440 combo sound good?

[toolmanmike]

A good friend of mine just ran his newly rebuilt 440 on the dyno today. I don't know all the particulars but it is a +.030 over late 60's 440 with 9.5/1 hyper pistons, ported stock cast heads (not familiar with the casting numbers for big block), a CH4B Edelbrock intake, a Demon carb (I believe it's a 750) and a stock electronic dist. The cam is a Comp XE275 HL-10 with .525/.525 275°/287° @ 110° c/l. It was dynoe'd with headers of course and Joe has headers and 2 1/2"exhaust with electric cut outs. I think it will be a nice bump from his stock 383 he has in there now. HP 468 TQ 505 @5500 rpm. He has a 2500 stall convertor and a 4.10 gear. Engine dyno of course. Tmm

 

[kjalltrac]

I suggest that you template port the heads, very easy to do and worth the time.
I f you read my thread, "budget 440 build" here, you see that I have almost the engine you describe.
If you use the l2355f, you don't need to balance it if you get other lighter wrist pins.
You can get these piston to match the low comp pistons weight.

 

[66Satellite47]

Bowl porting combined with today's quality valve jobs will give you results from a 452 head. In the "old days" one of my bracket racing buddy's that had a flow bench used the 452's. I used 906's or 915's. But the 452 will give you the power you seem to be looking for.the 452's had hard seats. I thought 452's had hard seats. Could br wrong. Cam selection is a hard thing. The newer cam designs available seem much better than the old Mopar designs. Don't mill the block any more than needed to get it straight. Mill the heads to whatever your CR goal is. A race machine shop knows to mill the intake side to match the amount taken off the deck side. The numbers are available. I had many sets of heads milled a lot & never had an intake problem, I was using skilled race machinists.

 

[SimDog]

Wow! This is all good information. I am also looking to build up a '78 440 out of an RV.

This is what I have found with my research so far. Be careful with porting on the stock heads as they have thin walls due to more cooling. I found that you can do a "Mild" port and then port match for intake and exhaust. Change the exhaust valves out to 1.81 to get the engine breathing good.

You can use the stock crank and rods.

No major machine work other than getting everything squared up.

Here's what I came up with for my build.

Speed Pro 440 Six-Pack Forged Flat top pistons w/moly rings
Stock crank and rods w/arp bolts
New Main and Rod bearings
Oil Pan w/windage tray
cleaned up iron heads, 75deg 3 angle valve job and some mild porting. 2.08 intake and 1.81 exhaust valves.
Edelbrock 7194 Performer RPM Camshaft Kit
Edelbrock 7193 Performer RPM intake
750 CFM Carb
MSD Distributor w/electronic ignition, coil and wire set
Hooker HOK-5903HKR Headers 1 7/8 tube

Any opinions on this are much appreciated, as I have not purchased parts yet and am open for suggestions.

 

[66Satellite47]

A couple of comments for what it's worth. I'd also have the con rods shot peened, a little extra insurance. I'd use 2.14 intake valves too. Even for a "mild" motor the 440 can use all the flow improvement you can give it. Cam selection?

 

[not so famous bob]

A couple of comments for what it's worth. I'd also have the con rods shot peened, a little extra insurance. I'd use 2.14 intake valves too. Even for a "mild" motor the 440 can use all the flow improvement you can give it. Cam selection?

anybody have any trouble w/ his statements on squish ? I have .037 to .039 squish w/ 10.3 comp. I either misunderstood him or he got weired ideas.

 

[66Satellite47]

anybody have any trouble w/ his statements on squish ? I have .037 to .039 squish w/ 10.3 comp. I either misunderstood him or he got weired ideas.

I didn't say anything about "squish".