Detective work on a 440 RB.

[Brandy]

I purchased a 1973 440 passenger car 440 that was installed in a 1986 Dodge Power Ram. I suspected that it had been warmed up some. Now that I have it apart down to the bottom half there are several clues. First, there was a stuck lifter which was ground into a cup, along with the cam lobe. That set of valves were black and oily. I see now that it is the source of the tickity tick noise while running. Also the cam is a Crane HMV272-2 NC, the main caps are stamped "30", the crank is stamped .10, and the rods are cast with a 488 number. One piston appears to be new as the rest are carboned up. The motor had a nice chrome bits attached like the timing cover, valve covers, other bits..it had a Edelbrock Performer 440 intake and a Holley 750 CFM double pumper carb. It has the 346 heads . Any conclusions?

 

[Bobzilla]

You have already figured out that it needs a rebuild. You need to check the rod and main bearings for damage, since it wiped a cam lobe. Also check cylinder bore diameter, and crankshaft rod and main journal sizes. The lifter bores will need to be measured carefully. Post the results. Likely salvageable.

 

[oldbee]

Hey you got a 440, what’s not to like?!!!!! Cubic inches!!!! Check over closely.

 

[Brandy]

You have already figured out that it needs a rebuild. You need to check the rod and main bearings for damage, since it wiped a cam lobe. Also check cylinder bore diameter, and crankshaft rod and main journal sizes. The lifter bores will need to be measured carefully. Post the results. Likely salvageable.

I will be removing the crank tomorrow and then get busy measuring everything. We are in the midst of a bad thunderstorm and it just now quit, all of a sudden. Hmm...tornado watch too. I mean it was pouring cats and dogs and then zero. can hear a pin drop. weird....big dog don't seem worried though and he will know before we do if something is up...

 

[Brandy]

And it's back....with a vengeance...

 

[5.7 hemi]

Ghost, I see a stroker in your immediate future.

 

[Brandy]

Might be...

 

[5.7 hemi]

Be like the Nike slogan, “just do it”!

 

[oldbee]

Ghost, I see a stroker in your immediate future.

You do know that ‘kiwi’ just started a 13sec. thread right? Don’t know about strokers being allowed; well probably.

 

[Brandy]

So after cleaning up a couple of piston tops I see they are TRW ( SpeedPro) L2266 0.30 plugs. So, this motor IS bored 0.30 over. I don't have the tools on hand to measure the depth in the hole at this moment but here's a pic for all the good it will do...lol.

 

[Bobzilla]

Looks to be about.080" to .090" down from the deck, as a guess. And no valve notches in those pistons, but those are fine for a street engine. Run your finger nail across the dark area above ring travel at the top of the bore, from below it, going upward to the top of the bore. Hoping for minimal ridge, but can't quite tell from the pictures.

 

[oldbee]

A dirty way- straight edge across block and start shoving stacked feeler gauges between straight edge&piston. Those might be same pistons I have in mine, put together in late 70’s, so I have no recollection of height.

 

[Brandy]

Looks to be about.080" to .090" down from the deck, as a guess. And no valve notches in those pistons, but those are fine for a street engine. Run your finger nail across the dark area above ring travel at the top of the bore, from below it, going upward to the top of the bore. Hoping for minimal ridge, but can't quite tell from the pictures.

I did and you can just barely feel a line there.

 

[Brandy]

The guy I spoke to by phone, at Comp Cams says there is no problem swapping over the double timing chain from the 74 block to this 73 block. Both single bolt cams and both 440's. So that will happen.

 

[oldbee]

“Barely” is definitely good! Now I’m wondering what kind of compression you(and I) have? 9.5? Old school pistons may have been better(?). Waiting for “IQ & dvw” to chime in. And maybe rumble fish.

 

[Brandy]

“Barely” is definitely good! Now I’m wondering what kind of compression you(and I) have? 9.5? Old school pistons may have been better(?). Waiting for “IQ & dvw” to chime in. And maybe rumble fish.

A couple of the piston faces have a bunch of tiny dings in them. This because crap got in there at some point in the past. Do they HAVE to be smooth?

 

[Brandy]

 

[oldbee]

No expert, but I’d kinda smooth them up. Sharp edges lead to detonation problems from flame travel across them.

 

[Brandy]

No expert, but I’d kinda smooth them up. Sharp edges lead to detonation problems from flame travel across them.

Another question, I saw a video of a guy cleaning up valves by chucking them in a drill and using wet dry sandpaper and water while spinning them, he went progressively higher numbered paper till it was a mirror all over. Is this a bad idea or a good idea?

 

[oldbee]

Still not an expert, but I always used valve grinding compound. Never heard of the sandpaper method. After all these yrs/miles on heads, I would just get them redone at a machine shop(for peace of mind). 3-angle valve job at the minimum.