Low Dollar RV 440 into a '79 Dodge Magnum

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It's winter, we'll have hiccups (delays :D ) just got about 7" of snow all day yesterday, Saturday at that! Oh well, January in the North! :) Again, no garage/shop. Car is outside and the engine is in a storage shed without heat/electricity. No complaints, just stating facts. Moving on as weather permits :)
 
I did some work on the 452 heads, lets call it "mild" home-porting. I just did a little work around the valve guide and very little bowl work. I did not remove a lot of material, just smoothed out the transition around the guides into the bowl area..
 
I bought a complete (but in pieces) high-mileage but virgin 440 that came out of a 1973 New Yorker to do a full rebuild and put into my 1972 D200 pickup. I considered using the stock 346 heads but they needed everything; valve seats cut, decks milled, likely new guides, all new hardware etc. I decided to just go with some 440Source Stealths and have those spiffed up with a nice valve job and better springs/locks/retainers due to cost of fixing up the stock heads.

I put the 346s up for sale on FB marketplace and nobody showed any interest for months. Finally a guy commented and said he had several pairs of factory BBM heads he's been trying to sell for a long time but nobody has been interested and wished me luck lol. I pulled the ad and ended up scrapping one head and saving the other to practice porting on lol. Same goes for the worn-out J heads I pulled from the 360 in my D200, thought about trying to sell them but ended up dropping them at the metal recycling yard. I've moved over the past couple years and am about to move again, really don't want to deal with any extra engine parts I don't have a need or solid plan for.

I got pretty far with the rebuild (block bored and honed, cleaned and painted, installed main bearings and crank) and got a set of 440Source improved stock replacement rods with Icon forged pistons that are now hung on the rods. Also bought an MP Eddy RPM intake (same casting but with different lettering) back before inflation and supplier issues. After I move I'll get back to assembling the short block and buy the remaining parts I need (cam, valvetrain, oil system parts). Thing is I'm moving from 5000' elevation to near sea level and the 360 runs fine just could use a bit more power for towing and having fun; with ~20% torque and power increase thanks to denser air I may end up keeping the 360 and just putting a cam in that with 4.10 gears in the rear end and an A-518/46RH OD trans and find another Mopar project to put the 440 in. The pistons I got will only be about 9.0:1 compression and since they're forged it would be a good candidate for forced induction...
 
I did some work on the 452 heads, lets call it "mild" home-porting. I just did a little work around the valve guide and very little bowl work. I did not remove a lot of material, just smoothed out the transition around the guides into the bowl area..

talked to my machinist today. Dropping these heads off next week (big snowstorm tomorrow). Sounds like a quick turn-around for these and that's great, keeps the ball a rolling :)
 
talked to my machinist today. Dropping these heads off next week (big snowstorm tomorrow). Sounds like a quick turn-around for these and that's great, keeps the ball a rolling :)

I guess the storm is moving your direction, we had ours starting late last night and is tapering down now. Only a few inches of snowfall, probably get down in the single-digits tonight though. Brrr I'm so ready to move south!
 
Minor delay in the action, going to be an all day'er and it's just getting started ...... to be continued next week :rolleyes:

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not sure... haven't been out yet... LOL predicting 7-9 ? we'll see
We ended up with about 4 once it was all finished and came down pretty slowly. Pretty cold so it was nice and "dry", perfect for skiing if I still did that lol.

I just find meteorology really interesting.
 
We ended up with about 4 once it was all finished and came down pretty slowly. Pretty cold so it was nice and "dry", perfect for skiing if I still did that lol.

I just find meteorology really interesting.
I don't mind it in February..... it's part of living here. Snowmobilers love it, and I snowmobiled for years but not in recent years. I'm happy for them..
 
I don't mind it in February..... it's part of living here. Snowmobilers love it, and I snowmobiled for years but not in recent years. I'm happy for them..

I might try hitting the slopes one last time before I move, not sure when I'll get another chance after that. I miss skiing dearly just couldn't afford the expense and long drive up to the mountains these past few years.
 
Break in the weather the last couple days, lost most of the snow! Tomorrow we are running the 440 heads down to the machine shop. Wednesday another snow front moving in?? Won't matter once the heads are dropped off. Here is the machine shops agenda:
  • clean/magnuflux
  • cut .030
  • basic valve job
  • assemble
 
Are you using the 0.020 steel head gasket
no, we are using the fel pro that came in the gasket kit. They are supposed to be .039 thick. That is the reason we are cutting the heads, to gain back the loss with maybe a dab going in our favor :)
 
Heads are at the machine shop now. Our dragway opens April 22nd. Our goal is to have this ready and make a pass that day. Again, it won't be fast nor are we building it to race..... but we'll make a pass in it just like everything else :)
 
FYI for the EXtreme Budget folks: I also think it's worth mentioning that what we are doing to the 440 is really out of "choice of want to" and probably not out of necessity. If somebody really wanted to go cheap, I doubt they need to replace the valve springs, or timing chain (and there were cheaper sets than what we bought) as it is supposed to be a low mileage unit. And, for further cost savings, using the weighted "lo stall" from the RV would have saved the purchase of the flexplate. Just saying, no doubt I could have put this 440 in and had it running for under 500 bucks.

Again, what we are doing/or any upgrades to it is just our personal preference of choice.
Those 70s timing chains, low mileage or not, need replaced. They had the nylon teeth. Just a word of caution. Replace for everyone
 
Those 70s timing chains, low mileage or not, need replaced. They had the nylon teeth. Just a word of caution. Replace for everyone
This had steel both top and bottom... not sure if that had anything to do with a RV or somebody else was in there before me. It was a very good, tight chain and I could have saved 75 bucks by not replacing it. But yes, if an engine has the nylon cam gear, i highly recommend replacing it for sure!
 
Looking forward to that.
Us too ! When we get to take it on a cruise to get a burger and fries, then make a 1/4 mile pass..... it's kind of like a meat, potato/gravy with hot biscuit dinner after a hard days work :)
 
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