426 Hemi

[Pablo]

I have a special fondness for Ford's hemi's.

 

[walterjay]

Thanks. Just another car I have lusted over for many years. I only saw (1) anywhere ever on the streets. All looked real. YET. Now, I have to wonder typing this if some one did not create their own GSX out of another Buick. Lots of stories from car shows of people turning up with what appeared to be the GSXs but then they disclosed that they are really clones. I would bet not many true ones left in existence. Certainly not on the streets or drag strips. Far far too valuable these days. GSX was one very special car GM put out.

One of my customers had one for years. Went by his place recently and saw a new Vette in place of it.

 

[Rob_Roy]

In the 60,s the Hemi was rated at 425 Horsepower How many horsepower did it really have?

That depends how you measure it. On an engine dyno with no accessories I am sure the Hemi made its advertised numbers. There are plenty of dyno videos for stock rebuilds on YT.

 

[jkasch]

That depends how you measure it. On an engine dyno with no accessories I am sure the Hemi made its advertised numbers. There are plenty of dyno videos for stock rebuilds on YT.

Beat me by 3 minutes. Was about to post it.

 

[OVERKILL]

I have a special fondness for Ford's hemi's.

Same here. My grandfather had a Thunderbird with the 427SOHC in it. My mom doesn't recall whether it had the dual or single quad setup, but it was untouchable apparently, lol.

 

[Chris142]

That's pretty sad considering my 1972 Nova with a 307 and open headers ran a 14.9 at island dragway in NJ back in 1990!
It had 3.42 gears and posi, No spare but had a back seat.

That's hard to believe. My duster had a 360 with some cam. 3.55 gears and ran consistent 15.0's. my Chevelle with a 302, cast iron manifolds,L48 cam, a 2 bbl Rochester,3.09 gears and a 3 speed ran 14.47.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

One of my customers had one for years. Went by his place recently and saw a new Vette in place of it.

I bet he made out very well if he sold it. Maybe well enough to pay off the Vette and then some?

 

[billt460]

That's hard to believe.

I agree.

 

[JeffKeryk]

That's hard to believe. My duster had a 360 with some cam. 3.55 gears and ran consistent 15.0's. my Chevelle with a 302, cast iron manifolds,L48 cam, a 2 bbl Rochester,3.09 gears and a 3 speed ran 14.47.

My friend's uncle had a 65 El Camino with the 283 4 speed that ran 11's. As I recall there were a lot of those cars back in the day, not sure what happened to them.

 

[4WD]

Yes indeed, Dodge / Plymouth have been well known to fudge the Hp numbers as far back as the late 60s. Ford and GM pulled the same thing many times too.

Can you spell 454

 

[jkasch]

If it was possible to dyno test all the first generation production muscle car engines in their factory stock condition, my money would be on the Chevy L88, and its aluminum block variant ZL1, for making the most hp.

 

[OVERKILL]

If it was possible to dyno test all the first generation production muscle car engines in their factory stock condition, my money would be on the Chevy L88, and its aluminum block variant ZL1, for making the most hp.

The 427 SOHC, which was available over the parts counter and installed at the dealership at any Ford dealer, was 657HP in stock form, which, I believe is the highest HP available of any production engine of the period.

 

[JeffKeryk]

If it was possible to dyno test all the first generation production muscle car engines in their factory stock condition, my money would be on the Chevy L88, and its aluminum block variant ZL1, for making the most hp.

The L88 was factory rated at 430 HP @ 5,200 RPM. Probably about right power at that RPM...
The tachometer redline was 6,500 RPM. Here's the Vette L88 tach:

 

[jkasch]

The 427 SOHC, which was available over the parts counter and installed at the dealership at any Ford dealer, was 657HP in stock form, which, I believe is the highest HP available of any production engine of the period.

That would produce more. I guess I was thinking in terms a complete package from an order sheet.

 

[OVERKILL]

The L88 was factory rated at 430 HP @ 5,200 RPM. Probably about right power at that RPM...
The tachometer redline was 6,500 RPM. Here's the Vette L88 tach:
View attachment 297029

You'll like this article:
https://www.hotrod.com/how-to/ccrp-0910-chevy-l88-427-engine

Cliff notes: Sticking close to factory spec, it produced 524HP (engine dyno, not SAE NET equivalent, but still excellent).

 

[OVERKILL]

That would produce more. I guess I was thinking in terms a complete package from an order sheet.

Yeah, you could only get the Cammer over the parts counter (and dealer installed as part of the purchase if you so desired), but there were very few L88 cars produced, so I'm not sure it's all that different

Here's a beautiful dual-quad cammer on the dyno, 740HP:


Not sure what my grandfather's made, but it was apparently insane according to my mom, who piloted the car many times as a teen.

 

[jkasch]

I did get a ride in a friend’s ‘68 L88 Vette that had been balanced and blueprinted at the GM Tech Center. Was said to have made 640 hp and would run 9’s with slicks. Quite quick for 1971.

 

[JeffKeryk]

The famous Greenwood #49 L88 race car set a GT speed record of 215 mph on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans in 1970.
Pushing that car to that speed took some serious power.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Can you spell 454

You mean the one that could near pull down a building and that could actually reach up to about 450Hp?
My dad had one of those big barge sized Olds station wagons with 455cui some time in the 70s. I got in some trouble driving
it a couple times way above the posted speed limits. I don't have a clue what Hp the Olds engine had back then.

 

[69GTX]

In the 60,s the Hemi was rated at 425 Horsepower How many horsepower did it really have?

Since the ratings back at the peak of the Hemi era were all in "gross" HP, and the insurance Companies dinged you for cars that exceeded 1 hp per cu inch, many or most the big block - extra carbed engines were underrated.....esp. the 426 hemi, 440-6v, etc.

The stock 426 hemi certainly had a "real" gross hp rating above 425 hp.