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.