What can be done with this 440 on the cheap?

[Paul_G]

If it is not yet sold I will be bringing this home. 1975 motor home 440 with a trans. I spoke with the guy who pulled it and he said it was sitting for a very long time, he ran a temporary gas feed to the carb and it started with little difficulty. He drove it in to his shop to pull it from the motor home. The motor home had 54000 miles on the odo. And bias ply tires.

What can be done on the cheap to get this in to a car?

 

[69a100]

What can be done on the cheap to get this in to a car?View attachment 594687

Bolt in in and go, maybe do a tune up? Your question is very vague to say the least! Good Luck

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Cheap and performance are not 2 words that go together. I bought a cheap RV 440 75 model with 48k Ended up costing me a chunk of cash.. Your 440 is a low compression engine like mine was. Click on my name and look at my 440 build. If it runs leave it alone and drive the piss out of it. If it dies then worry about making it fast. As my dad always said if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Water pump housing, engine mounts and the yoke on that trans is different than a normal 727 I think. You might have to have a drive shaft made. Typical 727's do not have a fixed yoke on the trans. They use a slip yoke. Might be better off getting a used 727.

 

[wannadrag]

Oil pan change,rpm intake,750 carb,cam designed for the low compression,set of headers and you'll be roasting the tires off, you'll also need a different 727

 

[rumblefish360]

Does it not already have a 4bbl. carb?
The TQ is good to go.
If it does, then just the cam set up and headers into a 2-1/2 H piped exhaust.

Otherwise what wannadrag said.

 

[rumblefish360]

Double post.... but now that I think about it....

In the future a set of Edelbrock heads and a cam with some lift to take advantage of the heads flow would be the next engine upgrade.

 

[HT413]

I ran a 7.0:1 413 for a couple years (heck, mighta been 6.9:1). RPM intake, decent cam (not sure what as it was in the car when I bought it).

I can say this - I once put near 1000lbs of wood pellets in the trunk and that motor did not notice one bit. Just knuckled down and got it done.

 

[wyrmrider]

Depending on your chassis you will need manifolds/ headers that dump at the back behind 7 or dump between 5&7
it depends on where the steering gear is on B bodies the change is between 72 (same as D body) and 73 (same as C body)
some pickups can use the center dumps
get the pan and oil pickup sorted out for your chassis and the motor mounts
you will have to change the trans tailshaft and rear casting
check your compression
I would change the top timing gear at least- the nylon is a time bomb
or a complete timing set and advance the stock cam 4 degrees- not making any cam change till it gets some miles on it
check your compression after you advance the cam
if your compression is bad then we start on plan B

 

[mosquito13]

cam, headers, intake. if it doesn't have it upgrade the ignition first. Run it do one change at a time, but have a plan so all upgrades compliment each other.

 

[wyrmrider]

What Car ? Headers
with a heavy b body and stock gears and converter use the stock manifold as a baseline It works better than most aftermarket below 4k
cam will be very compression dependent
if very low compression then the short VOODOO seems to be the only reasonably priced shelf cam
The Hughes Whiplash is a great idea but they really do not have a really short one
YOu can make one using Howards or Lunati lobes from their lobe catalogs
Basic idea is to use a bigger intake lobe but squeeze the lca together to get the intake closed early at the cost of more overlap
lots of ways to skin a cat
if you are changing pistons then completely different cam

 

[65Fury440]

Ebay turbo.

 

[rumblefish360]

What are we working with budget wise?

 

[Paul_G]

I am hoping the bottom end is fine. From there I would like to keep the budget for the engine in the $3000 range. Is that enough for aluminum heads and intake, cam and gear set, 3310 carb, maybe an oil pan and pick up, and headers? I am hoping to stay away from the machine shop.

My goal is to swap out the 300 HP 360 I have and switch to a 400+ hp/tq 87 octane, decent MPG, docile big block. In the car and driving for $5000? The swap will be expensive, radiator, accessory brackets, conversion mounts. Dont know if this doable in a $5000 all in budget?

 

[wyrmrider]

OK you got it right that power is in the heads
just look at flow numbers UNDER half an inch
think small cc heads with high velocity i.e not the biggest valve that will fit the heads (unless you are racing with a loose converter and low gears)
report back
let's start with the standard non HP 440 cam
It has a rather wide lca to keep overlap down- MOPARS so NOT like Overlap (racers excepted) it burns your exhaust valves, blows your gas mileage out the exhaust etc
I'll see if I can find the seat timing for that cam and you absolutely DO NOT want the intake to close any later- with the wide lca it's way too late the way it is- works for smog though

 

[themechanic]

This guy works on the cheap. He gets a lot of help from his Dad, mostly off camera. He's getting ready to replace his 383 with a 440 in his Charger.

 

[wyrmrider]

Well obviously you have to check the bores- you might get lucky and find factory hone marks- or you might find gouges and a big ridge
Found some specs on the Stock cam
432 420 lift
289/287 cam lift
284/293 duration SAE .006 AT THE VALVE .004 AT THE CAM (comparable with CRANE)
206/209 duration @.050
113 lca 110 intake centerline 115 ex centerline
IO 22 BTDC IC ABDC 82 EX open 74 BTDC EX Closes 39 ATDC 61 overlap these are SAE or .004
-1 22 40 -11 @.050
now look at the intensity or lack thereof 60 degrees different on the intake close .050 to .004
any other questions on why you have no dynamic compression on top of low mechanical compression?

let's compare with the smallest Lunati Voodoo
454 lift
253/256 @.006 (not .004)
208/213 @.050 (not much different than stock)
112 lca
Intake Closes at 54.5 @.006 (vs [email protected] for stock) (this is the same intake close point 54 as the 256 comp chevy cam)

you could take the Howard HM2063164A lobe and have it ground on a 110 lca with an exhaust to match your headers or manifolds
.475 lift 252 @.006 206 @.050 126 @200
Both the Howard and Lunati get the intake closed much earlier than stock building dynamic compression
about all you can do without a piston change
with a chvy size lifter you are lucky to get .430 stock lift at these durations
for example the way obsolete Edelbrock performer has
278/288 SAE duration (10 degrees shorter than stock) 204/214 @.050 (bout the same) but only .420/443 lift

 

[rumblefish360]

MOPARS so NOT like Overlap (racers excepted) it burns your exhaust valves, blows your gas mileage out the exhaust etc

But I’ll agree on proper valve timing events and a short duration can for the best approach to retaining mileage. A wider LCA, like a 112 or a 114 will give the engine a smooth idle.
A norrow LCA, 108, 106 will deliver a racer idle. Once the engine starts moving the car, the engine will have more torque which is making more and better use of the air and fuel.

FWIW, years back during those wonderful oil shortage years, cam companies came up with “Mileage Cams” which would be something to look into. IMO, for your search on 400 hp? I would start with the factory performance cam. AKA, Raod Runner cam. Factory (underated?) at 375 HP. A set of headers into a 2-1/2 H piped exhaust will hand out more than the missing 25 HP.


Basics!!! Dyno proven over and over again.

Look into 440 source heads or Edelbrock heads. You *might* want to consider the E street head.

But I consider that an expense not worth it at this time. At least for the holidays level your looking at.

 

[Paul_G]

What about the trick flow PP240 heads? All the rage on most forums. Cost?

I have a used magnum grind cam that came out of a 73 440 some years back. That engine had better compression in the 9 to 1 range. Put source heads on it with a slightly bigger cam.

That magnum type cam is tucked away with the cam card. I'll have to dig it out if it's worth investigating it.

 

[Paul_G]

What about that motor home trans? It has the drive shaft with it. Any value in it? Usable?

 

[rumblefish360]

Paul, I think it will take 3K to get most of the engine rebuilt.
If it is in excellent shape, call yourself lucky.
The TF, PP240 head is a possible good choice as well. I actually didn’t think of it. I’d have to look at the head specs. Port size (cross sectional area) head cc amount. The stock short block has an issue with its low compression ratio. I’d look for the smallest head chamber available to get a bump in there. Some is better than none.
But I say purchase the best head you can afford! The more flow the better and more bitchin the power return will be.

A short duration camshaft and as much lift as possible would be good to make some nice torque down low.

Weigh the head cost with the needed rockers and pushrods as a total cost package and you’ll see money run out the door. Make a list and add it up.

Search some posts started by member IQ52. They should be enlightening to say the least.