Are You Too Much of a Gear Head When You Get to a Certain Day and Think Engines?
Certain days on the calendar can take a whole different tack (or tach) when it comes to the love affair with people and their cars. Listening to the roar or feeling the rumble was enough to give even a shade tree mechanic enough sense to tear into those power plants to make them run right.
During the months of March and April we are blessed with subtle reminders of days long past when you didn’t need a computer to tell you what was wrong with your car. A youth of knowing cubic inch displacement for internal combustion eight-cylinder engines puts a certain firing order sequence in motion.
March 18, 26, and 27 along with April 10, 13, 26, 27, 28 and 29 can be celebrated depending on preferred manufacturer. Just place a three in front of the March dates and a four in front of the April dates and you’ll know what I mean.
The 318 c.i. Mopar engine was a stock option for over thirty Chrysler Corporation models in both cars and pickups from the late 1960’s all the way into the 1990’s. Pontiac developed the 326 motor for mainly the Pontiac Tempest and Firebird in the mid 60’s. Chevy drivers muscled up with the 327 with a power band that in some circles rivaled many of the bigger engines through most of the 1960’s.
Ford gets their day with the 410. It’s an early sunset as that model was in limited production in the late 50’s and in the mid 60’s.
“Shut Down” a song by the Beach Boys featured a drag race sequence between a Stingray Corvette and a Dodge featuring a 413 (with ram induction don’t you know) used mainly in the late ‘50’s through the mid 60’s. Mopar strikes again with the 426 with the Wedge and Max Wedge editions. The Max Wedge was mainly known for its properties as a racing engine and a little more stout especially when couple with the “Hemi” heads.
Another GM engine with some used in Corvettes and others in station wagons was the 427. Ford also had an engine dubbed a 427 that was a mainly racing engine in the 60’s.
A more wider production motor that went into Ford police cars among a host of other street models was the 428. For the drag strip, the 428 Cobra Jet had a little more snort and a few more modifications for the 428 Super Cobra Jet. Finally we reach the Ford 429 Boss, which was available for only two years as the trend of more fuel efficiency eventually caught hold.
Springtime is a great time to revive those sleepy cars from their winter slumber. No apologies for the 302, 305 or 409 great engines that they are. The dates are not spoken in cubic inch fashion.