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RV 440's?

YellowDodge67

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Jun 30, 2010
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Location
Glen Burnie, Maryland
Is there any difference between a 440 out of an RV and out of a car? I see these RV motors for sale everywhere for a fairly reasonable price and was wondering if there was something that made them less valuable for a motor-swap into a car. I think I heard that the water pumps, cams, and intakes are different but most people use aftermarket replacements for those parts anyway.
 
As long as u use aftermarket everything u can build a hell of an engine! I also dont know if it's just a local rumor but the late model 440's from rv's supposedly are real thick castings and have no issues being bored .060 over,if this is'nt true though someone will chime in.
 
440 RV engines came with the standard water pump housing...413's mostly came with the high mount housing that also bolted onto the heads but I've never heard of any castings being thicker but they may have cast them with more quality control on the casting process to help reduce core shift. The engine will be a low compression piece. Not sure about cams but I could see one in them that will help produce more low end torque....and who wants to use a cast iron stock intake from anything unless they were trying to keep the stock look and then you would change it anyways for one that's correct looking for a muscle car etc. I've also heard of some being built with 6 pack style rods but have never torn down any that had them.
 
I've also read that the heads are some of the best heads out there - especially with hardened seats already installed. I guess I'm referring more to the heads that came with my '78 RV 440, though. From what I've read, there's nothing wrong with building a 440 from an RV.
 
Don't know about how much better the RV heads are but the 452's are considered to be a good head and they come with hardened seats. Also, they don't have an 'installed' hard seat but are induction hardened by the factory. I hear they were sent out for that operation....anyone know about that?
 
Don't know about how much better the RV heads are but the 452's are considered to be a good head and they come with hardened seats. Also, they don't have an 'installed' hard seat but are induction hardened by the factory. I hear they were sent out for that operation....anyone know about that?


I never thought much about it but it probably made sense to send batches of heads to a heat treating plant to have that done, especially with mandatory unleaded gas on the horizon they probably had to act quickly. It was either that or hire a metallurgist with production heat treating equipment. It would be interesting to know some of the details of how our cars were built.
 
A friend of mine whole family worked for Chrysler. Can't remember exactly what his dad did but her retired from there over 20 years ago and my buddy worked there during the summer when he was in college. He just missed the end of the production run for the hot rods of the late 60's early 70's because he didn't start working summers until 73 but he has an older brother that was there in the middle of it all. I worked for ARMCO steel from 73-78 and we had summer help too and from what I understand, the major steel mills worked similar to the auto companies. Anyways, I've heard some wild stories from this family over the years and it ranges from dope smokers to hot rodders that crashed cars racing them out into the holding lots before they got loaded onto railroad cars at the rail head lol
 
A friend of mine whole family worked for Chrysler. Can't remember exactly what his dad did but her retired from there over 20 years ago and my buddy worked there during the summer when he was in college. He just missed the end of the production run for the hot rods of the late 60's early 70's because he didn't start working summers until 73 but he has an older brother that was there in the middle of it all. I worked for ARMCO steel from 73-78 and we had summer help too and from what I understand, the major steel mills worked similar to the auto companies. Anyways, I've heard some wild stories from this family over the years and it ranges from dope smokers to hot rodders that crashed cars racing them out into the holding lots before they got loaded onto railroad cars at the rail head lol

I wonder if that's what happened to my Charger. It arrived new to the dealership my dad worked at in Montana with a badly banged up quarter panel, so it was at the body shop before it ever saw the car lot.
 
So what is the consensus on RV engines? I found someone who has a late 70's to early '80's 440 w/727 who may be willing to trade for my Belvedere. A 440 would be nicer to have than the 318 waiting to go in the car.
 
So what is the consensus on RV engines? I found someone who has a late 70's to early '80's 440 w/727 who may be willing to trade for my Belvedere. A 440 would be nicer to have than the 318 waiting to go in the car.

The RV 440 engines are just fine for general street useage. Ma Mopar used a cast crank in them. Most late years were setup as a low compression engine with approximately 9.0-1 and around 115lbs of cylinder pressure. Not a rocket but it has potential for a lot more power. As is considerably more power than the 318. The difference is in the heads. They have extra cooling passages and had more metal in them to prevent cracking under severe conditions. I believe they use a small 5/8" spark plug rather than the usual 3/4" you always see. The 727 trans has a hole in the top of the front case for ignition timing.........believe it or not.
 
The timing access hole in the bell housing came on vans too and compression is more like in the mid 8's on the late model engines. Production of big blocks stopped in 78 but you may see some in newer motorhomes due to stock piling when the word got out that production would cease. A very few cars and pickups also found big blocks in them...
 
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