New Parts: Max WedgeSeveral months ago, Mopar Performance began shipping the revised cast iron Max Wedge head-P4529997. While the Stage V cast iron head has been shown to be better than the popular '68-'70 "906" head, the Max Wedge was always what everyone wanted in the '60s and '70s for their hot rods, especially 440s.
In the '60s and '70s, these Max Wedge heads were almost impossible to get in decent shape, so not many 440s ran that setup. Now, they are readily available again! It is easy to obtain them for your 440 or larger B/RB engine. But most of the interest seems to be in the Stock and Super Stock class racing. While the Stage V is about 10 to 20 cfm better than the popular "906" baseline, the Max Wedge is perhaps another 30 cfm better. With the new Max Wedge head, it is real easy to pick up another 10 to 20 cfm-and these numbers are very conservative.
As a very rough rule of thumb, 10 cfm is supposed to be 20 horsepower-these are potentially some very big gains! The main problem with the Max Wedge head was that, as it was produced, the intake valve size at 2.08-inches in diameter was too small for large displacement engines and the exhaust valve at 1.88-inches was too big. In Stock and Super Stock classes these sizes cannot be changed. But for use on 440s (brackets, pro street, etc.) non-stock valve sizes can be used. There is a Max Wedge head-P5249824-that has larger intake valves (2.14-inch) and smaller (1.81-inch) exhaust valves. It flows more air, but everyone seems to have missed it!
New Parts:The Cummins Turbo DieselFor the first time, the '99 Mopar Performance catalog carried performance parts for the Dodge diesel engine. Mopar Performance has never carried diesel parts, as the market is somewhat unknown. To try to generate some more muscle for the newer 24-valve CTD diesels ('9811/42-and-newer) Mopar Performance Parts is offering some high-performance computers for the diesels-P5007281-286-to increase the torque output and therefore, the acceleration of the vehicle (manuals only, so far). They move the new engine's torque output into the 500 lb-ft realm and increase fully loaded acceleration by a full second from 0 to 60 mph!
New Parts: Small BlocksThe absolute latest in small-block race blocks is called the R3. There are tall deck and short deck versions plus full water-jacket and siamesed-bore versions. Hidden in all these various parts numbers are the two 360 versions. Obviously, they are both tall deck versions (9.56-inches) and have full water-jackets. There is a two-bolt main version (P4876797) and a four-bolt main version (P4876796). This is the first time that the 360-style small blocks have had the chance to use the advantages that come with a real race block for these engines-thicker decks and borewalls, filled pan rail and bulkheads, and so on. All these features make these blocks stiffer, and keep the borewalls straight and round at wide-open-throttle, which makes more power.