This is a 435 bhp crate engine built by Indy Cylinder Head (ICH), a high-performance, Mopar-specialist engine builder based out of Xenia, Ohio.
ICH is known for manufacturing some of the best American-made aftermarket parts for Mopar (and AMC) applications, they also produce a line of highly-rated crate engines largely intended for restomods and other high-end rebuilds.
This is a 435 bhp crate engine built by Indy Cylinder Head (ICH), a high-performance, Mopar-specialist engine builder based out of Xenia, Ohio.
History Speedrun: Indy Cylinder Head
Indy Cylinder Head (ICH) was founded by brothers Russ and Fred Flagle in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the company operated for roughly 40 years. Russ Flagle, who served in the United States Navy and worked for Western Electric before starting the business, oversaw the company’s growth from a small machining operation into one of the most recognized aftermarket Mopar and AMC engine builders in the country.
ICH manufactures cylinder heads, intake manifolds, engine blocks, and complete crate engines spanning Chrysler LA and Magnum small blocks, R/RB big blocks, 426 Gen II Hemis, 5.7 and 6.1 liter Gen III Hemis, and various AMC engine platforms. The company makes a point of noting that their bespoke parts are made in the USA at its in-house foundry.
Every ICH crate engine is blueprinted, assembled, and dyno-tested before delivery to the customer. The company has supplied engines and engine parts for both drag racing and street applications, and its cylinder head designs have been used across a broad range of Mopar and AMC competition categories over the decades.
In late 2019 (just before to that year’s Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show) longtime Mopar drag racers Chris and Charli Wheatcraft bought Indy Cylinder Head from the Flagle brothers who were retiring. The Wheatcrafts subsequently relocated the company from its original Indianapolis facility to a new 20,000+ square foot headquarters at 1031 Cincinnati Ave, Xenia, Ohio, where it still operates today.
The Chrysler Hemi 5.7 “Indy Cylinder Head” V8
The is an ICH crate engine is built around a 6.1 liter Hemi short block, a cast iron unit with a 4.055 inch bore and a 3.578 inch stroke, displacing 370 cubic inches (rather than the standard 5.7 liter block with its smaller 3.917 inch bore).
The 6.1 block uses a forged steel crankshaft in place of the 5.7’s cast iron unit, along with revised coolant channels and piston-cooling oil jets for improved thermal management under heavy loads.
The cylinder heads are CNC-ported 5.7 Hemi aluminum units with 2.00 inch intake and 1.55 inch exhaust valves. In stock form, these heads flow between 250 and 280 cfm on the intake side at 0.600 inches of lift.
The valvetrain includes of SRT8 valve springs and retainers, 5.7 rockers, shafts, and pushrods, driven by a 6.1 SRT8 hydraulic roller camshaft with 0.520/0.518 inches of lift and 208/216 degrees of duration. Induction is handled by ICH’s proprietary Mod-Man intake manifold fitted with a pair of Edelbrock 500 CFM carburetors. Ignition is an MSD system, and engine is internally balanced.
ICH is known for manufacturing some of the best American-made aftermarket parts for Mopar (and AMC) applications, they also produce a line of highly-rated crate engines largely intended for restomods and other high-end rebuilds.
The carburetor-based induction and absence of factory electronics makes this engine ideal for restomod and hot rod applications rather than any sort of factory-correct direct OEM replacement.
Power is rated at 435 bhp at 6,000 rpm and 410 lb ft of torque at 3,800, and this engine has never been installed in a car, it was only run for testing purposes. It’s now available to buy on eBay here with an asking price of $17,500 USD or best offer.
Images courtesy of Attic Treasures of Anderrson
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
