordered these by the hundreds for use in almost all their highway patrol cars. They were much hotter than the regular 375 horse 440HP - their performance was comparable to a 440 six pack or better.
The next step up was the hard to get "special" engine. These were very expensive and didn't come in a car- they came in a crate to be installed into a very few of cars. They had big port heads, 300/310 .550" crane cam, special bearings, reworked oil system, etc. (this is where we got our ideas to fix up the regular 440HP engines that most of our cars came with). We were able to get three in 1970, and two in 1971, and that was it - they were just too expensive to buy and maintain: Poor gas mileage, burned up transmissions, really expensive tires, baked brakes, etc. Only two or three guys ever got to drive them - they were hairy scary beasts.
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
I get the impression many flat out don't believe any of these special order car and custom build car stories. Mostly I suppose because to approach a car company today with any such off the wall request would get you laughed out the door. Ditto for any police department, their lawyers would scream bloody murder. So why do the stories persist? They persist because most are for the most part true.
To understand the "how" you need to recognize that virtually all of the workforce was comprised of WWII vets and they were experts in networking. In some companies head office ex-officers were the white collar and the enlisted were the blue collar. The command structure was as military as it had been overseas in the heat of battle. This was the way things ran until the mid to late 70's when the military atmosphere started to get watered down as the next generation started to replace retiring WWII vets.
I saw all this first hand, my dad was career Canadian Army who retired in '73 after 36 years of service. His ability to reach out and touch executives on what he called "Civyy Street" was amazing.
In the mid 60's I wanted a summer job and found one as a brick layer's gopher, very hard and dirty work. Out of the blue I get a job offer from Westinghouse to work on the Pinetree Line, a string of radar sites across Canada. This was an unreal job that paid unreal bux. I made enough over the next three summers to pay my way through to a degree in engineering. I found out years later that the president of Westinghouse served with my dad in WWII so my "out of the blue" job offer didn't just fall out of the sky after all.
So for those sceptics, if you had "military connections" and wanted some totally off the wall car, it was at most a few phone calls away. If you were a flag officer like my dad was, it only took one call and possibly a case of Scotch!
BTW, many State Police brass were ex MP's, how big do you suppose their network was? !police !police !dance
I hear you - our maintenance facility manager was an old WWII logistics officer who could get ANYTHING with a few phone calls - we nick named him Radar O'Reilly...
We took our well used engines and rebuilt them anyway we wanted, using these special engines as a template. As I said earlier, lots of police departments all across the country did the same thing. Someone on the Dock related seeing a Hemi installed in a cop car down south somewhere --those boys in Georgia where famous for hot rodding their cars.
I'm jealous of Jazz and his CHP equipped car- those were fast.... <span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Sat Dec 11 2010, 02:44PM ]</span>
Joined: Fri Jun 04 2010, 10:30PM
Location: Illinois
Posts: 464
I remember watching "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" and the cop at the end had some special pursuit car. He said something like "set up for maximum performance". Gave the Charger a good run if I remember right. Think they even had a shot of the engine in there. Who's got a copy of that movie?
I was a youngster during those days but remember everyone always refered to the Mopar cop cars as being the fastest ones. I really enjoy reading the technical side that Kraut brings.
Thanks for reminding me Kraut of the several different cop motors. I have had that explained to me before (by you!), and yes, it's #4, as claimed by the original owner.
Definitely did not come as a crate motored car, and definitely way faster that anything stock at the time.
Jealous? Make me an ofer!! As much as I don't want to, I am thinking of selling the car, (I need to win the lottery!), because I have to face reality, and reality says one car.
It comes with a rust free shell, and a zillion NOS and perfect used bits (trim and tail lights etc) for the resto.
This is a 1 of 1 car.... and only serious offers will be considered. Plus, it has to go to the right home.
<span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Sat Dec 11 2010, 10:54PM ]</span>
That's the rub there.....unfortunately I can't provide documentation from the factory or dealership.
All I have is the original owners' affadavits. I have a personal letter from him and will have it notarized by both him and me upon request. (That's something I gotta get taken care of soon, as he's probably close to 80 now).
The documents from the dealership in Calgary where the car was sold new no longer exist. In addition to that, since the car was ordered through the dealership as some sort of "special order", Chrysler Canada has no documentation of it either.
Believe me, I went searching for them!
The driving it is the proof in reality. When one sees that the car is completely unrestored, and the way it drives, one understands.
Sorry Kraut, no trades!
<span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Sat Dec 11 2010, 10:53PM ]</span>
Gregcon... Take it for what it is. It obviously happened numerous times and Mopar has been known to misplace paperwork. lol. C body folks arent the types to fake what their car really is because some people just dont see them as valuable.
And By the way Kraut, Thats pretty awesome what you guys got to play with back then.