Mopar 413 Engine Specs

Intro

➤ See the Family Page for specs common to all engines in this family.

The Mopar 413 RB is where Chrysler’s raised-deck big-block story begins, and it deserves better than being treated as the engine everybody walks past while hunting for a 440. Introduced for 1959, the 413 gave Chrysler a taller big-block wedge with a 3.750-inch stroke, 413 cubic inches, and enough low-speed muscle to make a New Yorker or Imperial forget how much sheet metal it was dragging around. The 440 eventually became the famous one. The 413 had already done the hard work of proving the basic RB idea was worth keeping.

Chrysler needed the 413 because the first-generation Hemi was disappearing from ordinary passenger-car duty and the company still needed serious big-car power. The new wedge architecture was simpler, cheaper, lighter, and easier to package than the old FirePower Hemi without surrendering the displacement and torque buyers expected from Chrysler’s expensive machinery. That was not Chrysler giving up. It was Chrysler discovering that every good engine does not need spark plugs down the middle of the valve covers.

Most 413s lived respectable lives. They moved Chryslers and Imperials with smooth torque, tall gearing, and the sort of effortless highway pull that made a large luxury car feel considerably smaller once the throttle opened. That is the normal 413’s personality, and there is nothing second-rate about it. Moving two tons of automobile without sounding busy is a useful talent even if nobody prints it on a drag-racing poster.

Then Chrysler started having fun with the same engine. The 300 letter cars brought dual-carb and ram-induction hardware into the picture, and suddenly the respectable big-car wedge had carburetors sitting halfway to the fenders. The long intake runners were there for torque, not decoration. They also happened to look wonderfully unreasonable, which was convenient because engineering and theater occasionally deserve to share the same hood.

By 1962 Chrysler had taken the 413 much farther and created the Maximum Performance Wedge. This was the engine’s other personality: high compression, serious heads, aggressive camshaft, cross-ram induction, big exhaust, and a factory assignment that involved Super Stock racing rather than carrying executives to lunch. The Max Wedge was not an ordinary 413 with a louder air cleaner. Chrysler built the whole combination to race.

That is also where the nonsense starts today. A standard passenger-car 413, long-ram Chrysler 300 engine, true Max Wedge, truck engine, motorhome takeout, and industrial 413 are all legitimate members of the same displacement family. They are not interchangeable stories. Dual quads do not create Max Wedge ancestry. A truck block does not become letter-car hardware because somebody paints it red. The expensive version has to prove itself one piece at a time.

The work-duty engines deserve their own respect anyway. Trucks, motorhomes, and industrial equipment kept the 413 employed long after newer passenger-car engines had taken over. That longevity says something good about the basic architecture. It also means surviving cores may have spent years pulling ridiculous loads, idling hot, sitting outside, or receiving maintenance from somebody whose diagnostic procedure started with adding another quart.

For a modern build, the 413 makes the strongest case when there is a reason to want a 413. A correct Chrysler, Imperial, letter car, Max Wedge restoration, or period hot rod can justify keeping the engine exactly what it is. A complete standard 413 can also make a fine old-school street engine with plenty of torque. If the project begins with loose cores and nothing but maximum cubic inches on the shopping list, the 440 usually wins before the argument starts.

That does not make the 413 obsolete. It makes the 413 honest. It started the raised-deck RB family, powered some of Chrysler’s finest big cars, wore some of the company’s strangest and smartest induction systems, and became a genuine factory drag engine before the 426 wedge or Hemi had taken over the headlines. The 413 does not need to be promoted to something else. It already had several good jobs of its own.

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Overview

The 413 arrived in 1959 as Chrysler’s first major raised-deck RB wedge, and the engineering reason was straightforward. The low-deck B-series had already given Chrysler a modern big-block wedge, but the taller RB block created room for a longer 3.750-inch stroke. More stroke meant more displacement and more crank leverage, which is exactly what a company needs when its customers insist on buying cars the size of county courthouses.

The 413 used a 4.1875-inch bore with that 3.750-inch stroke for 413 cubic inches. Deck height was roughly 10.725 inches, bore spacing remained 4.800 inches, and the engine kept the familiar Chrysler big-block formula of cast-iron block and heads, in-block camshaft, pushrods, five main bearings, and shaft-mounted rockers. It was conventional enough to manufacture sensibly and large enough to keep Chrysler buyers from mourning the old Hemi every time they climbed a hill.

The taller deck separates the 413 from the low-deck B engines mechanically as well as historically. The heads sit farther apart, so the RB intake is wider. The rotating package follows the longer-stroke architecture. A 383 and a 413 may both look like big iron Mopar wedges under enough grease and orange paint, but the tape measure and intake manifold know they are not twins.

In ordinary Chrysler and Imperial service, the 413 was built around torque rather than theater. Big cars, long wheelbases, tall rear gears, power accessories, and passengers who had paid extra not to hear mechanical suffering all favored a strong low- and midrange engine. The 413 could pull that load smoothly without needing the tachometer anywhere near the neighborhood where racers later took it.

That basic job explains why ordinary passenger-car 413s should not be judged against the performance versions. A New Yorker engine with normal induction and conservative calibration was not a failed Max Wedge. Chrysler had simply assigned it another job. Engines generally work better when somebody remembers what they were ordered to do.

The Chrysler 300 letter cars gave the 413 a much sharper personality. Dual-carb and ram-induction systems used long intake runners to take advantage of pressure-wave tuning and strengthen torque where a heavy performance car could use it. The plumbing sprawled across the engine compartment like somebody had lost an argument with an organ builder, but it worked.

Long-ram and shorter performance-oriented ram systems should not be lumped together casually. Runner length affects where the tuning effect helps most, and different letter-car years used different combinations. Correct carburetors, linkage, air cleaners, exhaust, brackets, engine numbers, and application hardware matter because a ram-induction Chrysler is a complete package, not one impressive aluminum casting surrounded by excuses.

Then 1962 arrived and Chrysler turned the 413 into the Maximum Performance Wedge. This was not the same smooth premium-car engine with another carburetor screwed on. High compression, specialized heads, aggressive cam timing, dual four-barrel cross-ram induction, large exhaust, and race-oriented supporting hardware made the 413 Max Wedge a genuine factory drag-racing package.

Dodge Ramcharger and Plymouth Super Stock applications put that engine into cars built around quarter-mile work, and comfort promptly moved down the priority list. Idle quality, noise, fuel consumption, and everyday tractability were perfectly acceptable casualties when the real question was whether the other lane disappeared in the rearview mirror.

That 1962 Max Wedge is also where terminology needs adult supervision. The later 426 Max Wedge Stage II and Stage III story followed it. Throwing every later stage label backward onto the 413 makes the speaker sound confident and the history worse. The 413 Maximum Performance Wedge was already important enough without borrowing vocabulary from the next engine.

A genuine Max Wedge claim therefore needs the whole package to cooperate: block, heads, intake, carburetors, compression, camshaft, exhaust, vehicle application, drivetrain, dates, stampings, and documentation. A regular 413 with a cross-ram added later may be an entertaining engine. It does not become factory race history because the throttle linkage fits.

The 413 also spent a remarkably long time doing work nobody photographed for magazine covers. Truck, motorhome, industrial, and service versions took the RB architecture into applications where pulling power and durability counted more than hood-open admiration. These engines can carry different manifolds, governors, accessory drives, cooling systems, oil pans, crank or flywheel hardware, and other pieces selected for the original job.

That means a work-duty 413 can be an excellent core and still be a miserable passenger-car parts donor. A complete industrial engine may become incomplete the moment somebody asks it to fit a Chrysler passenger-car installation. Every missing bracket seems unimportant until the replacement has to be bought separately from a fellow who knows nobody else has one.

Condition deserves even more suspicion than application. A motorhome engine may have spent years pulling a moving apartment uphill while the radiator fought for its life. An industrial engine may have accumulated thousands of hours under steady load. A passenger-car engine may have survived six owners, three rebuilds, and one teenager. “Stout RB block” is a compliment to the design, not permission to skip measuring the cylinders.

Compared with the low-deck 383, the 413 gains displacement and torque from the taller RB package and longer 3.750-inch stroke. The 383 generally feels like the shorter-stroke engine it is, while the 413 delivers more of the big-crank leverage expected from a heavy-car motor. Neither personality is universally better. One is simply more suited to making several thousand pounds leave a stoplight without drama.

Compared with the 426 wedge, the 413 shares the same 3.750-inch stroke but uses the smaller 4.1875-inch bore instead of 4.250 inches. Chrysler created the 426 mostly by opening the cylinders farther while keeping the same basic RB crank throw. The family progression did not require black magic. It required more bore.

The 440 repeats the idea again with a 4.320-inch bore. That gives it more displacement, broader later parts support, and the reputation that eventually pushed the 413 into the background. For a build starting from scratch, those extra cubes make the 440 difficult to argue against. For a correct 413 car, that argument is irrelevant. Historical correctness is not supposed to lose every vote to the biggest piston available.

A sensible street 413 still has plenty going for it. Useful compression, good wedge heads, a camshaft selected for the actual weight and gearing, enough carburetion, decent exhaust, proper ignition, and a healthy cooling system can make a strong, civilized torque engine. It does not need an enormous cam and two carburetors simply because somebody remembers a Max Wedge photograph.

Parts availability benefits from the broader RB family, but interchange still needs measuring. Heads may cross among B and RB wedges, but chamber volume, valve size, piston clearance, compression, and exhaust fit still count. RB intakes need the tall-deck width. Pistons remain displacement-specific. Application hardware changes with year and vehicle. Chrysler gave builders useful commonality, not immunity from the parts book.

The strongest reason to keep a 413 is therefore context. A correct New Yorker or Imperial deserves the smooth engine Chrysler designed for it. A Chrysler 300 with the right ram hardware deserves preservation because the induction and vehicle belong together. A real 1962 Max Wedge deserves careful restoration because factory drag-racing history should not be converted into generic street hardware merely because newer parts flow more air.

And a plain old 413 deserves to be judged without embarrassment. It was Chrysler’s first major RB, it introduced the 3.750-inch-stroke raised-deck formula later carried by the 426 and 440, and it managed to serve luxury cars, serious performance cars, race packages, trucks, and industrial equipment without changing its name every time the job changed.

The 413’s problem was never that it was insignificant. Its problem was surviving long enough for two more famous numbers to arrive after it. The 426 wedge got the Super Stock headlines, the 440 got the muscle-car fame, and the 413 became the engine people remember after somebody opens a hood and finds two carburetors three feet apart. Chrysler knew what it had built long before the collectors caught up.

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General Specs

Displacement	413 cu in / 6.8L	Bore / Stroke	4.1875 in × 3.750 in
Production / Use Era	1959–1965 Mopar RB-series passenger-car and Max Wedge performance era	Bore Spacing	4.800 in
Engine Family	Chrysler / Mopar RB-series raised-deck big-block wedge V8	Deck Height	10.725 in
Block Material	Cast iron	Rod Length	6.768 in
Cylinder Head Material	Cast iron	Main Journal	2.750 in
Fuel / Induction	Gasoline; carbureted, 2-barrel, 4-barrel, or cross-ram dual-quad by version	Rod Journal	2.375 in
Cam Location	In-block camshaft	Main Bearings	5
Valve Layout	OHV / pushrod, 2 valves per cylinder	Firing Order	1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2
Common Main Caps	2-bolt	Distributor Rotation	Counterclockwise
Rear Main Seal	2-piece	Weight	~670–720 lb complete iron big-block, depending on accessories/configuration
Balance	Internal balance	Dimensions	~30H / ~29W / ~32L

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Variants

The 413 started life as Chrysler’s big raised-deck torque engine and then wandered into some wonderfully unreasonable performance hardware. Standard passenger-car engines handled New Yorkers and Imperials. Chrysler 300 letter cars brought dual-carburetor ram induction. Shorter ram systems shifted the tuning farther up the rpm range. Then the 1962 Maximum Performance Wedge quit pretending any of this was about comfortable transportation. Trucks, motorhomes, and industrial engines kept the same displacement working long after the performance crowd had moved on.

Standard Passenger-Car 413 — Street RB

What it was: The regular 413 was Chrysler’s first major RB-series passenger-car big block, introduced for 1959 with a 4.1875-inch bore, 3.750-inch stroke, and raised-deck architecture.

What changed: Standard versions used ordinary passenger-car induction, heads, cam timing, compression, exhaust, and calibration rather than the specialized ram or Maximum Performance hardware used on the hotter engines.

What that did: The 413 produced the broad low- and midrange torque a New Yorker or Imperial needed to move several thousand pounds without acting as though the engine had received unfortunate news. Tall gearing and heavy cars suited the long-stroke RB personality just fine.

Where used: Chrysler New Yorker, Imperial, and other premium passenger-car applications beginning in 1959.

A standard 413 is not a failed performance engine. Chrysler gave it another job. The fact that somebody can bolt exotic induction onto one later does not rewrite what left the factory.

Chrysler 300 413 — Long-Ram Induction

What it was: Chrysler’s 300 letter cars gave the 413 its polished performance personality. The 300E brought the displacement into the letter-car line, while the 300F and 300G made the long-ram intake system one of the most recognizable pieces of early Mopar performance hardware.

What changed: Dual carburetors fed the engine through exceptionally long intake runners designed around pressure-wave tuning. The intake, carburetors, linkage, air cleaners, brackets, exhaust, and supporting calibration formed a complete system rather than a pair of carburetors perched on an ordinary manifold.

What that did: The long runners strengthened cylinder filling in the low and middle rpm range, exactly where a large, fast Chrysler needed help. It also produced an engine compartment that looked as though the carburetors had stopped speaking to each other and moved to opposite sides of town.

Where used: Chrysler 300 letter-car applications, especially the 300F and 300G long-ram combinations.

Identification caution: A real ram-induction package needs the whole system. Correct intake runners, carburetors, linkage, air cleaners, exhaust, brackets, engine identity, year, and documentation all need to agree. A bare 413 with somebody else’s ram manifold is still a bare 413 with somebody else’s ram manifold.

413 Short-Ram Performance Versions

What it was: Chrysler also used shorter performance-oriented ram induction rather than treating every dual-carburetor 413 as the same long-runner package.

What changed: Runner length was shortened while retaining the basic dual-carburetor ram-induction concept and its performance supporting hardware.

What that did: Shortening the intake runners shifted the tuning effect higher in the rpm range. The long-ram system emphasized the low and middle. The shorter system traded some of that emphasis for stronger breathing farther upstairs. Same 413 cubic inches, but the intake tuning moved the engine’s happy place.

Where used: Selected later Chrysler 300 performance applications where the shorter ram system replaced the earlier long-runner approach.

Identification caution: Long-ram and short-ram equipment should not be thrown into one historical bucket. Runner configuration, carburetors, linkage, year, application, and supporting hardware need to match the specific package being claimed.

1962 413 Maximum Performance Wedge — Max Wedge

What it was: This is where the 413 stopped wearing the expensive-car necktie. Chrysler built the 1962 Maximum Performance Wedge for Super Stock and drag-racing use before the larger 426 Max Wedge arrived the following year.

What changed: The Max Wedge combined dual four-barrel induction with specialized intake hardware, high compression, performance heads, aggressive cam timing, large exhaust, and race-oriented supporting pieces. The engine, drivetrain, and vehicle application were aimed at competition rather than quiet highway work.

What that did: Chrysler turned the smooth RB torque engine into genuine factory race hardware. Dodge Ramcharger and Plymouth Super Stock applications put the 413 into cars where idle quality, fuel economy, and passenger comfort ranked somewhere below getting to the finish line first.

Where used: 1962 Dodge Ramcharger and Plymouth Super Stock Maximum Performance applications.

Identification caution: The 1962 engine is the 413 Maximum Performance Wedge. Do not drag later 426 Stage II or Stage III terminology backward onto it. A genuine 413 Max Wedge claim needs the correct block, heads, intake, carburetors, exhaust manifolds, compression, camshaft, drivetrain, vehicle identification, dates, and documentation. Dual quads and orange paint do not perform genealogy.

Truck, Motorhome, and Industrial 413s

What it was: The 413 also spent years doing work that never made the performance brochures. Trucks, motorhomes, industrial machinery, and service applications used the RB because torque and durability mattered more than hood-open admiration.

What changed: Work-duty engines can carry different governors, accessory drives, cooling systems, manifolds, oil pans, flywheel or crank details, stampings, and other application-specific hardware.

What that did: Some make very useful rebuildable cores. Others spent their lives dragging motorhomes uphill, idling under load, or operating machinery until the cooling system resembled stew. Heavy-duty hardware does not automatically mean an easy life.

Identification caution: A complete industrial or motorhome 413 may become remarkably incomplete the instant somebody tries installing it in a passenger car. Verify crank and flywheel details, cooling pieces, manifolds, accessory drives, mounts, and application hardware before the bargain starts ordering parts on its own.

That leaves a useful 413 ladder: standard passenger-car RB, long-ram Chrysler 300 performance, shorter ram-induction hardware, the genuine 1962 Maximum Performance Wedge, and work-duty configurations. The 413 started the RB story, learned several different ways to breathe, and became a factory drag engine before the 426 stole the headlines. It does not need borrowed 426 terminology or 440 displacement to make the résumé interesting.

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Key Notes

The Mopar 413 RB is Chrysler’s early raised-deck big-block wedge, and that identity has to stay clear. It’s not a low-deck 361, 383, or 400. It’s not automatically a 426 wedge. It’s not a 440. It’s not a Hemi. The 413 is its own RB engine with real luxury-car, letter-car, Max Wedge, and work-duty history.

The basic fingerprint is 4.1875-inch bore and 3.750-inch stroke. The raised-deck RB architecture separates it from the low-deck B engines and puts it in the broader family lane with the 426 wedge and 440. That doesn’t mean those engines share the same bore, pistons, compression plan, value, or application story. “Big-block Mopar” gets the search started. It doesn’t finish the parts order.

Application decides the conversation. A standard Chrysler or Imperial 413, a Chrysler 300 ram-induction engine, a 1962 Max Wedge, a truck 413, a motorhome 413, and an industrial 413 can all be real 413s. They don’t carry the same hardware, purpose, value, or proof burden. Same displacement doesn’t mean same engine package.

Max Wedge claims need evidence before the price gets loud. The 1962 413 Maximum Performance Wedge was a real factory drag package with specific heads, intake, carburetion, exhaust, compression, camshaft, block and application context, and supporting hardware. A regular 413 with dual quads, orange paint, or a loud seller doesn’t become a Max Wedge.

The Chrysler 300 and ram-induction claims also need proof. Letter-car value follows the correct year, engine number, induction, carburetors, linkage, air cleaners, exhaust, application, date range, and documentation. A 413 with one impressive ram part missing the rest of the system isn’t a complete ram-induction engine. It is a parts hunt with a fancy opening chapter.

Truck, motorhome, and industrial 413s need separate inspection. Some can be tough, useful cores. Some bring odd manifolds, governors, accessory drives, cooling pieces, oil pans, crank or flywheel details, and hard-service wear. A work-duty 413 may share the RB foundation, but it doesn’t automatically become a passenger-car restoration engine, a Chrysler 300 engine, or a cheap 440 substitute.

The 413 needs separation from the later 426 wedge and 440. The 426 wedge uses a larger bore. The 440 uses an even larger 4.320-inch bore with the same 3.750-inch stroke. Bore size affects pistons, breathing, valve clearance, compression planning, overbore limits, and value. The 413 can be strong, but it doesn’t magically become a 440 because an intake bolts on.

Parts support is decent because the 413 lives in RB territory, but it’s still not the default engine most builders reach for. The 440 gets more attention, more recipes, and more parts momentum. Some RB pieces interchange, but pistons, compression planning, intake fit, exhaust manifolds, brackets, pulleys, oil pans, crank details, and application hardware still need checking. RB support helps. It doesn’t do the measuring.

A used 413 needs identification before anyone starts bragging. Check block casting, pad stamping, bore size, crank, heads, intake, carburetion, exhaust pieces, date codes, vehicle application, and previous machine work. These engines have been swapped, rebuilt, overbored, worked hard, dressed up, detuned, converted, and misidentified for decades. Paint, chrome, and the word “wedge” don’t prove much.

Core condition matters because many 413s lived heavy lives. Big Chryslers, trucks, motorhomes, and industrial applications can mean heat, load, sludge, worn timing sets, cracked manifolds, tired valve gear, and questionable maintenance. The RB block is stout, but stout doesn’t mean immortal. A core still needs cracks checked, cylinder walls measured, deck condition inspected, and oiling condition verified before the plan gets expensive.

The 413 can make an excellent old-school torque engine when the plan matches the parts. It likes sensible compression, good heads, proper carburetion, clean ignition, decent exhaust, and enough converter or gear to move the car. It doesn’t need to pretend it’s a 440 to be useful. But when the goal is cheap maximum cubes, a 440 usually starts with more displacement and better parts momentum.

Build judgment depends on whether the 413 is correct, complete, running, or just available. A correct 413 in a Chrysler 300, Max Wedge car, early Mopar restoration, or period build can deserve the work. A complete running 413 at a sane price can be worth using. A stripped mystery core missing induction, brackets, exhaust pieces, and proof is where nostalgia starts writing checks the machine shop will cash.

Value follows evidence, not displacement alone. A documented 413 Max Wedge assembly is a different universe from a standard big-car 413. A correct letter-car engine is different from a motorhome core. A useful running RB is different from a cracked block with a seller who learned the word “wedge” yesterday. The 413 can matter, but only after the parts and paperwork stop arguing.

The Mopar 413 RB deserves respect because it helped establish Chrysler’s raised-deck big-block muscle before the 426 wedge and 440 took over the spotlight. It has real performance history, real torque use, and real restoration value in the right context. Verify the RB identity, application, bore, stroke, heads, induction, exhaust, dates, and build condition before spending money. A 413 can be a serious old Mopar big block, but it won’t save anyone from paying Max Wedge money for ordinary iron.

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Bottom Line

The Mopar 413 RB is the engine that opened Chrysler’s raised-deck wedge chapter. It moved big Chryslers and Imperials with the kind of smooth torque expensive cars were supposed to have, gave the 300 letter cars real performance personality, and eventually became the foundation for some very serious factory drag-racing hardware. That is a better résumé than the 413 usually gets from people who skip straight to 440.

Its strength is that it can be several worthwhile engines without pretending they are all the same. A correct big-car 413 belongs in a restoration because originality matters. A genuine long-ram or letter-car engine deserves preservation because the hardware and application make it special. A real 1962 Max Wedge deserves an entirely different level of respect because that is factory performance history, not an ordinary 413 wearing an expensive intake.

For a driver, a complete standard 413 can still make a strong old-school RB without any apology. It has enough displacement and torque to move a heavy Mopar properly, and it does not need borrowed 440 identity or Hemi mythology to justify staying alive. If the real goal is simply maximum cubic inches from an RB with the easiest path forward, a 440 may make more practical sense. If the car or build calls for the earlier raised-deck character, the 413 has its own reason to be there.

The trouble starts when every 413 gets promoted to the most glamorous version anybody remembers. Max Wedge claims, long-ram stories, letter-car hardware, truck engines, motorhome cores, industrial takeouts, and ordinary passenger-car engines belong in different price lanes. A mystery work-duty core with missing pieces and no history can become expensive long before it becomes interesting. Rare words do not repair worn bores or locate missing brackets.

So save the correct ones, preserve the genuine performance pieces, and build the complete ordinary engines when the project makes sense. Do not pay Max Wedge money for vocabulary, long-ram money for one impressive intake, or 440 money because somebody thinks every RB deserves an upgrade in the telling. The 413 already earned its place by starting Chrysler’s serious raised-deck wedge story. It does not need a promotion from the seller to matter.

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