Max Wedge Trivia...

[hogpowr]

I'm building a 64 dodge max wedge and I have to admit prior this build, I knew very little about them. I knew there was very few of them built. I knew the Max Wedge's had aluminum front ends, street wedges did not.

Soooo.... Lets share some max wedge trivia. I would love to have people share knowledge and pictures if possible. I'll share first. There are a lot of max wedge specific holes in the firewall. But what I didn't know is that all 64 (dodges only) have a slanted inner fender on passenger side and a large circular hole below it for tooling. This was supposedly built to accommodate the fenderwell exhaust manifold that never made it into production.

Who wants to share next?

 

[cudajunction]

Never seen such a thing and have looked at tons of real and fake max wedge cars. You have to remember in 64 the hemi came out and Chrysler didn't much care about the max wedge anymore. So that's really hard to believe.

 

[383man]

I knew some 64's were built with that done to the passenger side inner fenderwell as they were planning on using the real fancy exh maniflds called the "Tri-Wi" exh manifolds and they planned to use them on the Max Wedge cars. The Hemi cars did not need that done as far as I remember since the Hemi manifolds kinda pointed downwards more the the wedge manifolds. I think thats why they only did it to a few cars as once they new they were going to build Hemi cars and no more Max Wedge cars they stopped banging the fenderwells out and decided to not use the new Tri-Wi manfolds at all. I believe thats what they called them but not sure if I spelled them right. They were bigger and heavier then the exh manifolds already being used on the Max Wedge cars so thats why they were banging the fenderwells out some. But they never made it into production. I also believe they felt they would work better for the Nascar cars. But most racers used headers anyway. They were cool looking and I have seen a pic of them on a red 64 Dodge that a menber on here had posted.
They made the most Max Wedge cars in 1963 as they built 1,996 Max Wedge Plymouths in 1963 and about 980 Dodges as it was over 2,000 of the Max Wedges in 1963. I firgot the real number in 1964 but it was less the 500 total including the Dodge's and Plymouth's. Good luck with your build. Ron

 

[1962polara]

Looks like heaps of room with that bend ..they are angled over in this area...cool item though .Other side is crazy w i d e too.

 

[hogpowr]

Apparently, they only did the fenderwell adjustment on 64 dodges.. for whatever reason they didn't do it to plymouths.. anyone have any other little known or interesting facts..?

 

[ply64post]

Max Wedge

Apparently, they only did the fenderwell adjustment on 64 dodges.. for whatever reason they didn't do it to plymouths.. anyone have any other little known or interesting facts..?

This site is a wealth of information.

Greg Lane's Race Hemi / Max Wedge Pages

Darrell Davis' Maximum Performance Reference Books

You won't be sorry.
Jeff



http://maxwedge.com/orangemonster/orangemonster.php

View attachment 243937

 

[Anselmi]

While this is not Max Wedge specific, it might still be of interest for someone. Early 8 3/4 rears were stamped for gear ratio they received from the factory, not like the later ones that had metal tags on them. So 1962-1963 Max Wedge cars should have 3.91 (or 3.91S depending on the source) stamped on them. I believe 4.56 gears became an option from the factory for 1964, so it could also be seen on the "pig".

So a question for everyone who has an original rear end on their MW car ... what is stamped on yours and what case (741, 742, 985) do you have?

Below is a 2.76 stamping from my 1964 Dodge 440 wagon to show where it is located.

 

[super-bee_ski]

1963 Max Wedge Savoy at Famoso, Bakersfield Saturday 07 March 2015
Interestingly enough, this Plymouth seems to have the same "Hole" you mentioned in first post.

- - - Updated - - -

I DO have an original Max Wedge rear-end.
741 CASE
3:91

While this is not Max Wedge specific, it might still be of interest for someone. Early 8 3/4 rears were stamped for gear ratio they received from the factory, not like the later ones that had metal tags on them. So 1962-1963 Max Wedge cars should have 3.91 (or 3.91S depending on the source) stamped on them. I believe 4.56 gears became an option from the factory for 1964, so it could also be seen on the "pig".

So a question for everyone who has an original rear end on their MW car ... what is stamped on yours and what case (741, 742, 985) do you have?

Below is a 2.76 stamping from my 1964 Dodge 440 wagon to show where it is located.

 

[hogpowr]

keep sharing guys.. I agree... Greg lane is THE man for max wedge info. He's helping me put mine back together. anyone else out there will bits of max wedge information...

 

[sandbagger]

I have a set of bumpers off an original 63 light weight Plymouth. I'm painting the car and have the bumpers in the basement. They are both steel and I know the rear is the same as all the other 63's but the front was the thinner steel version....question how much did the lightweight bumpers weigh?

 

[dvw]

Less than a stock 64 (Plymouth bumper) which is 23 lbs.
Doug

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Would there be any demand for a 1963 Plymouth Max Wedge Borg Warner 3 speed? it has attached the Hurst 3 speed shifter less the handel-lever. I know for sure it is legit. .....................................MO

 

[Anselmi]

Would there be any demand for a 1963 Plymouth Max Wedge Borg Warner 3 speed? it has attached the Hurst 3 speed shifter less the handel-lever. I know for sure it is legit. .....................................MO

Judging from the number of "modified" American Motors/Ford T85's offered as Mopar units, I would say there is some demand ;-)

 

[sandbagger]

Less than a stock 64 (Plymouth bumper) which is 23 lbs.
Doug

This bumper weighs 22 lbs with the brackets and bumper bolts still on it.
Did 63 and 64 bumpers weigh the same?

 

[OG max wedge]

here was my finding when i was helping "hogpower" with some info,
the factory bumper off of my factory lightweight 1964 330.
my bumper weighs only 15 pounds compared to "hogpower's" dad's bumper which weighs 33 pounds.
and there is also helpful info on the front end aluminum parts..


http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...max-wedge-lightweight-aluminum-parts-amp-info

 

[super-bee_ski]

POST BY Anselmi: Would there be any demand for a 1963 Plymouth Max Wedge Borg Warner 3 speed? it has attached the Hurst 3 speed shifter less the handel-lever. I know for sure it is legit.


The 1963 Plymouth and Dodge Max Wedge cars (Manual trans) came with a 3-speed manual trans because the 4-speed could NOT handle the power/abuse.
The 1964 cars used the "New" Borg Warner T-10s

 

[sandbagger]

here was my finding when i was helping "hogpower" with some info,
the factory bumper off of my factory lightweight 1964 330.
my bumper weighs only 15 pounds compared to "hogpower's" dad's bumper which weighs 33 pounds.
and there is also helpful info on the front end aluminum parts..


http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...max-wedge-lightweight-aluminum-parts-amp-info

Thanks for the link...great info.
10 pound difference between a 64 Plymouth(23 lbs) and 64 Dodge(33 lbs) stock bumper.
Lightweight bumper for Dodge was aluminium and the Plymouths are steel?

 

[OG max wedge]

regarding the lightweight bumpers on the dodge max wedge cars.. they were made out of steel @15 pounds.. maybe the later race Hemi cars had aluminum, as you can see in the photo.. mine was bent of like it was made out of tin..

 

[sandbagger]

I didn't mean to hijack the thread but maybe this info will help someone else also. My front bumper is indeed a lightweight bumper weighing 18 lbs with the two end bumper bolts still installed this is from a 63 Plymouth Savoy I will post some pics if it helps anyone else. My bumpers have not been rechromed and the chrome is thin in a few spots but I don't plan on having them rechromed they are still very presentable.

 

[OG max wedge]

the only reason i haven't had mine restored is they all said it would be perfect and very chrome when its done.. i want something a little dull, after all it's an original paint car..