There is a famous advertising slogan in North America: “Yes, it has a Hemi”.And these five words are enough to make performance car fans clear at a glance.
In fact, this is not a simple question to answer, because in fact the four engine series of the Chrysler family all carry the Hemi marketing label.One of them is a family of power plants unique to Australia.
At the same time, what is the (lowercase “h”) half engine?It all boils down to the shape of the combustion chamber; the space in the engine where the air and fuel actually burn to generate torque, which is the force that turns the crankshaft and ultimately the wheels of the car.
What does Hemi mean?Basically, the shape of this combustion chamber is like a half tennis ball, or roughly hemispherical, so it is hemispherical.This places the spark plug roughly in the center of the combustion chamber to achieve good flame propagation and allows the use of large intake and exhaust valves (larger valves mean more air and fuel in and out).
The cross-flow design where air and fuel enter from one side of the combustion chamber and exit from the other side also helps improve overall efficiency.
Chrysler is by no means the only car manufacturer to use a hemispherical combustion chamber, but thanks to the magic of marketing, it has become the brand most closely related to the layout.
As early as 1907, Fiat realized the potential of semi-design and brought it to the track with its Grand Prix car.
Interestingly, the advent of multi-valve cylinder heads slowed the production of engines with hemispherical designs because it is more suitable for two large valves than four small valves.
But over the years, many manufacturers have used the semi-design, even if they didn’t call it that way because they were afraid of giving Chrysler a free kick.
In Chrysler’s case, the first engines to use the Hemi layout were a pair of engines designed for military use in tanks and fighter jets.
The end of the war and the acceleration of the jet age killed these two projects, but Chrysler’s engineers saw the benefits of this technology and used it in a series of car engines, which were used in the years after World War II. Just start selling.
The first generation of Hemi V8 was manufactured from 1951 to 1958, representing Chrysler’s first production overhead valve V8.The lineup started with 331 cubic inches (5.4 liters) of “FirePower” and “FireDome” engines and eventually developed to 392 Hemi (6.4 liters).
But it’s better to come.In 1964, the second generation of Hemi appeared in North America.The 426 cubic inches (7.0 liters) Hemi was originally developed for NASCAR racing. It was called an elephant engine by some because of its huge physical size, but it has since dominated the drag racing world.
Eventually banned by NASCAR for being too fast, 426 Hemi found its place to power some of Chrysler’s most iconic muscle cars, including the Plymouth Barracuda (also known as the Hemi Cuda equipped with this engine) Road Runner and GT-X as well as Dodge, Challenger and Super Bee including Charger.
Some tuners managed to expand the 426 to 572 Hemi, and these are now available as crate engines for the aftermarket.
In this case, people will also think of Chrysler’s 440 cubic inch V8, but the 440 is not actually a Hemi design, but from Chrysler’s “Magnum” or “Wedge” V8 series.(You can buy the 440 Hemi now, but it is an example of an aftermarket Hemi crate engine based on the third-generation V8 Hemi.)
Speaking of this, Chrysler’s third V8 series to use the Hemi label appeared in 2003 in the form of 5.7 liters, and then developed to 6.1 or even 6.4 Hemi displacement.
Many Australian drivers will be more familiar with these engines because they power the V8 version of the Chrysler 300C model launched here in 2005.
In its final form, the later Hemi V8 can use a 6.2-liter supercharged form, which generates more than 700 horsepower (522 kilowatts) of power, and provides Dodge chargers and Challenger Hellcat models in the US market.
It is also sold in Australia’s Hemi Jeep Grand Cherokee and supercharged Hellcat-powered Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.
The Jeep Hemi engine is directly removed from the Chrysler parts catalog because the two companies are jointly owned.
Recently, Australia has also witnessed the rise of RAM utilities in North America, most notably the RAM 1500 Hemi engine under its wide hood.
But there is another version of Chrysler Hemi, which Australian car owners of a certain age will be familiar with.
As early as the 1960s, the American Dodge Company was looking for a new engine to replace the old oblique six-cylinder truck engine that provided good service for it.An overhead valve design sketch, but in the end, Dodge lost interest and shelved the project.
This is where Chrysler Australia (as part of the Chrysler global family) stepped in and took over the project, completing the creation of the fabulous 215 Hemi, Hemi 245 and 265 Hemi inline six-cylinder engine design, which has provided power and power for several generations of Valiant cars. utes in the 1970s and into the 80s.
The size of the Aussie Hemi engine ranges from 3.5 liters (215 cubic inches) to 4.0 liters (245) and 4.3 liters (265).When installed on light trucks and utes bearing the Dodge logo, they are also called Dodge Hemi.
Although not a V8, these engines have all the performance and a lot of torque of a small displacement V8.The ultimate version of the 265 cubic inch (4.3 liter) version was equipped with three Weber carburetors and won third place in Bathurst (the year Peter Brock first won on Panorama Mountain) in 1972.
It is called a “six-pack” in this form, and is one of the best (and most collectible) muscle cars in the history of this country.
Known for its toughness and durability, the biggest reliability problem of Hemi 6 in Australia is the poor position of the camshaft, which tends to “walk” along the length of the engine.When this happens, the ignition timing can be thrown out.
It is also worth mentioning that Aussie Hemi 6 is not actually Hemi at all.The cylinder head does not use a cross-flow layout, and the combustion chamber does not have a “true” hemispherical shape.
The Hemi label is more about marketing than engineering, but there is no doubt that even now, the engine’s performance credentials are the same.
Buying Hemi now to re-drive a car or complete a project will largely depend on the engine you are after.
The first-generation American Hemi V8 is becoming more and more scarce, and you can easily pay thousands of dollars for engines that require a complete refurbishment.
The same is true for the legendary second-generation Hemi 426.It will be difficult to find one, and then you need a lot of dollars to take it away from its owner.
The third-generation Hemi is easier to find, whether it’s a wreckage field formed as a used equipment or a crate engine under brand new conditions.
The operating unit starts the crate engine at a price of around 7,000 dollars. The price starts from a few thousand dollars to the Hellcat crate engine’s 20,000 dollars.
For Hemi 6 in Australia, second-hand runners cost a few hundred dollars, but depending on where you buy and the final specifications of the engine, the price of a refurbished machine will be as high as thousands of dollars.
Either way, you will be buying a used or refurbished machine, so please check the Hemi engine sales classified ads first.
Post time: Dec-23-2021
