Lookie what $5000 buys you....

[Kern Dog]

Great...I am considering the SST 5 speed for my red Charger.

 

[Don selleck]

No, I'm actually going to leave it ratty while I work to get it running. I'll probably drive it around this way until I get ready to paint it. I am likely to retire and leave this state within a year or so. I want to have it driveable for the move. It costs less to transport a car that runs and drives.

thats cool its kinda like a beautiful woman with no make up partially dressed, leaves more to the imagination.

 

[Kern Dog]

I stripped down the original 383 to get a look inside. (Pictures to follow)
It spins over fine, that was nice to see. I pulled the LH head and cleaned the top of # 1 piston. With a crude measurement, it looks like the original pistons are there and it measures .076 in the hole. I have heard of motorhome 413 and 440s with pistons .153 and even .180 in the hole so I thought that my .076 seemed workable. My goal was to try to get away with honing the cylinders and just reusing the pistons with new rings.
I took a look at a compression ratio calculator. This is where it turns bad.
WTF was the factory thinking when they came up with their compression ratio numbers? I have heard that they fudged the numbers a bit but this sucks! If I screwed this back together with the common .039 Fel Pro head gaskets, I'd be at barely over 8 to 1.

Check out the piston at TDC:

 

[Kern Dog]

According to the Summit calculator, I'd be at 7.85 to 1 with the .039 Fel Pro gaskets.
How the heck did they come up with 10 to 1 ratings for the 383 Magnum ? They used the same heads. Even with a zero deck height, the numbers don't come up to that.

Another site:
Bore: (diameter) 4.25
Stroke: 3.38
Cylinder Head Volume: 88cc
Effective Dome Volume:
Use (-) for Dome and (+) for Dish.
Deck Clearance: .076
Compressed Gasket Thickness: .020
Number of Cylinders: 8
Compression Ratio : 8.44 : 1
This is with the factory .020 gasket.
Taking it to a ZERO deck puts the engine at 9.48, still half a point below the factory rating. Has anyone here seen a 383 with a zero deck height piston?

This is disappointing. 7.85 compression ???
I have a 440 from a '71 Chrysler 300, dated November 1969. I'm tempted to pull a head from that one and check the deck height.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

According to the Summit calculator, I'd be at 7.85 to 1 with the .039 Fel Pro gaskets.
How the heck did they come up with 10 to 1 ratings for the 383 Magnum ? They used the same heads. Even with a zero deck height, the numbers don't come up to that.

Another site:
Bore: (diameter) 4.25
Stroke: 3.38
Cylinder Head Volume: 88cc
Effective Dome Volume:
Use (-) for Dome and (+) for Dish.
Deck Clearance: .076
Compressed Gasket Thickness: .020
Number of Cylinders: 8
Compression Ratio : 8.44 : 1
This is with the factory .020 gasket.
Taking it to a ZERO deck puts the engine at 9.48, still half a point below the factory rating. Has anyone here seen a 383 with a zero deck height piston?

This is disappointing. 7.85 compression ???
I have a 440 from a '71 Chrysler 300, dated November 1969. I'm tempted to pull a head from that one and check the deck height.

I've been preaching the 383's suck line for many years... But my green car came with a 383 so I run a 383.... So I dug up a set of 915 heads & had them milled .050... 75cc chambers help...

69 383 magnum's actually came with pistons that had a positive deck height... But since they are positive you can't run much cam...

There are no real good piston choices currently for 383's, the short stroke makes building compression tough... Thats especially true when using open chamber heads...

 

[Kern Dog]

This 440 ran decent when I pulled it over 11 years ago.
It looks to have had regular oil changes.

I couldn't get it to spin over though. This cheap *** engine stand looked to be ready to fall over every time I cranked the long breaker bar on the crank bolt. I pulled the plugs and sprayed Liquid Wrench inside. A couple of plugs were missing.
Guess what ?? I pulled the left head and it looked pretty good. THEN I pulled the right side....

Here is a closer look:

What the heck is that ? The cylinder has surface rust and some crud that is hard to remove. This engine was also looked at to be a rering job. Crap like this surely means that the rust is probably deep into the bore enough to warrant more than a dingle ball hone.
Since it looks like new pistons for either engine, I looked to the last big block I have.... The second 440 that I built way back in 2004.
This one snapped a rod at 846 miles. I pulled the engine thinking that I damaged the block and just bought another 440 core to build for the red car. Since then, I've found that this engine can be brought back with a new piston and a good rod. The crank wasn't damaged. The big end of the broken rod is still attached to it.

Ahhh.... The classic Speed Pro 440-Six Pack pistons! Yes! With a .025 below deck height and 7 cc valve reliefs, it will yield a 9.26 compression ratio with stock uncut 906 or 452 heads. I can have this dude back together far cheaper than by boring the other engines and buying new pistons. I could mill the heads .050, deck the block .010 and have it near 9.8 to 1 for a few bucks...
Still mulling it over though.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

This 440 ran decent when I pulled it over 11 years ago.
It looks to have had regular oil changes.
View attachment 948093 View attachment 948094

I couldn't get it to spin over though. This cheap *** engine stand looked to be ready to fall over every time I cranked the long breaker bar on the crank bolt. I pulled the plugs and sprayed Liquid Wrench inside. A couple of plugs were missing.
Guess what ?? I pulled the left head and it looked pretty good. THEN I pulled the right side....
View attachment 948095
Here is a closer look:

View attachment 948097
What the heck is that ? The cylinder has surface rust and some crud that is hard to remove. This engine was also looked at to be a rering job. Crap like this surely means that the rust is probably deep into the bore enough to warrant more than a dingle ball hone.
Since it looks like new pistons for either engine, I looked to the last big block I have.... The second 440 that I built way back in 2004.
This one snapped a rod at 846 miles. I pulled the engine thinking that I damaged the block and just bought another 440 core to build for the red car. Since then, I've found that this engine can be brought back with a new piston and a good rod. The crank wasn't damaged. The big end of the broken rod is still attached to it.
View attachment 948099
Ahhh.... The classic Speed Pro 440-Six Pack pistons! Yes! With a .025 below deck height and 7 cc valve reliefs, it will yield a 9.26 compression ratio with stock uncut 906 or 452 heads. I can have this dude back together far cheaper than by boring the other engines and buying new pistons. I could mill the heads .050, deck the block .010 and have it near 9.8 to 1 for a few bucks...
Still mulling it over though.

What caused the rod to break? If it still spins freely on the crank why did it break???? Rods don't typically break for no reason....

 

[Kern Dog]

The rod broke just above the big end. The piston went up and slammed against the head, bending both valves. Months later in the next engine, the rocker shaft broke, the same one that was on that same side. Obviously there was a flaw in the rod of some kind. The engine was originally in a Police car, a 1976 Coronet.
The block has a chipped edge at the bottom of the bore. I'm going to have my machinist take a look at it before I sink any money in it.
The '76 block has a cast crank so I'm a little curious about the integrity of that given that it snapped a rod and a rocker shaft already.
Lots of options here.
I could hone the 383 and screw it back together with milled heads. It would run on the cheapest of gas.
The '71 440 will need to be bored. I was able to get the crank to spin but there are pits in # 6 cylinder deep enough to need work.
The '76 440 could be honed and used as is. I'll need a piston and 2 rods. The other rod on the crankpin took a beating so I'd want to replace that. I have another set of 8 RB rods that I'd use.

 

[Kern Dog]

As usual, I go back and forth with several ideas before making a decision.
If it is a given that most 906 and 452 heads are in the 88 cc range, the math shows that taking .050 from the heads and .010 from the block deck raises compression by about a point. If I were to use a stock type .020 steel head gasket, this stock piston 383 would then calculate to 9.02 to 1.

Bore: (diameter) 4.25
Stroke: 3.38
Cylinder Head Volume: 78 ccs
Effective Dome Volume: 0
Deck Clearance: .066
Compressed Gasket Thickness: .020
Number of Cylinders: 8
Compression Ratio : 9.02 : 1
Total Displacement (in.3) : 383.6

 

[1 Wild R/T]

As usual, I go back and forth with several ideas before making a decision.
If it is a given that most 906 and 452 heads are in the 88 cc range, the math shows that taking .050 from the heads and .010 from the block deck raises compression by about a point. If I were to use a stock type .020 steel head gasket, this stock piston 383 would then calculate to 9.02 to 1.

Bore: (diameter) 4.25
Stroke: 3.38
Cylinder Head Volume: 78 ccs
Effective Dome Volume: 0
Deck Clearance: .066
Compressed Gasket Thickness: .020
Number of Cylinders: 8
Compression Ratio : 9.02 : 1
Total Displacement (in.3) : 383.6

915's are kinda hard to find but 516's aren't to tough & while they don't flow as well as 915's or 906's they are decent for a 383 especially if you do a little bowl work...

 

[Kern Dog]

I have absolutely zero head porting experience!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Uncle Tony just released this, it's basic but actually not a bad guide..

 

[Kern Dog]

Wow...Great video. I've always seen porting as voodoo science or black magic but this looks pretty easy. I have several heads in the parts shed that I can practice with. I'll need to get a die grinder and some bits!
I had the Edelbrocks ported for my red car. The work didn't look all that different from the way that they were but who knows. I'm guessing that the proper procedure is to do all port work before machine work? Tony mentioned slipping and hitting the valve seats so it makes sense to port first.

 

[Kern Dog]

Since my interest has been revived in engine work, I may go ahead and fix the .030 over 440 either for Jigsaw or just to have something completed. This is the one that broke a rod 16 years ago. It needs a piston and rod for cyl # 4. Cyl #3 is on the same journal and the big end got banged up a bit so I'll replace that rod.

 

[Kern Dog]

Cylinder heads....
I'm going back and forth on which engine to use but either one will end up with the same style of iron heads. I have 2 pair of 906s, a pair of '346s and 2 pair of '452s.
I pulled out the '346s to get a look at them. They look too clean to be totally original. The chambers are clean, the valve stem seals are the Viton style and it looked like the chambers were smaller. I've never checked volume on a cylinder but I've got a pretty good idea of how it is done. I've surfed around online and read about milling and reducing chamber volume. I've even read of a few that have milled the open chamber heads far enough to make them closed chamber. I have no intention of going that far but it made me curious. I wondered how much you'd have to mill to get to that point so I did this:

Totally UNscientific and ripe for errors BUT close enough to use as a comparison against other heads. I used a simple Carpenters square and feeler gauges to see how deep the open chamber is.
The '346s were the shallowest. .077 deep. A pair of '452s in the shed were .101.
This was on one of the 906s:

Another 906 from another engine:

Every pair of heads showed a different number. The .101 number could be virgin, uncut heads. The '346s could have been milled .035 or thereabouts. I had considered milling uncut heads down to 78 ccs anyway. I may already be halfway there.

 

[Kern Dog]

The '346 head:

Notice how the drop from the deck surface to the chamber looks noticeably smaller. It is!

 

[Kern Dog]

Head porting:
The '346 heads look to be the best candidate for rebuild since they are the cleanest and the chambers are the smallest. I want to try porting. Nothing crazy, just gasket matching for my first time.
Intake side:

I see room for some slight improvement. No protrusions to knock down except for WAY inside at the valve guide boss. I'm not going in that far though.

 

[Kern Dog]

Exhaust side. This is where I am not sure...

The iron just inside of the Fel Pro gaskets isn't that big. I could get there with a die grinder pretty fast.
Next up, 2" TTI header gaskets:

Holeee CRap, look at that!

Lookie at how much of a difference there is between the two! I've heard of people going too far when porting and either cutting through into a water jacket or making the metal too thin, leading to cracking. I suspect that iron heads could not be expected to be ported out to match these gaskets!
I'll be using 1 7/8" headers on this car. I'll probably just take the ports out to a little more than the Fel Pro gaskets.
I just need to buy a die grinder and some bits.

 

[Photon440]

Cylinder heads....
I'm going back and forth on which engine to use but either one will end up with the same style of iron heads. I have 2 pair of 906s, a pair of '346s and 2 pair of '452s.
I pulled out the '346s to get a look at them. They look too clean to be totally original. The chambers are clean, the valve stem seals are the Viton style and it looked like the chambers were smaller. I've never checked volume on a cylinder but I've got a pretty good idea of how it is done. I've surfed around online and read about milling and reducing chamber volume. I've even read of a few that have milled the open chamber heads far enough to make them closed chamber. I have no intention of going that far but it made me curious. I wondered how much you'd have to mill to get to that point so I did this:
View attachment 950377
Totally UNscientific and ripe for errors BUT close enough to use as a comparison against other heads. I used a simple Carpenters square and feeler gauges to see how deep the open chamber is.
The '346s were the shallowest. .077 deep. A pair of '452s in the shed were .101.
This was on one of the 906s:
View attachment 950379
Another 906 from another engine:
View attachment 950381

Every pair of heads showed a different number. The .101 number could be virgin, uncut heads. The '346s could have been milled .035 or thereabouts. I had considered milling uncut heads down to 78 ccs anyway. I may already be halfway there.

That looks like a great idea. I'd also take a measurement with whatever thickness of gasket you're going to use.

 

[69 GTX]

See if you can come across the old direct connection porting templates. I used them on a old motorhome engine. They worked great! just takes some time with a grinder.