Good mods to make torque in a 440

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hemichuck

hemichuck

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I picked up a 440 short block today from one of my buddies, 1966 block(67 model year) and forged crank and rods .030 with the old flat tops that were 100 in the hole. All rebuilt and balanced and waiting for me to add heads and cam and stick it in my Belvedere. My question is whats a good cam and what heads will work well with these low comp. pistons( probably 8.5/1). I am really wanting to make lots of torque down low to pull this big hog around and maybe spin some tires.I have several sets of 906 heads and one set of 516 closed chamber heads. The only cam I currently own is 490 lift with Duration around 300 so I wont be using it with the low comp slugs. I will be using some kind of dual plane intake but havnt decided which one yet. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
 
If your closed chamber heads don't require excessive money put in them you could utilize the extra compression point.
When it comes to dual plane intake manifolds
most go for the newer edelbrock RPM or the CH4B for a nostalgic choice.
The 440 is a torque engine by design. Good
assembly practices and you will have this one
spinning the tires on your Belvedere without
really trying.
 
Personally I'd rather have compression and run the closed chamber heads. Others here may argue that. 516s suffer from a small exhaust valve and poorer port design. So upgrading to the 1.74 exhaust valve, back cutting the 2.08 intake valve, and a 5 angle valve job with some bowl work will go a very long way if you have to have them redone anyway. After that, run the thinnest head gasket you can find, and a cam in the 220-225° @ .050 or so and a 112° or more LSA and you'll do fine.
 
Pretty sure advertized stock compression on 66/67 440 is 10:1 or even 10.1:1.

IIRC that's true all the way til 1969.
 
I don't know anything about 440s. But I'm pretty good with math. IIRC that crank is 3.75 stroke, right? Well that would make .100 down in the hole equal to about 24cc. That sounds like a pretty deep hole. But the swept volume is over 900cc, so that's in your favor. To build torque, even with a smallish cam, you will need to select your chamber size pretty carefully, to keep the Dcr up.The closed chambers, I imagine would go a long way to achieving your goal.
I had a 223* cam in a 360-4spd that made a lot of torque. Enough to break 275s loose at 35 to 40mph in 2nd with 3.55s, on a 3650lb fbBarracuda.. But I had the compression to go with it. I had to floor it with a 750DP.
Since that engine is over 22% bigger than mine,I can only imagine what that cam would do in your 440!
 
hemichuck said:
My question is whats a good cam and what heads will work well with these low comp. pistons( probably 8.5/1). I will be using some kind of dual plane intake but havnt decided which one yet. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
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Use the crane 683801 cam and drop a performer RPM intake on top of it with a 1" HVH super sucker spacer under the carb. (spacer is worth 10-15ft/lbs)

Use the closed chamber heads
 
Hey Chuck, what is the gear ratio & tire size? Also, is there a goal to meet besides tire fryer?
 
The gear ratio I will be running is probably 3.23 because I have a couple of those around. Right now it has the stock 14 inch tires and hub caps but I will be changing to some better looking wheels and tires probably around 275/60/15's in the back. I bought this car on a whim on my way to Chryslers at Carlile this year. 1966 belvedere 4 door, white with brown interior, Texas car so it's really clean with no rust. Interior has already been done and it has a running 400 with an Edelbrock carb and dual exhaust. The 400 has a dead miss at idle and I suspect someone installed it with the wrong converter or balance weight. I figured if I am going to unbolt the trans to change the converter I might as well drop in a 440. My buddy had built this short lock some years ago for his Coronet and never used it. I don't even think when he dropped it at the machine shop that these were the low compression (motor home) Pistons. Long story short he was tight for cash and I seized the opportunity to get it. I only paid $1400 for the car and I gave $600 for the fresh short block. If I spend another few hundred on the motor stuff and wait till my other buddy who paints to get tight for cash I can get the whole car done for about 4 grand. When I first saw the car it reminded me of the 66 Belvedere 4 door I used to street race with a 426 hemi. automatic and 4.10 gears
 
I have 516 heads with stainless 1.74 exhaust valves and hardened seats. 2.08 intake valves for street. Perfect Circle valve seals, unmilled heads with bowl work. Comp springs. I invested $600 in heads. I told the head man not to exceed that amount. Any more expence and I would invest in Edelbrocks. As far as a cam is concerned, the MP Magnum cam can't be beat and the price is spot on. Hope this helps. Oh, I forgot, CHECK EVERYTHING
 
For torque cams, I had a 440 with a Hughes cam:
Hughes camshaft and lifters: HE1423BL 214/223Deg. @.050” .470”I .504”E 112°
This cam has been upgraded over the years. Make sure you have a GOOD torque converter to handle the power, lessen learned. I would use the 906 heads myself.
This was in a 1983 Dodge Ramcharger 4x4. 850 TQ carb, electronic ignition, Hooker headers with dual exhaust and H pipe. Aluminum Edelbrock Performer manifold. Left foot smashed on the brake, right foot pushing gas, this would skid the front tires forward on clean asphalt! only did this once, did not want to make the drivelines into twisty licorice. Have fun, enjoy.
 

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I wasn't aware 440s needed help makin torque.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I wasn't aware 440s needed help makin torque.
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rumblefish360 said:
Bla ha ha ha ha ha !!!!! :violent1:

Sorry, I'd run the factory Road Runner cam.
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I was gonna say that!!!!!

I ain't no expert on "pickin cams" but a modern rendition of the old 383 RR, 440 HP or six pack cams made GOBS of torque right off idle.

One time I let my friend, who had a 70 3/4T 4x4 Chev, drive my RR. (70 V code) He started out from the side of the highway in third gear, and "thought everything was normal."
 
Up till about 6 months ago I had a stack of stock 440 cams and I'm with you guys, I would have used that too. Last year we sold our building where I had all my stuff for the last 20 years, 250,000 square foot, and I had to stuff everything into my 50x60 barn, my daughters 40x60 barn and my sons 30x36 garage. We bought 2 lifts and stacked my sons garage full of cars. Right now there is a 1970 340 Swinger, a 71 Charger SE 440 HiPo , a 1939 Plymouth coupe, a 1934 Chevy Master, a 2003 Viper SRT 10, and my 66 Belvedere 4 door, not much room left to work. My barn has a 1970 Dart Swinger and all my car parts and all my tools and lawn equipment. My Daughters garage has everything else. So I had to let go of a few things when I downsized, that's the reason I only have 1 new BB cam. It's a crane with 470 lift and 299 duration which I thought might be a little long for the low compression. I only have a couple of intakes for BB right now and the only 440 one is a Wiend team g. A little outside my rpm range. I have a ton of small block stuff, just haven't done any big blocks lately.
 
67Dart273 said:
One time I let my friend, who had a 70 3/4T 4x4 Chev, drive my RR. (70 V code) He started out from the side of the highway in third gear, and "thought everything was normal."
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THAT is one helluva tagline. :burnout:
 
I bet a modern hydraulic roller ground with the road runner cam specs with more lift would be a torque monster.
 
I dug out my 516 heads and I think that by the time I replace everything I'm probably going to have $500 in them. Anybody have any experience with the 440 source aluminum heads? I might be better off just buying them
 
I would run the sidewinder heads over the 440 source heads.Have any "ready to run" head checked before bolting it on.

Stay short on the duration and torque will be available everywhere.Might even be a candidate for the Hughes Whiplash cams if you want the rumpity idle AND low rpm torque.


Intake will be fine with a used Edelbrock performer or any dual plane.

As far as stock heads go I would use with the best flowing heads I had regardless of compression.I will take a 20cfm gain over .25 or .5 to one increase in compression all day long.You can always mill the heads cheaper than you can pay some one to port them.
 
Yeah, I have some 452 castings that my buddy said they could mill the heck out of and they would work out fine. Probably go with them and stay low buck and just spend some money on the Hughs cam. Not familiar with the sidewinders so I guess I need to look them up.
 
The iron heads will need between $1200-1500 in terms of getting ready to bolt on, using costs around where I live and the quality level I demand. Aluminim "ready to run" of any manufacturer will need another $400-600 on top of the purchase price and shipping. In your case I'd use the 516s as the 452s won't give you any compression boost and in all other facets are basically the same (flow, weight, quality, etc). The Stealths (or any aluminum will give you a weight savings in addition to that closed chamber. That's about all you're going to get from running them on this particulat shortblock - but they have ple nty of room to grow. So you have to look at the cost benefit and figure it out what's best for you.
 
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