Your 3 Favorite Mopar Engines?

[Fleet 500]

What are your 3 favorite Mopar engines and why.

My picks:

1. 1968-1969 440-4 bbl Magnum. Well-built, rugged & reliable, lots of low-end torque with plenty of horsepower.

2. 1968-1969 426-Hemi. No explanation really needed. But I will anyway... a detuned racing engine for the street! Very powerful with a high top end... as Bobby Isaacs once said, "Now the Hemi may idle like a coffee can full of rocks and it may need a wrench applied to it a little more often than usual. On the other hand, as far as acceleration is concerned, the Hemi turns on where the others shut off."

3. 1968-1971 340-4 bbl Magnum. Free-breathing engine which makes a lot of horsepower per cubic inch. Fits easily in mid-to-late '60s Darts, Valiants and Barracudas. Well-built and reliable. And relatively economical... gets better than 10 mpg!

[HemiOrange70]

71-426 HEMI ....THE last street elephant motor
70 340....the little hemi, fast, power and light weight
2008  SRT8 Hemi 6.1 L......the rebirth of a legend

[Chryco Psycho]

354 Hemi , it was so far ahead of its time , the competition was the ford Flat head V8 & the Chev straight 6 , Actually Caddy had about the closest engine that was any competition to it in the early 50s
 
440+6 , Street warrior , generally quicker than the Hemi in short street runs , very driveable , decent milage & the flat powerband that just didn`t stop pulling
 
426 Hemi ..... obviously stock it was not particularly awesome & the early solid cam version makes more sense But it re-wrote all the record books made far more power then the Production verson with relatively minor changes , & to this day still dominates all top Fuel classes , is banned restricted or penalized to make anything else seem competative in most racing classes & has the looks to boot. 

bottom line is virtually all Mopar engines are awesome , none are particularly weak engines with achillies heels , all can make awesome power with great durability & generally far better efficiency . Mopar engineered the drivetrains extremely well up until the K car days

[Fleet 500]

"The Little Hemi" (340). One magazine called the 340 the "Baby Hemi," pretty close.

And Car Life referred to the 340 in their test 1970 Duster as the "perfect engine." Seems like they were impressed.

And the 354-Hemi is a good choice, too. It beat Chevy by one year to claim one horsepower per cubic inch (the '56 300-B with an optional 355 hp available VS the '57 Corvette with 283 hp from its 283 engine). Also, the '57 DeSoto Adventurer came standard with a 345-Hemi with 345 hp. The first American car in which the standard engine had one hp per cubic inch!

[Aussie Challenger]

    with all the above power plants but one over looked is the leaning Tower of Power - slant 6.   
  Don't forget that in the early 60's when they tried to run a compact NASCAR race the slant 6 took the first 7 places from 7 cars starting which caused them to cancel the series, suprise suprise, when MOPAR's dominate they ban or change the rules.   

[brads70]

340,440 and this 500 stoker combo from a 400 block has me very intrigued these days

If I could pick 4 engines the new 6.1 Hemi catches my eye too. I would love to tear one down to see what makes them tick.
 When I first got my Challenger I was going to put a Nascar  Mopar engine in it ( I have a few contacts in the Nascar world) but the dry sump part wouldn't live very comfortably on the street I figured . I have seen them apart very nice bullet proof stuff! Wouldn't be the first time Cup parts ended up on my street car.

[72hemi]

3. 440 6 pack - Great power plant, makes tons of torque and darn near bullet   proof, looks good under the hood too

2. 426 Hemi - enough said

1. 340 - one heck of an engine that makes plenty of power, slap a 6 pack on it and wow. Plus how many factory small block engines do you know of that can make over 450 hp with very minimal work and cost.

[426HEMI]

3. 440 6 pack - Great power plant, makes tons of torque and darn near bullet   proof, looks good under the hood too

2. 426 Hemi - enough said

1. 340 - one heck of an engine that makes plenty of power, slap a 6 pack on it and wow. Plus how many factory small block engines do you know of that can make over 450 hp with very minimal work and cost.

You hit the nail on the head.     Only thing I would do is put the

1.  340 first

2.  440 6 pack next

3.  Any small block with a 6 pack on it.  I have had a 6 pack on a 273, 318 and a 340 to this point and it sure makes a very good combination on them.

4. 426 Hemi,  Only because it is the only one I have yet to own and 4/26 is my birthday and 426hemi is my name on here.   

[UKcuda]

340

- giant killer

[72rtchallenger]

340

- giant killer

  340+6 is my favorite then the 426 then the 440

[Carlwalski]

Good topic.


#1) 440ci - Best bang for buck engine with lots of power potential and loads of torque.

#2) Viper V10 - Insane amount of power potential, anywhere up to 1,800rwhp+ with FI.

#3) Hemi - Any style, new or old, 426-600ci+. They're just cool + loads of torque and that "mechanical sound".

[Bluemonster71RT]

1. 383 the little big block that coul...err does.

2. 426 just because everyone else is afraid of it.

3. 340+6 because the young kids just don't treat it with respect until your waiting for them at the next light.

[71chally416]

1) 392 Hemi - The measuring stick for everything that came after.
2) Max Wedge - If you were around back then, you'd understand.
3) 340 - The most competitive engine Chrysler has today in Stock and Super Stock.

[Ck[FIN]]

1)  Mopar X-block or R-block racing engines, huge power and best sounding small blocks ever!
2)  426 Hemi.
3)  Viper V10 - Lots of low end torque and great sound!

[JoltinJoe]

1) 392 Hemi - The measuring stick for everything that came after.
2) Max Wedge - If you were around back then, you'd understand.
3) 340 - The most competitive engine Chrysler has today in Stock and Super Stock.

I go with whatever this guy says.  I've been around too many 'older' folks who say the same thing: the Wedge was faster... top end, bottom end, sideways end, who cares: 71chally416 is the only one thus far to list this Beast With Wheels.  Those guys who were at least 18 in 1962 are the ones who can tell us what was happening on the streets/at the tracks when the 426Wedge, 426Hemi & 440Hemi cars were rolling off the dealer lots.