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440 build to compete with Hellcat

Nick Bruno

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Morning all! I’m building a ‘69 Charger (not numbers matching) and have been trying to decide on a direction for my motor. It seems like everyone and their mother is doing a hellcat swap these days and not that it’s not cool, it’s just not my style. I prefer the old school big block. I’m starting with a very solid 440 block and have decided I want to build it to compete with a hellcat. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on a recipe for that. This will be a street car on pump gas. Thanks fellas!
 
Poor choice trying to build 60 year old technology against the Hellcat motor primarily do to the cost to have 440 be streetable with out great cost. If you dont care then do it.
 
Poor choice trying to build 60 year old technology against the Hellcat motor primarily do to the cost to have 440 be streetable with out great cost. If you dont care then do it.
Sorry but I disagree. Dropping a hellcat it with all the modifications will cost over $30k. Pretty sure I can get a 440 to compete for around $20k but maybe I’m crazy. Love to hear others thoughts.
 
It'll cost $30k to build 717 hp in a 440 I reckon.

Like snakeoil said above, what you get with the Hellcat engine is something you can live with fairly easily. 700+ HP in a big block isn't something you just up and drive a long way in.

If that's not important though, go for it.
 
What metric of "compete" are you talking? 1/4 mile times?
Stock hellcat is high 10 second range.
Any power adder on the 440, of just NA?
 
Building a streetable 440 based engine that makes 700+ horsepower will have to be boosted, if its normally asperated it would be unstreetable for most people. I believe the 440 based engine is definately doable for a cheaper price tag and less headaches and mods than to put a Hellcat in it.
 
You could do a mild 500+ hp 440 with a 200+ shot of NOS that might cost around 10k?
 
Building a streetable 440 based engine that makes 700+ horsepower will have to be boosted, if its normally asperated it would be unstreetable for most people. I believe the 440 based engine is definately doable for a cheaper price tag and less headaches and mods than to put a Hellcat in it.
I’m not against boosting it. Thought I’d start with stroking it. Maybe a blown 512?
 
Well, last time out with my decently built pump gas 440, (mind you, first time out in a LONG time, lots of tuning yet to do) i went 7.60, (car has been 7.0s) the hellcat next to me went 6.46.
But, i do think that is a pretty good running cat, with an experienced cat driver. Most i see here, run between high sixes and low sevens.
My thoughts are....1. Build the biggest engine you can afford, within reason. I dont think i would recommend a 543, but i would suggest a 511. 2. Put the best heads on it you can afford. 3. You will need either a power adder, or cubic money, and cubic money still wont get you a comfortable pump gas street car that will outrun a hellcat. For a power adder, i would suggest nitrous. 6-71/8-71 blower kits arent exactly common, ive never seen in person a procharged 440 that i thought ran right, and though a turbo could make LOTS of power, there is lots of fabrication and tuning expertise required. Its not quite as easy as a turbo kit on an LS.
Good luck with your project, im sure you will get lots more opinions.
 
Well, last time out with my decently built pump gas 440, (mind you, first time out in a LONG time, lots of tuning yet to do) i went 7.60, (car has been 7.0s) the hellcat next to me went 6.46.
But, i do think that is a pretty good running cat, with an experienced cat driver. Most i see here, run between high sixes and low sevens.
My thoughts are....1. Build the biggest engine you can afford, within reason. I dont think i would recommend a 543, but i would suggest a 511. 2. Put the best heads on it you can afford. 3. You will need either a power adder, or cubic money, and cubic money still wont get you a comfortable pump gas street car that will outrun a hellcat. For a power adder, i would suggest nitrous. 6-71/8-71 blower kits arent exactly common, ive never seen in person a procharged 440 that i thought ran right, and though a turbo could make LOTS of power, there is lots of fabrication and tuning expertise required. Its not quite as easy as a turbo kit on an LS.
Good luck with your project, im sure you will get lots more opinions.
Very good feedback. Thank you
 
Forgot to mention, there was also a guy at the track that day who had a 493 in a show-worthy 64 b-body, that went 7.0s n/a.
Part of what you will be fighting is the weight of your charger. Its a few hundred pounds less than a cat, but my savoy is nearly a thousand pounds less, and my low 6 sec pump gas car was nearly two thousand pounds less.
It may be sacrilegious on this site ( hey cant all we mopar people just get along?!) but maybe consider an a-body for going fast, and your charger for cruisin' ?
 
I think the NOS idea is the best way. It'll have to be built for that purpose or you'll be fixing something every time you hit the button. Lots of other upgrades will be needed behind all that HP, starting at the transmission, driveshaft, rear to the tires. Then you have cooling and suspension upgrades. Originally it wasn't engineered to work with all that power so hope you have a huge budget. I just built a 440 that has 500hp on the dyno. I built it for the 200 shot NOS kit I have.
 
Forgot to mention, there was also a guy at the track that day who had a 493 in a show-worthy 64 b-body, that went 7.0s n/a.
Part of what you will be fighting is the weight of your charger. Its a few hundred pounds less than a cat, but my savoy is nearly a thousand pounds less, and my low 6 sec pump gas car was nearly two thousand pounds less.
It may be sacrilegious on this site ( hey cant all we mopar people just get along?!) but maybe consider an a-body for going fast, and your charger for cruisin' ?
You’re right, it’s a very heavy car. I’m not necessarily looking to compete against every hellcat. I’m more interested in at least being able to keep up with other chargers that have done the hellcat swap.
 
I think the NOS idea is the best way. It'll have to be built for that purpose or you'll be fixing something every time you hit the button. Lots of other upgrades will be needed behind all that HP, starting at the transmission, driveshaft, rear to the tires. Then you have cooling and suspension upgrades. Originally it wasn't engineered to work with all that power so hope you have a huge budget. I just built a 440 that has 500hp on the dyno. I built it for the 200 shot NOS kit I have.
Yeah I’m doing all of that. Got the level 2 stiffening kit from us car tool. Will be doing aftermarket k-frame and 4 link in the back (haven’t decided on which yet but thinking Gerst or RMS). Going to order a Strange or Curry 60 rear when I decide on gears.
 
I did that in my 71 Cuda. I really regret it now. Upgraded leaf springs and torsion bars are a WAY more comfortable ride. But it does look cool but that's all.
I’ve a read a lot of forums saying that. I may have to reconsider.
 
If it were me and I wanted a great cruiser that could keep up I'd run boost instead of nitrous. Nitrous as mentioned is the cheapest option but with it it's not exactly always at your disposal since you eventually run out of it and then have to deal with the hassle of filling the tanks.

Personally I wouldn't do either, I'd build big cubes (500+) and keep it simple. Boosting a car really adds up quick, blower, mounting brackets, all the necessary charge plumbing, fuel pump, regulator, fuel lines, blow through carb, etc. I've seen some big cube builds on here getting up in the 650hp+ range that still have good street manners, given the weight difference I'd think you'd be pretty close without the added cost and parts to worry about. Just my opinion... I've seen plenty of builds where to much focus is placed on hp and in the end they ended up with something that was no fun to drive, just think it through and put the cars intended use at the very front of the priority list and you'll be fine.
 
If it were me and I wanted a great cruiser that could keep up I'd run boost instead of nitrous. Nitrous as mentioned is the cheapest option but with it it's not exactly always at your disposal since you eventually run out of it and then have to deal with the hassle of filling the tanks.

Personally I wouldn't do either, I'd build big cubes (500+) and keep it simple. Boosting a car really adds up quick, blower, mounting brackets, all the necessary charge plumbing, fuel pump, regulator, fuel lines, blow through carb, etc. I've seen some big cube builds on here getting up in the 650hp+ range that still have good street manners, given the weight difference I'd think you'd be pretty close without the added cost and parts to worry about. Just my opinion... I've seen plenty of builds where to much focus is placed on hp and in the end they ended up with something that was no fun to drive, just think it through and put the cars intended use at the very front of the priority list and you'll be fine.
Totally agree with this! Thanks for the feedback.
 
Low compression, standard cam, big cube, and blow-through twin turbo. One big turbo, one small.
The motor starts and runs as though it doesn't know it has a turbo, until you push it. Works with carbs, but better with fuel injection.
 
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