Many who lived through the era or speak Mopar well will tell you that the Street Hemi wasn’t quite what it was cracked up to be. Don’t get me wrong, the 426 Hemi’s legend is cemented in stone. In racing, you can’t lose. In stoplight-to-stoplight stunts and backroad showdowns, you were bringing a nuclear warhead to the fight. But you had to earn that performance. A Street Hemi was the technicians’s car, the mechanic’s hot rod. You had to know how to keep the engine happy. Chrysler knew that this was an issue. They knew that the 440 four-barrel wasn’t enough, so they reached back to the 1950s and pulled out a trick that General Motors had been using: triple carburetion. Dodges with the Six Pack setup and Plymouths that had the “440-6” warning were just as dangerous as a Hemi and in the right hands, potentially even more dangerous.
It’s no surprise that Uncle Tony is holding a lesson on the Six Pack and it’s predecessors, like the Tri-Power 427s and Pontiac 421s. The reason, on the other hand, is a surprise. Sitting at his shop is a clean 1980s Dodge Ramcharger that has seen a lot of better days under the hood. About a week ago, he tore into the engine to see what he had and lucked out when he found a roller 360ci V8 in the mounts. Originally, he thought he had an EFI 318 and was going to go on an economy kick. But now that he knows what’s really in the truck, he’s considering putting three carbs on an otherwise unassuming Ramcharger. We can’t wait to see this project take shape…
Good Stuff! Thanks Tony.
You gotta watch Uncle Tony’s vid on the ball-stud Hemi! He’s the salty ol’ bastard under who’s feet I spent my youth, gettin’ in the way trying to learn stuff in their garage. And, I outta’ know… I’M that salty ol’ bastard NOW! LOVE this guy!