1973 Hemi ??

['Cuda Hunter]

What year was the last 426 Hemi produced? 

[ToxicWolf]

I think 1971 was the last production year.

[Topcat]

What year was the last 426 Hemi produced?

Over the counter?
Or in production?

In production, 1971 was the last year with 393 units put in vehicles.

[dodj]

wasn't there a '72 hemi? .........

they made one or two? 

[jimynick]

wasn't there a '72 hemi? .........

they made one or two? 

   That's what I've read, too. They certainly weren't common, but I heard that a few have been documented and it makes sense Mopar style- WHY would you not use up the last few hemis in the supply tubes? Och aye! 

[Topcat]

  That's what I've read, too. They certainly weren't common, but I heard that a few have been documented and it makes sense Mopar style- WHY would you not use up the last few hemis in the supply tubes? Och aye! 

There was also a Marine division.
Back then destroying current inventory was more common as well.

Some went over to the counter to Hustle Stuff...The Mopar Performance it was named back then.

[70chall440]

perhaps a B body in 72 but I have never heard anything about a 72 Hemi E body and pretty sure they never made any. I do seem to remember something about a 72 GTX or something, but certainly not an Ebody.

[Cuda Cody]

Over the counter Hemi engines was 1974 from what I heard.  I have a 1973 block so I know they were made until then.  Might have only been 1 or 2 castings in the last few years of production.

[Bullitt-]

Wonder if Burpin ever tracked down that '72...
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=7720.0

['Cuda Hunter]

Ok, so 74 was the last year for casting..

So this guy I know has a 73 dated 426 Hemi.  He just sold his other 73 Hemi and has asked if I am interested in his non racing 73 426.

Any idea of value on the block and heads?      Sorry , not much more info at this moment.  I'll get more.


He's got some drag car Hemi's.  Likes to talk about throwing away Hemi parts back in the day.  Says he had a pile of Hemi parts bigger than a truck that they just scrapped.
He'd build hemi's , blow em up, throw em away. 

[70chall440]

I paid about $7K for a 66 426 that had been windowed at some point in its life and repaired. This was for basically a long block. Remember, anything can be repaired but how much do you want to spend is the question. Since this is a 73 casting, there isn't any real historical providence (meaning the block didn't come out of a car) so I would see what a new 426 block runs and compare the condition of 73 against that. In my experience, from a builder's standpoint, it is the heads that generally bring the big money unless the block has some historical significance or value. If it were a 69 or 70 block and you were building a car of that year, then it would have more value just because of the dates (to some people). Since this isn't the case here, it is essentially a RB block and while it might be worth more than say a 440 block, unless it has the rest of the stuff, it isn't worth a lot more IMO. A quick Google search shows a new 426 block going for like $3K.

['Cuda Hunter]

Well, I just want a Hemi.  Don't really care about years and numbers and all that.  Just want a street beast.

[Cuda Cody]

The new Hemi blocks look completely wrong compared to a stock original Hemi block.  The last "new" casting that looked factory correct was from the early 90's and now they're over 20 years old.  Those are the best blocks that still have the complete original stock look.  They even carry the same original Hemi casting number and they have a "M" in the place of the casting marker.  People call them Hemi "M" blocks.

As for a 1973 block, I would jump on it if you can.  Those are really hard to come by and the nice thing is they are era correct.   Lots of those over the counter blocks were used by racers so not many survived.  Harder to find a 72-74 casting then any other 426 Hemi IMO.  And I've been looking a long time.  I currently have a few 68 to 70's Hemi's, but only one 73.   If you don't buy it please pass it on to me. 

Well, I just want a Hemi.  Don't really care about years and numbers and all that.  Just want a street beast.

[70chall440]

I need to get my Hemi put together, I have a rebuilt short block and rebuilt heads; however because it was an old race motor it was decked slightly. The guy I was working with who had a lot of hemi experience is no longer available, but we had determined that to get a pump friendly CR, we needed to use a copper shim (which I have). I don't have any experience with this, so I am wondering how to get this done; do I run the shim on the deck side and the head gasket on top of that or something else.

I will also have to run a external oil pickup because the boss that the pickup normally screws into is damaged; this isn't a big issue because Mildon makes a lot of options here. All of this is going into my 70 Roadrunner; also have a 68 B body Dana with 3.54 to go in.
 

[Cuda Cody]

You're going to need some help to get it dialed in.  Decking will change the way the intake sits too and on Hemi's they are already hard to get them to seat right when everything is perfectly stock.  You might need to shave the intake to get it all to line up.  What will you be using the engine for.... Race, Strip, Cruising?  That will tell you where you need to be on the compression ratio.  The decking, the bore, the stroke, the CC of the heads, type of pistons and your specific head gasket (amount of crush) will all need to be calculated accurately to find out where you are right now in terms of CR and then you can see what adjustments need to be made.  Also, are the heads iron or aluminum?  You can normally get 1 CR higher with Aluminum heads and still run on premium pump.

I need to get my Hemi put together, I have a rebuilt short block and rebuilt heads; however because it was an old race motor it was decked slightly. The guy I was working with who had a lot of hemi experience is no longer available, but we had determined that to get a pump friendly CR, we needed to use a copper shim (which I have). I don't have any experience with this, so I am wondering how to get this done; do I run the shim on the deck side and the head gasket on top of that or something else.

I will also have to run a external oil pickup because the boss that the pickup normally screws into is damaged; this isn't a big issue because Mildon makes a lot of options here. All of this is going into my 70 Roadrunner; also have a 68 B body Dana with 3.54 to go in.