The ultimate history and myths summary about Plymouth, Dodge, and Chrysler's Poly A-block engine/motor family produced from 1956 - 1967 including automotive, industrial, and marine applications. Displacements include the 277, 301, 303, 313, 318, and 326. See the website www.poly318.com for many more details and photos including a tour of the engine plant.
Corrections of mice and men: At 8:50, I meant to say the engine was advertised at 395 foot-pounds torque but said "horsepower." For what it's worth, the Golden Commando 395 had 305 HP.
0:00 A New Engine Era
01:10 What is a Hemi, Poly, and Wedge Engine?
02:30 1956 - Introduction of the 277 and 303
04:42 1957 - Introduction of the 301, 313, and 318
07:53 1958
08:25 1959 - Introduction of the 326 and Industrial and Marine 318
11:00 1960
11:26 1961 - Introduction of the Dodge Frank Motorhome 318
12:20 1962 - Engine Redesign
14:43 1963
15:11 1964 - Release of the Light A (LA) 273 Rival
15:53 1965
16:11 1966 - End of Domestic Car and Truck Production
16:42 1967 - End of Export, Motorhome, Industrial, and Marine Production
17:05 Myth Busting the A-block
17:18 Myth 1: Semi-Hemi Is Not Semi-true
18:04 Myth 2: A-blocks Are Cheaply Built
19:35 Myth 3: A-blocks Are Incapable of Performance
21:37 Myth 4: Industrial and Truck A-blocks Are Thicker Castings
22:33 Myth 5: A-blocks Are "Wide-blocks" Larger than a 440
24:12 Myth 6: A-blocks Are Boat Anchors Heavier than a 440
25:33 Conclusion and Impact
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All spoken/textual content and the photographs, images, and diagrams marked with copyright have been researched, written, photographed, and/or designed by Justin Lotspeich of poly318.com over many, many hours of work and are copyrighted. I have no issue with people using the copyrighted text, images, photographs, and drawings for non-commercial not-for-profit purposes, such as posting on free online forums; I only ask that they attribute the content to poly318.com and not modify images. I do not give consent to monetized content creators or other for-profit creators to use the copyrighted content including audio and text.