440 is coming apart. Pictures

[Gunner1]

It's in the shop and they pulled the pan to check the bearings. it was low on oil but I checked it when I bought it. I only have about 500 miles on it. Oil pressure was always about 80 above 1500 rpm and never less than 40 at a guess 750 hot idle. Piston tops look clean. This was a motorhome engine. So maybe he put in something with the wrong length. Oh well. They will check it when it goes together and remark the full and add lines as needed. They are going to be sending me pics which I will share on here. It's getting an Isky 292 mega cam, 440 Source CNC heads, Ceramic coated Dougs Long tube D452 Headers, MSD Billet dist with 6AL Box.

 

[Gunner1]

More Pic's

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

What made you pull the engine??

 

[furious70]

Never trust a dipstick. So many things mixed and matched over 50 yrs. Fill and make your mark

 

[Gunner1]

What made you pull the engine??

After getting the heads off they decided to leave the short block in place.

 

[Gunner1]

It's been balanced and still has stock bolts in the rods. It's gonna stay that way. If for some reason I get to racing it enough to want to go fast. Then a stroker kit will take care of the bolt issue.

 

[ckessel]

Hmmm, I wonder whose stroker kit you'll use.

 

[Gunner1]

Scat lightweight.

 

[dvw]

I’ve learned if you are checking bearings, check them all. Mains and rods. Especially the upper rod shells. That’s where the load is.
Doug

 

[Gunner1]

They think we have figured out why it pinged so easily. Flat top pistons, a .039 head gasket , a fairly stock mopar RV cam, but they had used a multi position cam gear and installed it at a + 4 degrees from stock. So with a wide lobe spread and the usual 4 degrees ground into the cam they added another 4. So 8 degrees advanced. I'll have the stock cam tomorrow and look to see if I can ID it. The heads are on, the headers fit great with the addition of a mini starter. MSD is wired in. Break in the cam with the hi zinc oil and then they are going to tune it for me. They have the jets and power valves.

 

[peabodyracin]

I'm intrigued by the pinging issue. From what you describe it sounds like the original builder was anticipating the engine being soft off idle and through the gasket, cam advance and RV cam was trying to build some additional compression and torque. I used to do the cam advance trick a lot when I didn't have money to do anything better. I advanced several of them over the years and had not run into a ping tendency.

I didn't see anything about heads or distributor mentioned. If I missed it my apologies. Did they put super light springs on the advance weights or did it have an adjustable advance? My other thought was did the thing run really lean?

 

[Gunner1]

It had .017 piston to deck with 452 88cc heads. Cranking pressures were 175. 91 octane and 0 degrees initial advance 24 total. Still pinged. Got rid of the 600 cam smog edelbrock and replaced it with a Holley 750 dp. Running rich still rattled. My guess is too much compression. 9.4 no quench large bore and odd cam timing. Dist was a factory stock. I’m anxious to see if it’s fixed.

 

[John Milner]

Those look like TRW 6 pack pistons. In one of my 440's, I use those pistons, a set of stock 452 heads, a 440 HP camshaft, and 750 Carter AFB. I generally use 87 octane in it and it runs great and never pings. I'm guessing with the right camshaft, yours will run much better without pinging. Should make a great engine.

 

[Gunner1]

I agree. Pick it up tomorrow. Replacing the 2 inch pipes and stock muffs with a 2.5 inch with a crossover and Magnaflows. Manifold vacuum dropped to 10 from 17. Using a 7.5 PV now. Open headers doing awesome. On the flatbed to the muffler shop.

 

[Gunner1]

I have officially spent more on fixing things than I did buying the car.

 

[Gunner1]

Closer.

 

[Gunner1]

Just drove it home. It runs great. They have 18 idle 36 total at 3400 rpm. Still just a hint of rattle at about 90 in second. I'll back it down about 2 degrees. Magnaflows sound throaty not to loud. 70 to 75 on the freeway is just kissing the gas pedal. Any throttle above 1/4 in first starts the right rear spinning. Posi and a big pinion case are in my future. Still runs with 80 psi hot at 2500 and 40 at a hot idle. Throttle response is really great for such a heavy rotating assembly. No Leaks so far. I have to say I am pretty impressed with the guys at Orange County C.A.R.S. I don't know why the pics are flipped. They are correct in my computer.

 

[khryslerkid]

Looks Great!

A 440 is a different animal. Seems like an endless amount of torque when you open them up with the right cam and good exhaust to let them breathe.

 

[ckessel]

Let the fun begin. Time to check the traction efficiency of your tires.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

Let the fun begin. Time to check the traction efficiency of your tires.