what made chrysler 300 so hot??

looking aroung in the hemi world, and got to wondering what made the chrysler 300 cars have hemi's that are factory rated higher in hp and tq?? compared to other motors of the same size and year...were they different castings, cranks pistons ect...surely bigger cams, but...what else???i really am wanting a hemi, but just can't justifiy the weight to hp ratio....espicially when i been doing sbc's for years...all the web sites i visit list the hemi's by year and car make...ya i know, use the search

 

Two fours, hotter cam, higher compression, good tech writers...

Charlie

 

300's were the flagship car, henceforth they got all the extra goodies.

 

Until DeSoto handed them their ass at the 1957 Daytona Speed Trials for the flying mile...

 

Somewhere along the line I was told that the factory test fired all the motors and the ones that ran smoother (luck of the draw) were pulled aside and put into the "300" cars.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I thought it was interesting.

I never drove a 300 car, but I can say first hand that I sure do like their engines!!!!

 

Yes on both counts.....

 

1hp/cu in..................in 56, I think

 

so then which hemi's are good builders and which ones to stay away from???long blocks with extended rear would be a problem in the topo...the smaller ones are great for weight=lite...but i just have a horsepower issue with what i'm seeing....i've tried the search but..getting too many non hemi-hp hits when i do..need to learn the search thing beter.......

 

355 hp 354 cid... It was the first engine to make more than 1 hp per cube

1955 300 was a 300 hp [hence the name of the car] 331 cid hemi.

They were CRAZY expensive when new. '58 that I know of sold for $5,781... That same year, my house was worth about $8000, so in modern $'s, it was like a $100k car

 

Extended bellhousing isn't really a "problem"... It just limits your transmission choices a little. There really is no "bad" early hemi. They all have good thick castings and bullet-proof bottom ends [relatively, especially for the time]... But building one the proper way is no different than any other "non brand-X" engine. They have their quirks... Pro's and con's, etc.

You can make just as much HP with just about any engine, but you can NEVER beat the look of a HEMI!

 

The only thing I have read about the early "Baby" hemi's...241, 260, and 270's is that they did not come form the factory with a front harmonic balancer...so you will need to have the crank checked for cracks...if all that pans out then you can get a set of tappered keys and run a 318 harmonic balancer.

 

You can make just as much HP with just about any engine, but you can NEVER beat the look of a HEMI![/quote]

or the sound of a hard breathing Hemi

 

The 1957 DeSoto Adventurer was the FIRST standard production engine to make 1hp per cubic inch. The Chevy people claim it was the 57 corvette 283/283 fuelie, but even though it WAS 1hp per cubic inch, it wasn't a standard production engine...it had to be ordered as an option. With the DeSoto it was the standard Adventurer engine. If a Fire dome was ordered, it came only with a 2bl Firedome 341 Hemi. If you ordered a Fireflite, it only came with a 4bl 341 Hemi...thus, the first standard production 1hp/1CI engine...

 

I noticed you said you couldn't find anything on the Web about that hemi on the 300. If you add K to the 300, you will find a lot more information.

 

Or just about any other letter.

 

Same compression ratio, but in addition to what Charlie said:

Solid lifters (and the corresponding adjustable rockers and special pushrods), special dual valve springs, hardened exhaust valve seat inserts (after 1955, most Chrysler car hemi engines no longer had them), special main & rod bearings, unique distributors, and don't forget the bigger 2-1/2" exhaust manifolds (4-bolt flange).

It was a top-of-the-line engine, as they knew it was going to get the snot run out of it by someone who had lots of money...

 

Here's a good explination of what made the 300 so hot:

http://www.allpar.com/cars/chrysler-300c.html

 

Chrysler was very involved with NA$CAR back in the day and there was a lot of money spent to keep them out front. Look at the cars the had the Mercury outboard sponsorship, those teams were awesome, Chrysler had factory trained engineers on the crews at the track.

Bob

 

Like none of the other factories did, right?

 

So what does that make the standard production 1956 Chrysler 300B with 355 hp from 354 ci?

 

The Chryslers are more expensive, but have the most speed equipment available @ a lower cost. Dodge & DeSotos are cheaper to buy, but Dodge speed stuff is less avaiable, & DeSoto speed stuff is quite scarce(expensive) but some speed things are beginning to be made for them.

 

Huh? I have a magazine somewhere with results for that. Chrysler won, Pontiac was second, Pontiac would have won but their fastest car was DQ'ed for being non-stock. DeSoto not even mentioned in the results. Fast Pontiac went 147 MPH and change, next fastest was 141.

 

Here's a decent article from the Chrysler 300 Club International website (http://www.chrysler300club.com):

A Brief History of the Chrysler 300​

With the development of its hemispherical head V8 engine, Chrysler had a top performer in the early 1950s. Chrysler engineers perfected the 331cu. in. "HEMI" and proved its race worthiness in Europe at LeMans. Also in these years they hired a new stylist, Virgil Exner, who radically redesigned the entire Chrysler line and created what they called "The Forward Look" in 1955. His designs were simple, but strong - without much chrome on the sides. He created the illusion of fast, forward movement.

It was 1955 that the first Chrysler 300 (C-300) was offered. It had Exner's distinctive styling and the 331 HEMI. It was called 300 because with the Carter 4 barrel carburetors, solid lifter camshaft, and a larger-than-usual exhaust, the engine generated 300 horsepower. It was the first modern American production engine to do so. The car had some other distinctive features: it had extra firm suspension, which allowed it to be lower and to corner far better than most cars; and it was very luxurious inside. Leather upholstery, PowerFlite transmission, well designed instrumentation, and high performance made the C-300 the "gentleman's fast car".

And fast it was. Tim Flock raced the C-300 at Daytona in 1955, winning both on the road course and the flying mile. The 1956 model, now designated the 300B, won both events that year as well. In fact, the 300s dominated NASCAR tracks in 1955 and 1956, taking the overall championship both years. Those triumphs created the legend. The 1957 300C did not compete in NASCAR track events, but with its 375HP HEMI engine, again won the Daytona Beach flying mile, making the Chrysler 300 the fastest American car for the third straight year. Simple strong lines, excellent engineering, a high level of luxury, and outstanding performance made the "letter cars" the most desirable of the Chrysler line. They became known as "the Beautiful Brutes".

In 1959, Chrysler replaced the 392 HEMI head engine with a 413 cu. in. wedge head design. For 1960, this wedge style engine was equipped with the unique and exotic cross ram induction system. This new arrangement provided higher torque at lower speeds, in addition to substantial high speed power. During 1960, Chrysler made some 9 or 10 300F "Specials" (four still exist) with 400HP engines. Six of these captured the first six places at the Daytona flying mile event, reaching speeds in the 140 to 145 mph range. 300F Specials are among the most valuable of all post-war collectable cars. The Chrysler 300 Letter Cars continued to use the 413 wedge engine for the remaining years in which they were produced, through the 300L model of 1965. They were still the "Banker's Hotrod".

In 1962, Chrysler offered a 300 Sport series in addition to the 300H. This 300 series was priced and equipped between the Newport and New Yorker. The 300 designation and its similar appearance allowed it to assume some of the letter car mystique without letter car performance or price tag. The non-letter series continued through 1971. In 1970 a special non-letter 300, the Chrysler 300 Hurst, was produced. This car was assembled by Chrysler and refined by the Hurst company with special striping and two-tone paint treatment, deck lid spoiler, wheels, and the like to approximate the panache of the 300 letter car. In 1979, Chrysler produced its final non-letter special 300, the 300 Special Edition. This car was only available in white with a red leather interior and was based on the Cordoba.

There were 14,268 hardtops and 2,588 convertibles of the 300 letter cars produced, not large volume for 11 years of production. The cars were offered in limited colors and only in two door hardtops or convertibles. And 1955, '56 and '63 were years when convertibles were not offered. From '56-'58, and '60 and '61 the letter cars could be ordered with standard transmission, but this was rare. But each year saw the engineering and performance of these cars improve. Chrysler had a great engineering tradition that is evident in this top end automobile that some think of as the "Duesenburg of the 1950s".

For auto enthusiasts, the Chrysler 300 letter cars are an interesting and valuable marque. Initially they were Chrysler's entrant on the racetrack. And Chrysler used the 300 technology in its Dodges and Plymouths that did run NASCAR into the 1970s. But the Chrysler 300 had another audience, those buyers who desired a big, fast, well-engineered automobile that was as distinctive and pleasing to see as it was to drive.

 

... and we all know that Marilyn starred in "SOME LIKE IT HOT" ... so here's proof positive that a Chrysler 300 is hot:

Miss Monroe in a 1962 Chrysler 300H Convertible ... 1 of only 123 ever built.​

 

Well done!

 

From what I have read the 55 331 had the best heads with "555" casting #'s. Alot of those heads where used up by guys running fuel cars back in the day making them harder to find now. I would have liked to see what kind of power the 392's would have made with those heads in the 300's.

 

Never made 300's with an extended bell...

As far as "the smooth one's made it into 300's"... not a chance as 300's had solid lifters with adj. rockers and the others had hyd.

 

They made 123 Marilyn Monroes? Go figure... no pun intended.

 

Try C that was the one that made the 300's famous. Tom McCahill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_McCahill drove one 130 mph in 57 or late 57 and wrote a pretty good story about it and that helped sales of the 300C quite a bit.

 

IIRC, from the 'old' days, these heads were selected simply because they were the easiest in which to install giant valves for the blower packages. It had nothing to do with port volume, port angle or much of anything else except making it as easy as possible to go as fast as possible.

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