Which 440 to buy?

-
standup303

standup303

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2022
Messages
244
Reaction score
186
Location
Colorado
There are 2 440s locally for sale right now, not sure which to get. Or just wait. One is currently in a motor home with a 727 on it and “runs great” 70k miles. It’s 3 hours away and the guy said he would pull the entire assembly, he’s asking $2,000. Sounds like I could drive up there and hear it run too.

There is another that’s a “builder”, guy says it ran when he pulled it many years ago for $450. There is also a rebuilt 727 with almost no miles on it for $1000. These are about 30 minutes away.

Really looking to just slap a cam in and boot it in. Don’t mind if I have to get the motor home trans rebuilt or if the “builder” needs some new gaskets, a couple things. But don’t want to tear the whole thing down this year.

What would you guys go for?
 
Either way some disassembly is required. I’d go the the cheep one and give it a cheep refresh and upgrade. The 2K one, you have mileage and time, but if ya can talk him down some….
 
Motorhome trannies are very different in the tail piece, not easily put into a car. I would go with the builder. Then I would know what's in the motor and it will run. At this point you only have peoples stories.
 
From my experience, I wouldn’t want to just slap something in and go. So I’d get the cheaper one and rebuild it as much as my budget would allow.
 
What I would go for and what you intend to do is totally different.
I would buy the $450 engine and go through it and rebuild my own transmission.
The engine and transmission are cores if unproven.

For your intentions, the motorhome engine sounds like what you want.
As long as you hear it run before pulling, and verify good oil pressure etc.
2 grand seems like a lot though.
And the transmission will have to be opened up to change the tail shaft etc. so there's extra cost and work there.

Let us know what you decide...
 
I paid 2k for my entire 78 Motorhome with 440 . 73k miles
E3A74F2D-A2A9-41F6-9828-F3037674124F.jpeg
1567E909-5875-41EF-AE7A-D94B801779D2.jpeg
3087B5B3-AC26-4648-B414-E79414913D8D.jpeg
56D18070-4E15-41A7-BE01-03FB37539ACC.jpeg
 
33IMP said:
There's a thousand dollars worth of labor yanking the 440 from the motor home.
Click to expand...

On a C-Class you can remove the whole radiator support and pull it out the front . If it is an engine that will be rebuilt I would pull intake and heads in the MH before yanking.
 
mbaird said:
I paid 2k for my entire 78 Motorhome with 440 . 73k miles
View attachment 1715964153 View attachment 1715964154 View attachment 1715964155 View attachment 1715964156
Click to expand...

mbaird said:
In your area.
View attachment 1715964162

And trany may be correct for your application because its a C Class
Click to expand...

Yep, the C class with a 440 is the easy donor option. I've got a couple 440's from the bigger motorhomes, and the trannies have good parts inside, just the wrong tail shafts. Got them long before these engines became stupid expensive, $600 with trans was the most I paid, I'd never give that $2000 for the runner, or $1000 for a torn down block. But that's me living in the past when things were reasonably priced. Ah, the good old days!

@standup303 whatever route you choose, wish you the best of luck.
 
All 440's are just considered cores to me, no matter what year they are or if they are out of a car or truck. Until I mag check them and sonic check them you never know what is truly good for a build until that process checks good. I have seen 70 HP blocks not be able to go +.030 over and seen other newer motor home blocks with much thicker walls. Core shift matters also.
 
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I like the mentality of any used engine purchase is going to be considered a block. Last thing I want to do is go through the process of a slant 6 to 440 swap and have the engine crap out a month into it.
 
Motor home block could be a 440/3 heavy duty block with extra cooling passages in the block and heads . The heads are worthless for any real performance. Regular heads will work with the right gaskets.
The good, could have a forged crank in it
$450 motor no brainer
 
Last edited:
Depends on what your budget is. If you want to do it on the cheap, & you could drive the motor home around & look at a few plugs, it might be good enough for a swap.

Rebuilding Mopars cost a lot of money. Make sure you understand how much rebuilding a core costs.
 
$2000 is absolutely crazy money for any core and $450 still sounds like a lot for a core to me. Fortunately I am still able to find lots of 440's here in Indiana. I have a deal a local salvage yard to buy 440's for $150 and $50 more for the transmission.

Motorhome transmission require a complete disassembly to change out the output shaft and the extension housing for use in a car since they have bolt on yokes. I suppose in certain parts of the country finding a 440 is a lot harder and thus the prices are much higher. A 30-minute trip sounds like a worthwhile adventure to check it out. If it has 452 heads on it even better.

Good Luck,
Tom
 
mgoblue9798 said:
And then you have to get rid of the hull which no scrap yard will take.
Click to expand...
There's not much to a motorhome, some insulation, a little wood (burn pile), the sink and crapper, and the rest most yards will take. Those fresh are heavy in the big ones.
 
LocuMob said:
There's not much to a motorhome, some insulation, a little wood (burn pile), the sink and crapper, and the rest most yards will take. Those fresh are heavy in the big ones.
Click to expand...

Unless you have a front end loader and big dumpster you will have at least a couple hard days work for two people scrapping one to the point where it is down to the bare chassis that can be sold for scrap. How much is your and effort worth I guess is the question.
 
mgoblue9798 said:
Unless you have a front end loader and big dumpster you will have at least a couple hard days work for two people scrapping one to the point where it is down to the bare chassis that can be sold for scrap. How much is your and effort worth I guess is the question.
Click to expand...
My roommates did it in a day, easy to separate that which you don't care about. Yes, a dumpster makes it easier to get rid of the mess in one shot. I think they may have had a Bobcat, but they didn't use much. It's a crappy house on wheels, and the insulation is the biggest pain. Other than that, there's nothing to it. They had about five or six hours into it, and they screw around a lot. Not for everyone, I let the RV owners take them out, then I buy them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top