Joined: Sat Aug 19 2006, 05:03PM
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2919
I am currently reading a book "We Were the Ramchargers" about the Ramchargers racing team. To the unfamiliar, these were a group of guys working at Chrysler Engineering that ran a drag racing team with some company backing. It's a good read with lots of cool vintage pics.
One statement in the book jumped out at me. One of the Ramcharger guys stuffed a Hemi in his street car (not a C-body) and was "blowing the doors off" of other guys street-racing on Woodward. He said that he had grabbed a pair of cast iron exhaust manifolds that R&D had made to install a Hemi in a C-body. Two sets had been cast, and these had been shelved after the project to put a Hemi in a C had been cancelled.
I had read before that, had the 300 letter-model program not been cancelled after 65, the 1966 300M was supposed to get a Hemi. This somewhat corroborates that "legend". That would've been very cool indeed.
Joined: Wed Jun 21 2006, 09:38PM
Location: OK
Posts: 899
A Hemi '66 300M (obviously NONE made!) would be a fairly easy car to build, it would seem. There was a nice '66 NY hardtop locally for sale recently that I missed out on for a thousand bucks - running, driving 413 car and triple black, to boot! would've made a great phantom '66 300M Hemi car! With air and everything!
Joined: Thu Mar 01 2007, 09:30PM
Location: Houston
Posts: 1735
I'm curious why a C manifold would be any different than a B. I've done some 'trying out' of B body manifolds and they seem to fit well enough.
I'm currently installing a 426 Hemi in a 66 C Body and I can tell you it's a lot less easy than you might think. The stock air cleaner won't fit, nor would power brakes. If you wanted AC that's another issue. These are all things Chrysler could have overcome but it would have been a list of 'special' items for sure.
Joined: Tue Oct 11 2005, 01:33AM
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 5893
gregcon wrote ... I'm curious why a C manifold would be any different than a B. I've done some 'trying out' of B body manifolds and they seem to fit well enough.
I'm currently installing a 426 Hemi in a 66 C Body and I can tell you it's a lot less easy than you might think. The stock air cleaner won't fit, nor would power brakes. If you wanted AC that's another issue. These are all things Chrysler could have overcome but it would have been a list of 'special' items for sure.
Check out Butch's hemi 70 Fury, he had to lose the power brakes and stock cleaner, but he was able to add AC.
<span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Mon Dec 27 2010, 12:43AM ]</span>
Joined: Mon Feb 18 2008, 11:08PM
Location: Tewantin, Queensland, Australia
Posts: 405
In Schumacher Creative Services engine swaps book they recommend using facory manifolds to fit a 426 to '66 C body, so i am assuming "factory manifolds" means B body? It is a swap i'd love to do........ 300M
noosacuda wrote ... In Schumacher Creative Services engine swaps book they recommend using facory manifolds to fit a 426 to '66 C body, so i am assuming "factory manifolds" means B body? It is a swap i'd love to do........ 300M
There were C-body specific big block exhaust manifolds only starting in 1970. Except for some ultra rare combos (BB Dart for example) BB logs were the same for B & C up to and including 69.
Joined: Wed Jun 21 2006, 09:38PM
Location: OK
Posts: 899
I measured the '66 Fury III engine bay and my '66 Coronet 500 engine bay once upon a time. The room in each is pretty dang close in size. The C looks larger because of the inner wheel well contours, and it is, slightly. IIRC, where a big block exhaust manifold clears the inner wheel well on the DS is approximately 1.8" wider on the C, and 1.5" wider on the pass side (both cars measured with a 383 installed). I took these measurements several years ago, and am drawing this from memory, so it might be off a little. With that, it would seem that the Hemi would install with more clearance in the C than it would in the B, as well.
I always thought they didn't squeeze a Hemi into the C body because of the suspension..aren't the torsion bars much closer together on a C than on the B/E bodies? I never measured, maybe it just looks that way because the rest of the car is so wide?
<span class='smallblacktext'>[ Edited Mon Dec 27 2010, 02:47PM ]</span>