RE: 4.7 Hemi

From: Tim J Koth (Tim.J.Koth@aexp.com)
Date: Fri Jul 07 2000 - 15:56:43 EDT


Man... there is really some deep reading into the Hemi name here. As Matt
pointed out, there were over a dozen engine designs that various Chrysler
divisions called Hemi's. They even dropped the Hemi designation for several
years at the end of the 50's and the early 60's to call the engine lines
'Wedge' and 'Max Wedge'. During that whole time the heads were going through
many stages of design changes and metamorphosis. Spark plugs didn't
necessarily go in the center of the combustion chamber. But engineers of the
day would call them Hemis. There was a short period in the early 80's where
the frickin Chrysler K car had a badge that read 2.2 HEMI. My brother had one.
Judging from the photos that Matt posted of the 4.7 a few months ago the heads
are more 'true Hemi' than several generations of the 50's and early 60's
engines that are commonly accepted as "Hemis". The photo Matt posted of a
"true Hemi" is a last generation 426 head. The early 60's hemi heads didn't
look quite the same. I fail to see what the hang up is here. It's just a term.
Right now Dodge's sales literature (at least my 2000 Dakota sales brochure)
calls the 4.7 "The Next Generation 4.7 Litre Magnum Engine". n 1963 if you
went down and plunked your cash on a Dodge Ramcharger with a 413 "Red Ram",
nowhere do any sales brochure state that it was a Hemi, it was a Max Wedge,
but a Hemi nonetheless. I'm finished ranting on this. I just think people
are reading alot more into it than needs to be. Was the frickin 2.2 Dodge
Aries K car a Hemi??? Ma Mopar called it that....



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