As the B/RB engine oils the cam/lifters FIRST, then you now know the audible indication of "no/low oil level". Chrysler did the oil system like that for an apparent reason!
The small block Chevy (which was the ONLY Chevy V-8 at the time), took the more "performance motor correct" orientation of oiling the crankshaft first, then the camshaft/valve train. Which can be done in a Chrysler B/RB with a little grinding effort (outlined in the Race Manuals).
Understand, too, that in the earlier 1950s, when Ford, GM divisions, Chrysler, and others were doing their new V-8s, the Chrysler Hemi was one of the first ones out. Cadillac, Olds, and other GM divisions were also in process. And for was moving to over-head valves. When the '55 Chevy V-8 hit the market, it was a quick and higher-revving engine which was lighter than the inline 6 it replaced and had more power. So it became the darling of the blue-collar hot rodders, while the Chrysler Hemi was still sought after for drag racers of the time.
Additionally, everybody was watching what everybody ELSE was doing. Kettering designed the original Cadillac V-8. So when Studebaker needed a V-8 to remain competitive in the middle '50s, they hired Kettering to create a V-8 for their cars, which is why earlier Studebaker V-8 look remarkably like a shrunken Cadillac V-8, except for the script name on the valve covers. The cam specs for the Slant 6 were similar to the Porsche flat-six engines (the benchmark of the time for 6 cyl engines) and I later discovered that the cam specs for a Ford 352/300 horsepower engine had some similarity to the Chevy 327/300 horsepower engine (valve lift and duration). As each engine program progressed, some of these earlier spec similarities tended to vanish, though, to gain their own more specific identity.
After being mentored by my machine shop operative, he'd laugh at how similar the Chrysler B/RB engine was compared to the small block Chevy. But after reading Smokey Yunick's book, it became apparent that what he wanted Chevy to change, Chrysler did it in the B/RB engine. Especially the distributor at the front! Plus the fact, as my guy pointed out, "old folks" could hear the ticking hydraulic lifters before they'd feel a "THUMP" in the floorboards, from low oil levels.
Back then, either "cheap" or "performance" engines had valve trains which needed periodic maintenance (valve lash adjustments) for best performance. Usually, the lash opened up, but on the VW flat 4s, the lash tightened up, which gave them that wheezing sound when they needed attention (and didn't get it on a regular basis).
The reason the Chevy V-8 became so popular was that is was short and narrow (so it'd go into almost EVERY narrow-frame-width chassis where an inline engine previously resided, plus with the distributor at the rear, it would fit under sloped front sheet metal that front distributor engines might not (they were planning for the yet-to-appear Corvette). The Chrysler Hemi of the time was a WIDE engine, which resulted in the restrictive exhaust manifold arrangement for it to fit the narrower frames of the earlier '50s cars it was initially placed into. The Chrysler "A" engine was more "normal", though, but was still a bit wider and heavier than the similar Chevy V-8, but with a stronger bottom end that made the Chevy casting look "weak" in comparison, even the later beloved 350 Chevy castings. The "Poly A" had its origins in original Hemi territory, which makes it a very durable design that probably was too over-shadowed by its big brother to have been fully appreciated for what it was.
As a consumer, would you rather hear valve train "ticks" or main bearing "THUNKS"? It's a known fact that as we age, lower frequency hearing decreases well before high frequency hearing does. So, for the general public, Chrysler probably did this one "right", considering that all "upscale" engines would have hydraulic valve lifters.
Enjoy!
CBODY67
