Looking for opinions on what to do (RV 440 Build Options)

[zombezoo]

Background:

1973 Plymouth Satellite, originally a 318/904 car, big block swapped last year with an RV 440/727 Auto. Intended for street driving, will never see the track.

Been chasing improvements over the last 12 months, so far:

• 78 RV Motor, RV had 80k miles. Appears to have at least one rebuild, not sure when. Rod ends have hand scribed numbers on them. It has excellent oil pressure and is quiet. Other than having the pan off to change for a compatible unit, I have not had the engine apart.
• New Under Dash and Engine wiring harnesses
• Upgraded charging system per (72RoadrunnerGTX) Videos
• HEI Conversion
• Fitech Dual Quad Fuel Injection
• Factory Distributor from 78 RV Engine (I have two others, a rebuilt/recurved unit from HALIFAXHOPS and an ebay Rick Ehrenberg unit, switched back to factory to troubleshoot)
• Rebuilt 8 3/4 with torsen type posi, 2.73 highway gears.

Compression Test from current motor.

• 155
• 150
• 150
• 145
• 148
• 156
• 150
• 162

I was a bit surprised the numbers were so high. To perform the test, I pulled all the spark plugs and removed the fuel injection bodies (for an unrelated task) so the intake was wide open. There was little restriction during cranking

Plugs show some oil consumption, presumably valve seals, some of the valve stems looked wet in the exhaust ports when putting the headers on. I don’t see any smoke on startup or under acceleration.
These plugs have less than 200 miles on them. Fuel injection keeps the A/F rates pretty lean so I believe all the darkness is oil.

What to do?

I have a second RV 440 (RV had 20k miles) that I planned to use initially. Unfortunately, the low miles meant short runs and the top end was rusted up from sitting.

Low mile engine rust. The non-rusty parts look extremely clean. It was a shame that it had so much moisture in it.

To remedy this, I planned to have someone disassemble and inspect the bottom end, hone, new rings and bearings and run with some new top end parts:

I have:

• 440 Source Stealth Heads
• 440 Source Adjustable Iron Rockers
• Hughes Whiplash Cam kit with lifters and timing chain

My rebuilder unfortunately has run into some health issues and wont be able to do the job.

I considered doing the short block work at home, but its not something I have ever done before.

Given the compression test, I’m starting to think that I should just use the short block in the car, and drop by new heads and cam into that engine. I’m much more comfortable with that work than I am with the short block honing work.

If Im not seeing smoke at idle or under acceleration, is it reasonable to think the rings are ok? The quick dark staining of the plugs is giving me pause, Im thinking that old dried up valve seals are a reasonable think to suspect for the plug condition and the compression variance may be the valves left open for long periods between runs.

Im thinking the fresh stealth heads and low compression specific cam may be all I need at this point.

Thoughts here?

 

[BeatersRus]

theres 2 different 440s for the Rvs and the compression ratios can be decent or abysmal.
which ones do you have?
easiest way to tell,is look at the Balancer on the front.
if its a giant cast crank balancer and pulley,then its a reg lc 440.
if its a thin balancer with a half moon with a steel pulley,then you have the good one/forged crank.
im going to include a pic of a good one look at the balancer.

thoughts,
Inspect those heads Before you install them,quality control isnt anything like it used to be.
you are looking for flash,dirt,debris,and even valves not seated right.

whats the compression ratio for the stealth heads versus the stock ones on there now?
remember,you want to get a smaller cc,not a bigger one.


Edit: sorry i forgot the oil.
yes your valve stem seals need to be replaced.
also,question?
why a 2:73 rear gear??
those cars like a 3:23,least thats what we always put in them.

 

[zombezoo]

Both are cast crank units.

Luckily my new parts (heads, cam, lifters, and rockers) were inspected before my builder got sick. Everything checked out "ok"
As far as demonstration:
He showed me that the valve job was good (all held strong vacuum with a tool that pulled from the cylinder side
He said all the lifters and cam machining looked good
I know he also checked the stealth and Hughes spring pressures, don't recall the numbers but he recommended using the stealth springs to break in the cam and then switch to the hughes double springs after.

Stealth beads are around 80 cc (their website) I don't think my builder measured the actuals on mine and unfortunately he had a stroke so I can't go back and ask more questions.

I have read others found the 452 beads can range from 86-90 cc so I'm thinking the compression bump from the stealth beads will be small.

2.73 because most of my driving with the car will be commuting to and from work. 35 ish miles each way on highways where the slowest cars are going 80 mph. I know it's going to really hurt off the line acceleration but I figured it was better than spinning everything at 4k rpm for extended periods on the highway. Long term I hope to do a 5 spd swap.

 

[Runcharger]

If it were mine I would change out the camshaft on your current shortblock and add appropriate valve springs to your current heads when you change the valve seals (without pulling the heads off).
Then I would probably built the other 440 with a stroker crank and some compression with the Stealth heads.
That way your car won't be down for too long and you'll end up with one pretty good 440 and another more serious 440 for either this car or another one.