Some years ago I read an article that stated that the Rochester Fuel
Injected 283 cu in smallblock Chevrolet WAS NOT the first American
production car engine to develop one horsepower per cubic inch ..... and
went on to state that this milestone was achieved by a hemispherical head
V8 engine designed by Chrysler Corporation and built in the early 50s .
Mike Bishop' s very interesting article forwarded to us by Dirty Doug
Anderson quotes Chrysler VP and engineering director James Zeder as
saying, " Yes, at 12.6 it all came together -- 385 lb-ft torque and 353 hp
( 1.07 hp / cubic inch ) " Mr. Zeder' s technical paper about the output
of the 331" Chrysler Hemi ( actually 331.1" at 3.81" bore x 3.63" stroke ),
which was introduced in 1951, would seem to back up this claim .......
UNTIL you realize the hemi they were playing with on their dyno had a
12.6 compression ratio and camshaft timing a little racier than what the
cars on the showroom floor came with ...... these V8s only were rated
at 180 brake hp, and even the later 1955 models only put out 250 hp,
with the new longer stroke 354 " hemi being rated at 280 hp .......
still not reaching the one hp / cube mark. Even the early drag racer' s
engine of choice and long time mainstay of Top Fuel racing, the
dynamic 392 " Chrysler Firepower hemi introduced in 1957, was not
quite to " one per " as it came from the factory ..... horsepower was
stated as 375, and some claims were for 390 horses .
Those Chizlers were, and still ARE, fantastic powerhouses that
most all of us are in awe of, but since none of them came in production
version with 12 to 1 compression ratios ...... not even the smaller 241"
and 273" Dodge and DeSoto hemis ...... I guess the smallblock
Chev is the FIRST to hold the honor of a true PRODUCTION engine
that you could buy that gave ONE HP / CUBE ...... naturally aspirated
and on gas .......
Does anybody else have any other info on this ?
Bruce
Flatheads, Hemis, Arduns, Smallblocks, Jimmys, FourBangers .......
ALL GREAT ENGINES with a place in hot rod history !!!
///
/// land-speed@autox.team.net mailing list
///
|