I think you could likely get past that 500 hp goal and manifolds using a stock crank, well chosen cam and stock type heads with 2.14/1.81s and some bowl work, but not easy on pump gas.. Personally I prefer the solid flat tappet cams over a roller in combo’s like this, and without a ton of port work the gains are small from the bigger lifts. In a 440 with manifolds the old 528 purple cam was a contender. Bigger cubes I think I would go bigger yet though.
Back when we built circle track engines there was a class of hobby stock that had to run stock exhuast manifolds, carb, no roller rockers.. ect...allowed very minimal porting, but with no cubic inch limit. One of the guy’s built a 452, 400 with a 440 crank, flat top pistons, it had 452 with 2.14/1.81, the bowls were basically cut straight down from the last 3 angle cut then blended into the port. It had a Engle mopar design solid flat tappet cam, 250s at .050 tappet, sold by Hughes at the time. Nothing fancy by today’s standards, I think it was a little over 500hp IRC.... Man did it run. Up against some high dollar engines it made them all look slow. But it took race gas.
That being said, I think it is a little easier to hit that 500 mark with a bigger crank than a 440 crank. We have had a number of different combo’s in that range, usually with headers though. Our most outrageous bb combo with HP manifolds is a 542(4.5” crank in a 72 400). 2.14/1.81 ported 346 heads, HP manifolds, stock intake, and a thermoquad in a 72 Satelite. Bullet solid flat tappet cam right around .6 lift. We built it to run in stock type (F.A.S.T.) class’s, but as a driver on pump gas. No interest in doing a roll bar, will be content with low 11s...with 3.23 gears and a tight 3000 rpm converter. Going together right now with it. Looks like it is a stock 400 with A/C.
One thing we have noticed going with the big cubes is will make a good sized cam in a 440 act like almost like a RV tq cam in the 500+ engines. To small of a cam in a cast iron headed open chamber, doesn’t take much compression to push the limits on pump gas, the HP manifolds probably don’t help either.
Back when we built circle track engines there was a class of hobby stock that had to run stock exhuast manifolds, carb, no roller rockers.. ect...allowed very minimal porting, but with no cubic inch limit. One of the guy’s built a 452, 400 with a 440 crank, flat top pistons, it had 452 with 2.14/1.81, the bowls were basically cut straight down from the last 3 angle cut then blended into the port. It had a Engle mopar design solid flat tappet cam, 250s at .050 tappet, sold by Hughes at the time. Nothing fancy by today’s standards, I think it was a little over 500hp IRC.... Man did it run. Up against some high dollar engines it made them all look slow. But it took race gas.
That being said, I think it is a little easier to hit that 500 mark with a bigger crank than a 440 crank. We have had a number of different combo’s in that range, usually with headers though. Our most outrageous bb combo with HP manifolds is a 542(4.5” crank in a 72 400). 2.14/1.81 ported 346 heads, HP manifolds, stock intake, and a thermoquad in a 72 Satelite. Bullet solid flat tappet cam right around .6 lift. We built it to run in stock type (F.A.S.T.) class’s, but as a driver on pump gas. No interest in doing a roll bar, will be content with low 11s...with 3.23 gears and a tight 3000 rpm converter. Going together right now with it. Looks like it is a stock 400 with A/C.
One thing we have noticed going with the big cubes is will make a good sized cam in a 440 act like almost like a RV tq cam in the 500+ engines. To small of a cam in a cast iron headed open chamber, doesn’t take much compression to push the limits on pump gas, the HP manifolds probably don’t help either.
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