340 or 440

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I8NEMO

I8NEMO

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Ive read several posts here and i know a BB is doable in my 68 Notch. I have a 69 340 x head motor ready to go, i also have a basically stock '73 440. Im currently planning on using the 340. No plans to race. My question to A body guys not planning on hitting the strip, would you go with a BB again if you had the choice? Especially from a fab. fitment perspective. This is a 4spd car, frame connected, no cage or plans for one. Factory K, factory P.S. also, what's the skinny on the smaller 500 series p.s. boxes, 10 pounds lighter, appears to be smaller. Worth the dough ?
 
Great question!

I have had both LA & B engines in a Duster. This is how I see it. Speaking strictly from a car that doesn’t see the strip but may, LMAO, may see a light to light or long stretch run.
But street driven is the primary usage of the car.

The big block provides nearly every advantage except;

Added weight. This is an apples to apples comparison. If you lighten up the big block with aluminum heads and intake, so can the small block. The big block is just heavier and at the worst place. Up front over the nose. Consider this when it is a driver and a little bit more so because it is all iron. Why? The extra weight effects handling and braking a little bit.

Is it dangerous?
Only to the stupid.
(Darwins Law may take affect in this scenario.)

Fuel mileage;

The bigger the engine the more fuel it consumes.

Fit in engine bay and it’s issues. This list can get long rather quickly. A quick list below that may not contain every last caveat....

B engines offer a little more clearance over the RB and this help header fit. Header design may be a hindrance for plug changes.

Upgrading the cooling system is a highly recommended move. Who runs stock big blocks in a A body? Power creates heat that needs to be removed.

Suspension upgrades increase road handling abilities. A certain plus for any car with any engine, the added weight of the bigger engine & trans just need a little more to bring it back to how it was before the swap.

Etc...

I guess your question to me having both engines in a Duster would really be, “Would you do it again?”

Yes IF it was a drag car with limited street time.

This comes down to what I’m doing and of course how you the reader would want to go about doing it.

It is IMO that an A body with an LA (or new HEMI engine) is the best combo for what ever the goal is. Unless it is extreme drag racing.

When I had the B 400 in the Duster, it wasn’t a bear to drive or stop. The feel of the car and the braking distance of the car with its 4 wheel drums changed a bit so extra distance and a more cautious driving demeanor is increased.

All in all it was t a bad deal.
But I probably won’t do it again for a street driving ride. For something that will see the strip once in a while, monthly at a min. I say heck yea!

The small block is just easier, more roomy & can certainly provide excellent power and speeds as well as easier to get the car to handle better on the road.

As I myself gather parts for the Duster now, it will be small block powered. The B 400 will be moved into a B body later.

But this is just me. For you, don’t settle. This turns into regret later.
 
Street-cam low-deck BB/auto /and 2.94s; done. Torque is addictive.
340s were something special, once; before 360s, and when 318s were were just mules. But in this present history, almost forgotten.
Torque is still addictive.
340s and torque, rarely appear in a streeters vocabulary.
What does tho is; " I got this driveline vibration I can't seem to find". Well yeah, 3.91s or better has a tendency to amplify any existing vibration, that was minor with the 2.76s,lol.
Or; "man my 340 is hard on fuel", I couldda run a 440 on less.
Well yeah your effective stroke is down to 2.5 inches,lol; whadya expect. 20% or 30% of the energy in your fuel is going straight out the tailpipe; that's what happens with a very early opening exhaust valve and a 3.31 arm.
I'm not sorry I chose a 360, but I'm sure glad it is at least a 360. Second gen Barracudas are the fatboys of the A-bodies, their saving grace is in their beauty, and their ability to accept 295s back there; even 325/50-15s...... inside the stock tubs.
451 cubes, yummy. Run the auto to suck up any vibration, and street gears to let the torque get you moving. Cruise at 2250 or less for excellent fuel-economy, relatively speaking. With 2.94s you can hit 60@ ~5600 in first gear, making it a one-gear run.

Since you have a clutch, you could run the A833od and a lil more gear, as if you need it. That will let you downsize the cam, and with 3.73s now, you can cruise 65=2200 Badaboom. Buy a spare trans or two, cuz if you are used to driving 4-gear, you will blow up the od gear almost right away; it was designed for a 318/slanty so it's kindof puny. I went thru a couple before I got rid of the 4.30s, so stopped powering into "4th",lol. Zing.
 
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Fresh 340 ready to go ? used 440 with added costs to swap.
I'm a big block guy, but I would run a fresh 340.
 
My vote for 340. 440 is going to add torque, can you put that to the ground effectively? 340 can spin them too. Stroke the 340 to a 426...good heads and your 500+ HP. Whats the stock 73 440: 220 horse, 350 torque? 68 440 @10:1 was a torque monster...73 not so much.
 
Seeing that you have one all ready to go in, I would go with the 340 for now and determine if it has enough power for you.
If not, then make plans to build the big block.
Depending on what route you take for the power level of the big block, it can get really expensive really fast.
bigblockdart.com has a lot of great info on there that you can read to help you.

By the way, i am a big block guy, but there is nothing wrong with going small block in your a-body, i did and have plans for a big block when the money tree gets in full bloom!
 
340 in a heartbeat......what you would gain in torque you would loose in weight and economy. The 340 is quick and plenty for what you are doing with it.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Great question!

I have had both LA & B engines in a Duster. This is how I see it. Speaking strictly from a car that doesn’t see the strip but may, LMAO, may see a light to light or long stretch run.
But street driven is the primary usage of the car.

The big block provides nearly every advantage except;

Added weight. This is an apples to apples comparison. If you lighten up the big block with aluminum heads and intake, so can the small block. The big block is just heavier and at the worst place. Up front over the nose. Consider this when it is a driver and a little bit more so because it is all iron. Why? The extra weight effects handling and braking a little bit.

Is it dangerous?
Only to the stupid.
(Darwins Law may take affect in this scenario.)

Fuel mileage;

The bigger the engine the more fuel it consumes.

Fit in engine bay and it’s issues. This list can get long rather quickly. A quick list below that may not contain every last caveat....

B engines offer a little more clearance over the RB and this help header fit. Header design may be a hindrance for plug changes.

Upgrading the cooling system is a highly recommended move. Who runs stock big blocks in a A body? Power creates heat that needs to be removed.

Suspension upgrades increase road handling abilities. A certain plus for any car with any engine, the added weight of the bigger engine & trans just need a little more to bring it back to how it was before the swap.

Etc...

I guess your question to me having both engines in a Duster would really be, “Would you do it again?”

Yes IF it was a drag car with limited street time.

This comes down to what I’m doing and of course how you the reader would want to go about doing it.

It is IMO that an A body with an LA (or new HEMI engine) is the best combo for what ever the goal is. Unless it is extreme drag racing.

When I had the B 400 in the Duster, it wasn’t a bear to drive or stop. The feel of the car and the braking distance of the car with its 4 wheel drums changed a bit so extra distance and a more cautious driving demeanor is increased.

All in all it was t a bad deal.
But I probably won’t do it again for a street driving ride. For something that will see the strip once in a while, monthly at a min. I say heck yea!

The small block is just easier, more roomy & can certainly provide excellent power and speeds as well as easier to get the car to handle better on the road.

As I myself gather parts for the Duster now, it will be small block powered. The B 400 will be moved into a B body later.

But this is just me. For you, don’t settle. This turns into regret later.
Click to expand...
Thanks a ton for your insightful and objective reply, with no plans to drag regularly It's nice to have my initial thoughts confirmed. Good luck with the Duster build!
 
AJ/FormS said:
Street-cam low-deck BB/auto /and 2.94s; done. Torque is addictive.
340s were something special, once; before 360s, and when 318s were were just mules. But in this present history, almost forgotten.
Torque is still addictive.
340s and torque, rarely appear in a streeters vocabulary.
What does tho is; " I got this driveline vibration I can't seem to find". Well yeah, 3.91s or better has a tendency to amplify any existing vibration, that was minor with the 2.76s,lol.
Or; "man my 340 is hard on fuel", I couldda run a 440 on less.
Well yeah your effective stroke is down to 2.5 inches,lol; whadya expect. 20% or 30% of the energy in your fuel is going straight out the tailpipe; that's what happens with a very early opening exhaust valve and a 3.31 arm.
I'm not sorry I chose a 360, but I'm sure glad it is at least a 360. Second gen Barracudas are the fatboys of the A-bodies, their saving grace is in their beauty, and their ability to accept 295s back there; even 325/50-15s...... inside the stock tubs.
451 cubes, yummy. Run the auto to suck up any vibration, and street gears to let the torque get you moving. Cruise at 2250 or less for excellent fuel-economy, relatively speaking. With 2.94s you can hit 60@ ~5600 in first gear, making it a one-gear run.

Since you have a clutch, you could run the A833od and a lil more gear, as if you need it. That will let you downsize the cam, and with 3.73s now, you can cruise 65=2200 Badaboom. Buy a spare trans or two, cuz if you are used to driving 4-gear, you will blow up the od gear almost right away; it was designed for a 318/slanty so it's kindof puny. I went thru a couple before I got rid of the 4.30s, so stopped powering into "4th",lol. Zing.
Click to expand...
Clearly i will have to read all of your info a few times ti digest, awesome reply and thanks. I had a 440 manual 69 RR back in the day, father time has provided some re- hab on the torque addiction via memory loss, but i still remember some brother! Decisions, decisions
 
Anybody know the weight difference between the stock 340 and the stock 440?
How about an aluminum headed 440. How about an X-head 340 with power steering and a front-mounted battery versus an aluminum headed 440, standard steering, and battery in the trunk?
Altho I would never give up my PS in a streeter. Partly because I like my fat-rimmed small-diameter steering wheel. And
For a streeter, I could care less about the weight difference. Torque will take care of that
 
My son's 440/4sp/3.23 Dart got exactly the same fuel mileage as my wife's 340/727/3.23 GTS. Both cars are convertibles. Both cars have stock cams, as well. Handling is similar due to subframe connectors on my son's Dart. Suspension is otherwise stock big block on my son's car and stock 340 on my wife's car. The difference is felt when encountering a hill. With the 440 you just roll in a little throttle, with the 340 you've got to open it up a bit. Both are street cars.

Now to the question of whether I would go 440or 340, consider that I do have a standard bore 340 core sitting in the garage without a home...while this is the engine sitting in my '67 Barracuda convertible right now...
20190720_102650.jpg
 
95% street duty with no axe to grind on getting a certain number at your local track-small block. Currently going through the process of the RB swap now and it's not bad but it has it's own set of circumstances also. In all honesty if headers are a must have for you a RB is going to make you work at it harder.

One thing I will tell you also is if you have a lift in the garage that's a complete game changer when going BB. Just my opinion.....

JW
 
Schumacher has it on their website. Some aluminum and a trunk mounted battery puts you in the same ballpark. Weight was never a consideration for me on doing a RB transplant....

JW
 
SLOPAR72 said:
Schumacher has it on their website. Some aluminum and a trunk mounted battery puts you in the same ballpark. Weight was never a consideration for me on doing a RB transplant....

JW
Click to expand...
As vs a stock small block?
 
125lbs difference The 360 is 550lbs and the 440 is 670lbs
 
I had both a a 69 Barracuda and a 69 440 ‘cuda at the same time so I had the best of both worlds. If I was going to build one from scratch I’d go with a stroked 340 or 440.
 
Darter6 said:
Rule of thumb is ruffly 50 lbs between small and big block
Click to expand...
50lbs difference between B and RB. A 383 or 400 with aluminum heads, intake and water pump housing weighs less than a stock 340 or 360.
 
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