making a 413 into a 440

[flatheadgary]

ok now don't shoot the messenger!! i am just wondering if this is possible. yes i know, why do this when you can find 440's all day long and i just did for 350 bucks the other day. i also saw a 413 complete from a rv for 500 bucks and that got me thinking. if you had all the parts from a 440 with a bad block and a 413 with a good block will they go together. i did a search but most of them are about making a 451 out of a 413. i know the bores are not the same but will the rotating assembly interchange? yea why do this bla bla bla? humor me ok? this will give all you experts some time to show off your smarts. school me

 

[Photon440]

The physical dimensions of the crank should be the same - same bearing size and same stroke length. But you might have a balance problem due to different rod forgings, although the pistons might actually be pretty close in weight. Size wise however, 413 pistons are too small for the 440 bore. If the 440 was cast, then more balance differences to work on.

 

[493 Mike]

I don't think you would have a "safe" amount of cylinder wall thickness left after boring to 440 dimensions.
Mike

 

[Glenwood]

My 413 could have been bored to a stock 440 but to be safe we went to a 426 bore. Has to be sonic tested to be sure.
I think the lifter bores might be different depending on the age of the 413. My block is a 73 so no issues on mine.

 

[dukeboy_318]

ok now don't shoot the messenger!! i am just wondering if this is possible. yes i know, why do this when you can find 440's all day long and i just did for 350 bucks the other day. i also saw a 413 complete from a rv for 500 bucks and that got me thinking. if you had all the parts from a 440 with a bad block and a 413 with a good block will they go together. i did a search but most of them are about making a 451 out of a 413. i know the bores are not the same but will the rotating assembly interchange? yea why do this bla bla bla? humor me ok? this will give all you experts some time to show off your smarts. school me

One small thing. Guys aren't taking 413 blocks and turning into 451s. They're taking 400 b bigs and putting the 440 cranks in them. This nets the ~451 cubes as the larger bore of the 400 block combined with the larger stroke of the 440 crank nets about 451 cubes.

What guys are sometimes using the 413 block for is to bore it to a 426 and making a 426 max wedge clone

 

[YY1]

a .060 over 413 is a 426.

Most seem to think A- that is the max, and B- it could be too much and the block should be sonic checked before going that far over.

 

[Sonny Black]

my 413 was out of a Chrysler 300F....and bored...no problems BUT It might be a different ball game?...the heads are
cast #2206924 .....361/383/413/426...........I have stock 4bbl manifold with Holly 750.DP/ mechanical secondary s....runs VERY well...chrys purple stick 484///282.....headers..

basically it is a 426

 

[YY1]

BTW-

Today is 4/13

Happy 4/13 day!!!

That also means 4/26 is just around the corner.

 

[Don Frelier]

FYI my brother has an industrial 413 that was bored to a 440 +.060. It was checked and there was still good wall thickness.
It's a beast.
So yes it can be done.

 

[dukeboy_318]

FYI my brother has an industrial 413 that was bored to a 440 +.060. It was checked and there was still good wall thickness.
It's a beast.
So yes it can be done.

wow! 413 stock is 4.18, 440 is 4.320, a 413 bored to 440 +.060 would be 4.380 or a .200 over bore on a 413 block?! That's insane

 

[wyrmrider]

Some truck/ industrial/marine blocks can take a big bore but as said above you must sonic test- don't count on it and have your pistons and rings in hand before committing
Truck/Motorhome may have industrial heads (long valves, sodium cooled exhaust, hard seats, 3/4 reach sparkplugs etc
crank and rods are the same except for some cranks that have a different overhang at the flywheel BVVC
some 361/413 truck industrial motors had 4 ring pistons NLA as far as I know Sealed Power still lists some truck pistons- compression in the sevens
truck cam was around 190@.050, some came way retarded (you could run them wide open like forever)
413 is 4.1875 4 3/16 punching to 4.250 makes the most sense
I replaced a poly 3 speed car (2 Door Full size wagon) with a 62 correct date 413 and an early 4 speed no way to tell it was not original from the vehicle id
vehicle was stolen from Hesperia area- if you see it let me know

 

[PurpleBeeper]

ok now don't shoot the messenger!! i am just wondering if this is possible. yes i know, why do this when you can find 440's all day long and i just did for 350 bucks the other day. i also saw a 413 complete from a rv for 500 bucks and that got me thinking. if you had all the parts from a 440 with a bad block and a 413 with a good block will they go together. i did a search but most of them are about making a 451 out of a 413. i know the bores are not the same but will the rotating assembly interchange? yea why do this bla bla bla? humor me ok? this will give all you experts some time to show off your smarts. school me

All of these guys are on cue. The only real issue is the pistons & I've "heard" that 413 pistons are hard to find or have limited options available (e.g. .030, .040, .060). The one post about turning a 413 into a 426 (.060") is interesting since you can probably find standard bore 426 pistons that somebody doesn't need. Not all 426's are hemi's or max wedges.....they made a 426 wedge before they made 440's (a buddy of mine has one....early/mid 60's I think b-body?).

Everything else from the 440 will bolt right in & work fine. I did basically what you're doing with a '65 (?) 413 I got cheap many years ago, but I didn't have to bore the block, so I just used the standard bore 413 pistons.

I would be expensive, but you could sleeve all 8 cylinders to 440 size too.....but then you could probably sleeve just one hole on the 440 block you have. (unless it's cracked somewhere else)

 

[flatheadgary]

wow! thanks for all the replies. you guys schooled me pretty good. i have a '63 belvedere and always wanted to have the legendary shut down race with a vette. haha ha. if another cheap 413 comes along i might just do it.

 

[HT413]

Here’s a trick. Bore that 413 to 426 then throw some 383 pistons in there (same bore) and now you have room for a 4” stroker crank.

 

[493 Mike]

Here’s a trick. Bore that 413 to 426 then throw some 383 pistons in there (same bore) and now you have room for a 4” stroker crank.

I figured that out in college in Auto Machine Shop class (1971) but, at that time, welded strokers were all that was available. Seems like with the piston compression distance I was working with, a 460 cu in was the result. Memories!
Mike

 

[Sonny Black]

wow! thanks for all the replies. you guys schooled me pretty good. i have a '63 belvedere and always wanted to have the legendary shut down race with a vette. haha ha. if another cheap 413 comes along i might just do it.

I did have one(show down) with my 413....and a neighbors Lingenfelter vette...(claims 390hp)....he would no get next to me so i followed him.....he hit it right in front of me tailing and I hit it at the same time..i switched lanes when i started to creep up on him he "shut down" and turned left (we never talk about it) but I think i could take him!
.....that was with my old carb too!....

65 year old men feeling like 16yrs old!stupid kids,lol

 

[dvw]

Small bore, poor piston selection, lousy heads. Why bother to save a few $ on initial cost. I've had them bored to 4.250". But 4.380"? I'd have to see that for myself. My bet is if there were very many blocks that could go that big, the Stock Eliminator guys would have swooped them all up long ago
Doug

 

[The Shoe]

I have in my possession a 413 industrial block that was bored to use standard bore 426 Pistons. The fella used the crank/rods from the 413, had it balanced with the 426 slugs and went 11.08 with a .590 cam and ported 915 heads in the 63 Dodge in my avatar in its previous life.

 

[wyrmrider]

If you are going to have to balance get some modern light slugs