5 Cross-Ram Intake Mopars Even Hemi Fans Forget
Every Hemi enthusiast thinks he knows Mopar drag history. Ask about the cross-ram intake, the factory dual-quad Chrysler bolted onto the 413 and 426 Max Wedge between 1962 and 1964, and watch the confidence slip. Built for exactly one job, NHRA Super Stock, nothing else, then buried when the Race Hemi showed up mid-1964. These five factory cars ran that cross-ram before it disappeared, and most of them never got their due. Here’s the list that separates those who actually know Mopar from those who just think they do.
5
1962 Dodge Dart 413 Max Wedge
Compression Ratio: 13.5:1, Horsepower: 420
This is the one that separates the top percentile from everybody else. Max Wedge wasn’t just a nickname; it stood for Maximum Performance Wedge, and Chrysler built it to squeeze every last drop out of the 413 cubic inch V8.
Chrysler’s new-for-1962 B-body platform was smaller and lighter than the full-size factory drag offerings Ford or Chevy had on sale that year, which is exactly why the Max Wedge worked as well as it did. The manifold’s runners crossed from one bank to a carburetor mounted on the opposite side, which is exactly where the “cross-ram” name comes from, and it made monster top-end power at the cost of a lumpy idle. Bolting it into the Dodge Dart was the smart move too, since the Dart’s lighter unibody gave the engine its best shot at the strip.
Buyers actually got a choice here, and you had to know what to ask for. The base package ran 11.0:1 compression for 410 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque under sales code 08, while the serious option pushed to 13.5:1 for 420 horsepower and 470 lb-ft under code 09—numbers plenty of Dodge salesmen at the time couldn’t even explain. Both breathed through twin Carter four-barrels sitting on that cross-ram manifold, feeding a .509-inch lift cam with 300 degrees of duration, and every one of these cars was still technically street legal despite being built for the strip.
Out on the strip, this thing flat out worked. Bill Golden ran an 11.93-second pass at 118.57 mph to set the SS/SA national record, and Dick Ladeen wasn’t far behind with a 12.71 in SS/S. Ray Brock’s automatic version wasn’t slow either, clocking a 12.37 at the NHRA Indy Nationals that same year.
Only 55 of these Dart two-doors were built out of 214 total Dodge Max Wedges that year, and just 16 are accounted for today. The Ramchargers ran their own ’62 Dart too, though theirs actually shipped with the older Long Ram intake, since the cross-ram wasn’t finished yet. They didn’t stop at stock spec either, boring their own 413 out to a full 426 cubic inches long before that displacement became the factory standard.
4
1962 Plymouth Fury 413 Super Stock
Compression Ratio: 13.5:1, Horsepower: 420
Second entry, same 413 V8, and yes, this one runs the Max Wedge too, cross-ram and all. Plymouth just called its version Super Stock instead of Ramcharger, different badge, identical hardware underneath, and Chrysler didn’t even print it in the regular sales brochure. You had to know to special-order it through your dealer.
Same two compression options as the Dart: 410 horsepower and 460 lb-ft at 11.0:1, or 420 horsepower and 470 lb-ft once you stepped up to 13.5:1. Twin four-barrel Carters, same cross-ram, same rules, riding in a Fury body that tipped the scales at 3,209 pounds, a bit heavier than the stripped-down Dart it shared showroom space with.
Production tells the real story here. Only 57 examples got built with the factory Super Stock package, and that number gets even smaller once you separate this from the Sport Fury—a completely different and much rarer car people mix up with this one constantly—with barely a couple of confirmed survivors left anywhere.
3
1963 Plymouth Belvedere 426 Max Wedge
Compression Ratio: 13.5:1, Horsepower: 425
Third entry, first appearance of the bigger engine. Chrysler bored the 413 out to 426 cubic inches for 1963, and the Belvedere got the update along with every other B-body in the lineup. Call this one 426 Max Wedge and nothing else, because Stage III doesn’t show up until the following year, and knowledgeable readers will catch that mistake instantly.
Same two-tier setup as before, just bigger numbers. Base compression sat at 11.0:1 for 415 horsepower and 470 lb-ft, while the 13.5:1 option cranked out 425 horsepower and 480 lb-ft. Still riding on that cross-ram with twin Carter four-barrels feeding it, in a Belvedere body that weighed in around 3,341 pounds.
Midway through the year, Chrysler quietly revised the cylinder heads, added a clutch fan for better cooling, and moved the battery to the trunk for better weight distribution, running changes that never showed up in any brochure. Factory-backed racers like Dick Landy ran these lightweight ’63 Plymouths, and between the Dart, the Fury, and the Belvedere, Chrysler was racking up Super Stock wins across the entire lineup.
2
1963 Dodge 440 Lightweight
Compression Ratio: 13.5:1, Horsepower: 425
Fourth entry, and here’s where Dodge guys mess with people on purpose. That “440” isn’t the engine; it’s the trim level, sitting between the stripped-down 330 and the fancier Polara and Polara 500 in Dodge’s lineup that year. Mention “440” to a casual fan and they’ll assume you mean the big-block that showed up in ’66. Wrong engine entirely, and the mix-up trips up people who should know better.
Same 426 cross-ram under the hood as every other ’63 Dodge, 415 horsepower and 470 lb-ft at 11.0:1, or 425 horsepower and 480 lb-ft at 13.5:1, in a body that started life around 3,370 pounds. The Lightweight tag meant exactly what it sounds like: aluminum front fenders, hood, and bumper supports shedding weight the factory usually left in, an option that only showed up partway through the 1963 run once Chrysler finished sorting out the parts. Early cars that year shipped steel-bodied only.
Exact production numbers on this specific package stay murky even among people who track this stuff for a living. The registries that do exist trace individual cars one at a time rather than publish a running total, which tells you everything about how deep into the weeds this particular entry actually goes.
1
1964 Dodge 330 Super Stock
Compression Ratio: 12.5:1, Horsepower: 425
Last entry, and this is the one that closes the whole story out. Same 426 Ramcharger V8, but 1964 is the only year that doesn’t follow the 11.0 or 13.5 compression ratio every other entry on this list uses. Base stayed at 11.0:1 for 415 horsepower, but the high-compression option dropped to 12.5:1 instead of 13.5:1, still good for 425 horsepower.
That detail rarely gets discussed, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that trips up people who think they know this engine cold, since every other year on this list tops out at 13.5:1. The 330 shared its 119-inch wheelbase with the 440 and Polara, and at somewhere between $2,260 and $2,860 it was the cheapest way into a genuine factory drag package that year.
Only 23 of these aluminum-lightweight 330 sedans got built that year. The Ramchargers ran one themselves—white paint, red interior, straight off their own build sheet—and Roger Lindamood’s 330, “Color Me Gone,” won Top Eliminator at the 1964 Winter Nationals. Chrysler had already started building the first batch of Race Hemi engines for NASCAR and NHRA teams that same season, barely 55 of them to start, and the Max Wedge era ended before the model year even finished.
That’s the whole window—1962 to 1964—and the cross-ram never came back once the Hemi took over. The Hemi got the fame and the reputation that still follows Mopar guys around today. These five did the heavy lifting, with a manifold Chrysler barely bothered to advertise in the first place.
Sources: Mecum, Bring A Trailer, Hagerty
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments