74 RV 440 acquired.

[Squeezy]

Just acquired a 74 440 from an EV with trans, all ran good when he drove it home last year. Totally complete.

NOW.
4006630-440-4 Is the number on the block,
once I get her in the shop here, I wanna pull the heads and just give her a good looksy to see what I’m dealing with.

On these RV motors, I know headers are a must, what other mods should a guy be doing to get the most bang for your buck? I’m working on building it into a cruiser/street brawler. Maybe a whiplash cam, a march performance bracket kit, aluminum eddy dual plane intake, but are the heads good/bad? What would you do for on the cheap? There’s always the future to go crazy and build it to pull hard but what would you do?

 

[Kern Dog]

You probably already know that these engines are always low compression, almost always under 8 to 1. The pistons are usually way down in the hole over .125. The heads are usually the same as what any other 1974-78 440 was built with, casting number '452 with approximately 90-92 cc chambers.
Yes, headers help. The main handicap is the low compression due to the pistons. Any "performance" camshaft that you use will have more aggressive specs compared to stock and will result in less torque below 3000 rpms while improving power above that. This isn't terrible if the heads can flow but the stock heads don't flow well above 5000 rpms. The 68-70 440 Magnum had a HP peak under 5000 rpms but had compression ratios about 2 points higher.

 

[sam dupont]

battle the low compression or put twin turbos blowing through a Thermoquad. Turbos wake them up

 

[OneWheelPeel]

Does a theromquad need mods for that?

 

[Squeezy]

I’m thinking of some simple mods just to put it in the car and getting it running, fixing the interior, body, brakes, ect. And when it comes time, dumping some money into making it a beast. But for now, I’m thinking of mods just before I put it in and make a fun driving car. Don’t want to get into rebuilding or anything yet, but maybe a cam and intake swap? Eventually I wanna do aluminum heads, maybe a striker kit, but for now, how bad is it to replace the pistons for a temporary build? Worth it? Idk I’m fishing deep here.
But I’m tickled pink knowing that my car is getting an engine I never knew I could make happen. I’m excited to say the least, but before i stuff it in there without extensive modification, without going crazy, what should i do? I’m pretty sold on tti headers, but should I leave it alone or throw a whiplash cam in from Hughes as I might drive this car for 2-5 years before going through it?

 

[Kern Dog]

You'll need an oil pan and pickup but those are easily found. Truck, van and RV oil pans are all wrong, the sump is either all the way at the front or the back. The cars use a mid sump unit.
The intakes are as heavy as the daily food intake of my ex wife so an aluminum one is a great idea for the weight reduction alone. The top dog street intake is the Edelbrock Performer RPM but really, a lower profile dual plane of any brand is fine for a stock engine. New cam break in is nerve wracking but part of the game here, follow every suggestion as if your wallet depended on it so you improve your chances at a successful break in and long life for the cam and lifters.
Even a stock 440 Magnum cam is a step up from the camshafts from trucks and RVs.

 

[sam dupont]

Does a theromquad need mods for that?

Studebaker put a carter AFB inside of the box you see on top of this motor. Some carburetors can be blown straight through, Holleys need a modification, but putting it inside of the box equalizes all the pressures

 

[Dave6T4]

This is a low compression 440. Don't put a big cam in it, or whatever compression you have is going to go out your tailpipe. I like the old Mopar Performance Magnum cam or equivalent. 276/284 degree duration, . 480" lift, 110 degree lobe separation. Lift over .500" will require a spring change; widening the lobe separation reduces low end torque. This cam still has a nice performance rumble at idle. This engine should still run well on Regular fuel, so there is that saving. Find your self a used dual-plane Edelbrock aluminum intake, and a pair of HP exhaust manifolds, and top it off with a new Edelbrock 800 cfm. AVS carb.
If the RV 727 is a "shorty", you will need to get a regular length car transmission. You can either put the car transmission tailshaft and extension housing on the RV transmission, or put the H.D. guts out of the RV tranny into the car one. Either way, they will both have to come apart, for a mix and match. Make sure you are running at least 3.23, or even 3.55 gears.

 

[John Milner]

One thing you could do fairly easily to bump the compression up some is add a set of 1967 915 heads and steel shim head gaskets. That would get you a little closer to 9:1 compression.

 

[PRHeads]

Intake, carb, headers, recurve distributor.
If you’re feeling ambitious, upgrade the cam to something not too much bigger than stock(something like a comp 268H or XE262).
I’d plan on pulling the heads for a spring upgrade for any cam swap.
Many RV 440’s have rotators and short valve springs on the exhaust valves, neither of which are compatible with a performance cam.
If you start seriously considering a cam upgrade, step one should be pull the heads off and apart to assess their overall condition before buying any parts.

 

[#41]

As previously said, don't do anything until you assess the engine.

Start with a compression test. That will give you a good idea if the valves and/or rings/cylinders are worth doing anything in the short-term. If compression is uneven, then I'd take the heads off to investigate more.

If things are looking ok, then a double roller timing chain, small cam, Eddy RPM intake, Holley 4160 type 750 carb, and cheap headers will wake it up without too much expense, and can be used later down the line.

 

[68-500]

One thing you could do fairly easily to bump the compression up some is add a set of 1967 915 heads and steel shim head gaskets. That would get you a little closer to 9:1 compression.

Great option. I wish I could find a set for my 383 anywhere here in Oklahoma.

Id go headers biggest bang for the buck, or HP manifolds probably not worth much in such a mild engine though. Performer or CH4B intake probably better choice than the RPM intake. I wouldn’t mess with a cam change until you figure a way to get compression ratio in the 9’s.

 

[Kern Dog]

The money that you might spend to refresh old heads may exceed the cost of new closed chambered aluminum heads.