Mark,
I've always maintained a large compost heap of information between my ears

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As I've seen it written in the past, with all the automakers doing war work (Oldsmobile manufacturing various calibers of cannons, Hudson building B-26 fuselages and SB2C wing panels, and other 'WTF??' contracts) The WD issued a contract to build 3350's to keep up with B-29 production rates to Dodge Bros. (Chrysler corp came many years later, after consolidation). They kept getting change orders for new cylinder baffling, cooling fin changes. etc. followed by conflicting C.O.s a few days later. The engine design group, not busy not working on the 1943 De SOTO engines dug into the engine and fixed a large number of nagging issues that seemed to have flummoxed WRIGHT engineers (recall that WRIGHT went from 'dig here' to an in production huge factory in 52 days). Coupled with decreasing the loads put on the engines in the Pacific and reducing the gross weights of the airframes by dumping the turrets and associated items eased the strain on the engines.
The developmental work gave them incredible insight to just how efficient and really inexpensively a hemispherical head could be mass produced. Being a smaller, less layered company they took the ball and ran with it (Dodge,Plymouth/ DeSOTO were usually # 5,6,7 or worse in sales behind Studebaker, Nash and other now gone car makers and the conglomerate GM/Ford factories, Chrysler and Imperial were separate brands within Dodge, Studie and Nash had a full range of cars from 4 cyl, $475.00 new cracker boxes to really impressive big cars in what would today be in Mercedes territory, a 1929 Studebaker President is an awe inspiring vehicle) remember Ford refused to build MERLINS under contract because it 'wuz a 'furrin enjyne' and not our deesign neither' the contract went to PACKARD who had a strong reputaion of mechanical excellence and above it all pure craftsmanship.
The WRIGHT/DODGE design was sound, since the new era 500 c.i. Funny car and Top Fuel motors, derived directly from those hard chargin' 245 C.I. 'Red Rams' put out 1200+ horsepower from 1 liter displacement x 8 for 10,000 H.P. from 500 c.i.
