Modern Max Wedge Engine Build

Wrap up
So there you have it. The Mopar Performance reproduction manifold will easily crank out more than 600 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque when bolted to some modern heads on a big-inch short-block. And if you don't limit yourself to the factory intake, you can easily move up to the 700hp neighborhood with just a quick swap over to the Indy cross-ram. You just have to love how easy it is to make big power these days with the stroker kits and heads that are available for the venerable big-block Mopar.

Since we're using a Milodon dual-inlet oil pump, we needed a dual-line pickup for the oil pan. We used this swinging Milodon pickup and then modified some number 12 AN bulkhead fittings to fit. We used Aeroquip's socketless hose and fittings for the oil pickup lines.	We didn't know there were three different lengths of oil-pump driveshafts until we tried assembling this motor. The short one was too short, the long one was too long, but the Milodon PN 21503 in the center was just right.	The Indy heads need to be sealed to the valley plate with a bead of RTV. We used the good stuff from our local Dodge dealer for this task. In this photo, you can also see the Cometic head gaskets. We had Cometic make a set that were 0.036-inch thick with a 4.400-inch bore size so there wouldn't be any chance of gasket overhang.
We double-checked the valve-to-piston clearance with modeling clay just to make sure we had a lot of room. As you can see, the valve reliefs in the Diamond pistons were big enough for our cam.	We always spin the oil pump a few times before we put the rocker shafts on. That way we have confirmation that the oil passages up to the rocker shaft are open and ready to go. The valvesprings are Comp PN 26094 and are topped off with a set of retainers that are also from Comp.	One old racer trick is to glue the intake gaskets to the head and then use white grease on the intake side to keep the manifold from sticking. This allows you to swap intake manifolds without having to replace the gaskets. You need to use these special Indy intake-manifold gaskets since the factory bathtub-type gasket won't fit these heads.
After finishing up the dyno testing of the Mopar Performance cross-ram, we swapped the carburetors over to the Indy cross-ram and made some more dyno pulls. The Indy manifold added 80 hp with just a jet change for a total of 705 hp.	With the top of the Indy manifold removed, you can see the internal cross-ram design. The Indy runners are about 9-inches long so they are quite a bit shorter than the MP manifold. The red staining inside of the manifold is from the red-colored Rockett 111 octane race gas.	What do you think will happen next?