440 buildup.

[Bigshot]

Well some of you may remember me asking questions to do with my 1975 440 that I've taken apart and now the time has come to start the build.

I'm making this thread to get your opinions and ideas on what to get for my 440. This is a complete build, the only thing I'm using from the old engine is the block, new EVERYTHING!

Ok.. So here it is.. I'll try to give as much detail as possible as to what I'm looking for performance/driving wise.

It's uncertain exactly what type of body this motor is going into. But regardless I'm looking for the same things out of it. Note, I'm an amateur to this hobby...

The car will be mostly street driven, some highway and a little street racing.. No strip. (yet) So I need it built to idle. Have a decent highway speed (I know that will have a big part with gearing) and also have a nice bite if I jump on it from 0 mph. I would prefer a less complicated build (meaning I don't want to have to do much chopping or finding nifty ways of making things fit/work, also something that will be fairly easy for a new guy to tune and maintain. I'm looking for approximately 450-500 horse. I would prefer to keep stock bore and stroke, but I would not mind going .30 over, we'll see what they say about the cylinders, it's possible they might need to be overbored correct? I would prefer hydraulic cam & lifters, maybe a manual choke but I've never used a manual choke before. This will be attached to a 727 tranny.. I might swap it for a 4 speed some day down the line.

Price is somewhat of an issue, I have around $15000(CDN dollars) total for a car, not all of it is for this build.. I've never built a complete engine and I don't really have a clue what it will cost to get what I'm looking for.

Thanks to all for your help in advance... I know this is a very big thing to ask about.. An entire engine.. But I'm totally new to this.

I'll also be checking out rebuild kits and stuff in the local speed shops and get their opinions on the build aswell..

Let's start from the bottom end up eh? If you need more details ask away

[sundrop_440]

I have built a simular combo for my 68 charger,so I have some ideas but before I go crazy, a couple questions, do you want to run 87 octane or 92 or higher,it will help in the compression dept. to give you the right pistons,and do you have a crankshaft thats good or may need turning, you can safely turn a crankshaft and still build 500hp, I'm just trying to be practical and not spend money you could use elsewhere

[PistolGrip440-6]

Make sure that you use some good rods, either six pack rods in good condition with ARP hardware or use some new H beam rods. I will also be building a similar combo for an RB block in the next year and my hp range is where yours is. Stick with a flat tappet cam, Mopars have great ramp speeds so you dont need a roller unless youre after ultimate power and you have a huge budget, which you dont. Im assuming you plan to put about $3800 or so to the engine. If your budget allows and you plan to run high octane, pick up a set of 915 heads because they have great combustion characteristics, then have the valves oversized and have them bowl ported. With something similar to the old Mopar .509 cam, which there are better ones out now, with around 10.5:1 compression, you should be dishing out close to 500 hp with a good intake. If you take 500 hp to the strip with a 727 in a 3500 lb car, with 4.10 gears, you will blast at mid 12s or lower all day long. BTW, I would also look at getting a forged crank and going for forged pistons just because when you get money later, you can step up to some real hi-po heads like the Stage 6 heads without needing to change anything on the bottom end.

[DartGT66]

Your '75 is most likely a cast crank engine; no reason to go with some H-beam rods.Regular LY rods will handle 500 hp all day long properly prepped. If you are worried about the short block longevity, go with light weight, modern pistons. 500 true hp out of a simple street 440 isn't that simple, good heads is a big help. Best bang for the buck heads, that can handle the job are Edelbrock rpm's; have them checked for valve job and guide clearances before assembling. I would vote for a pretty aggressive hydraulic, like compa cams 295 xe hl; no need for checking the adjustment regularily. I would pick a single plane intake; holley street dominator and M1 are good choices for a powerful street 440. AS far as teh bire goes, the size isn't the only qualification; the bores must be straight and at right angles. Even if teh size is acceptable, the other factors necessarily are not. I would bore the block as needed, and all the mnachine work should be done in a race quality shop. A good exhaust and ignition system with about a 850 size carb should take care fo the rest. And with 500 true hp, I would like to see it running in the 11's. Mine run 12.16/116.5 with 3.23 gears and regular radial tires with less than that

[PistolGrip440-6]

Originally Posted by DartGT66

Your '75 is most likely a cast crank engine; no reason to go with some H-beam rods.

I suggested H beams just because if youre going to buy new rods, you might as well dish out a few hundred more bucks and get something really tough, but Dart is right, you shouldnt need them.

[Bigshot]

Ok I'll try my best to answer all your posts at once...

I most likely will look for a forged crank.. Even if the cast can handle it.. Just to be sure. For pistons, thinking forged flat tops but no idea who's pistons to buy... Definately new rods, I like what I've heard from using six-pack rods as long as they're not too exspensive. Heads I'm looking at the eddie perf rpm.. Intake?? I don't really know the difference between single or dual plane.. And I don't know what the stages "exactly" mean. Carb I thought 750 would be enough, but I don't really know. Oh yeah I'm also wanting 10.0 compression.. No idea what to look for in cam/lifters/rocker setup. That's new to me number wise.

Hope that helped.. Thanks for your replies!

[PistolGrip440-6]

Ross pistons are good and decently priced. I would use an 800 or 850, it really depends on how high you want to rev it though. Hydraulic flat tappets should be fine for your HP range, just dont rev it too much above 6000 rpm or they might start to float, depending on the ones you get. I prefer mechanicals, but im old school. You are probably going to want around .490 to .515 valve lift and a mild duration. It depends on how high you want to rev it and how high you want to rev it really depends on wheter or not you want to be closer to 450 or 500 hp and how exactly you want it to run on the street. Dart66GT is right, your heads will ultimately determine what you will have, you want a good set of heads. The difference between single and dual plane it that the dual plane is split in the middle and provides better torque, although it doesnt always work, but limits high end breathing. I think you will want a single plane, but I like to rev engines high, even my lawn mower lol.

[BDS 871 Cuda]

Try the 440source kit or one of the other ones.
500 inch with RPM heads. 500 street H.P. EASY!
It will run on 87 oct. Gas mileage? Who cares!
It's a low cost build. For $15k you should be able
to find a car and do the motor and trans.

[Dukes2fast]

I am just finishing up my 440 that is very much like the one you described. I had never done anything like this before either. This site has been a huge help. I also bought several books on building engines and this one was very good...http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/155...lance&n=283155
The most important thing I learned is you need a plan and keep notes of everything along the way. Everything need to be matched, carb to cam to rear. If not it will run like crap. I have seen a couple of these builds.(thrown together in a hurry)
Unfortunately, I had some bad luck with the machine shop and had to have a lot of work corrected. Which is another point, do not expect other people to care about your project as much as you do. Even if you are paying them.
Shop around too. One vendor may have great prices for some parts while another does on other parts. I spent much, much less than you have and still was able to build a very solid motor. Ofcourse, the only work I paid to have done was the actual machine work.

[bsbn]

You should get a back issue of mopar muscle mag. march and april 2001.
They build a stock 440 magnum and put it on a dyno. Then they add a 850 holley carb, holley street dominator intake,comp cams xtreme energy 274H cam, and hooker headers. The motor put out 464 horsepower at 5400 rpm with over 500 footpounds of torque.

[Kevin Garceau]

OK everything I offer here always has to do with the entire package.

I would really narrow down what type of car your going to get. A body, E body, B Body etc.... this will give you an idea on the weight and what you want to do exactly with the car. Do you want a wide tired car? Stock rear suspension?

Then think long and hard what type of driving your going to do - going out busting some heads, a good cruiser, drive it to the track only and race it?

The motor is the easy part, thats like coloring by numbers, just do what your supposed to do with quality parts, and if you cant have someone assemble it for you. HP is HP... its always there and always will be. You can get a complete kit, and then have the heads matched to it, and make good hp out of any brand BB. 500 hp on pump gas is not easy but certainly not difficult in this day and age with the choices of quality heads. HP is in the heads. 10:1 ratio is a good point to work with. Gives you a little room either way and still be safe. Any good head manufacturer can recommend "there" head, and in honesty they are all probably as good as the next. Some just have different preferences.

Cam very important. I know your on a mopar board but I NEVER recommend a mopar performance cam. So many others out there have gotten more HP with similar lifts and duration but have worked the profile and the splits out better. Could be as much as 10-15 hp difference.

Now having said all of that. Do you know what 500hp with the right combination of other parts can do? I mean it can flat out haul the mail. But the motor is only one piece of the combo.

My 1974 440 was stock bottom end. Came out to 7.8:1 compression. 452 heads, with just a little home massaging in them, stock forged crank, stock rods, M1 intake and .590 mopar cam (I know, but its what I had laying around at the time) I shifted it at 6000 rpms, and it ran a best of 10.59 in the qtr with no power adders in a 2850 lb car. You can get some street cars down into the very low 3000 rpm range, so that would be about 10.90... on PUMP GAS

Now my current car has MP 380 hp 360 cube inch. It has Eddy RPM heads on it. M1 intake... and small cam. It runs 10.50s but a little lighter car.

Everyting is in the combo. Dont get too caught up in the motor. I honestly would find a GOOD car first, set up for exactly what you wanted to do as mentioned above. Then add the power too it. The HP is the easy part, sorting out the combo can drive you bonkers.

[will'srunner]

This might sound like a plug, but before you spend money you should read a book called "Old Reliable" by a guy named Don Dulmage.
he sells them on e-bay.
good luck and you don't need to go crazy with trick parts to make a 440 go.

Good luck