Mopar Muscle – October 2019

Designed

to replace the bulky and costly

first-generation Hemi engines, the

low-deck “B”-series engine family

debuted in 1958. The raised-deck, or “RB,” version was introduced

a year later.

Compared to the previous “Fire Power” Hemi engines, the B and

RB engines used cylinder heads with wedge-style combustion cham-

bers that were generally as good at power production as the Hemis,

but didn’t soak up nearly as much underhood real estate. In fact,

with a pair of four-barrel carbs in the Chrysler 300, the RB 413

matched the previous year’s 392 Hemi—horsepower for horsepower.

The RB, of course, would serve as the foundation for all of the

strongest Mopar engines during the muscle-car wars, from the

Max Wedge engines early in the 1960s to the 440 six-barrel

TECH

25 BIG-BLOCK

BUILDING TIPS

BY BARRY KLUCZYK

PRO ADVICE FOR ASSEMBLING YOUR BEST RB

ENGINE FOR THE STREET OR ’STRIP

engines that closed the era at the dawn of the 1970s.

Even the 426 Street Hemi was based on the RB foundation.

A quick 20 years after it appeared, the Chrysler big-block

was gone. By 1978, the company was on the financial ropes,

and within a year, Lee Iacocca would ask the U.S. government

for loan guarantees to help the company survive, with pledges

of modernization to bolster his pitch. The four-cylinder, front-drive

Omni and Horizon twins had already launched to surprising

success, showing the way of the future—and it didn’t include

archaic big-block engines.

More than 40 years after the last RB engines were built, they

continue to serve enthusiasts as the go-to option for maximum

firepower on the street and ’strip. And while new parts are

developed all the time to extract even more from the venerable

34 moparmuscle.com