340 vs 440

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canner78

canner78
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i don`t know what i sould do. i have a 1974 dart sport with a 318 in it. i want more power!!! i am currently looking at 2 engines. there is the 340 that is completely rebuilt (stock rebuild) for $3900 or a 440 and tranny for $500. the 440 runs but could probably use a rebuild. i don`t have the skills or time to rebuild the 440 my self so i would have to pay someone to do it for me. what would you do????
 
Of the two motors, 340, it is almost a direct bolt in for your 318, you can even use your 904 trans. But 318's can be made to run quite well with even minor bolt ons so this would be the cheapest alternative.


Chuck
 
Depends on what you want to do with the car. If you are looking for a well balanced driver then the 340 is the way to go. If your goal is maximum straight line acceleration and really don't care about handling an road manners the 440 is the way to go.

Also, the 340 swap will be a straight bolt in in place of the 318 and working quickly can likely happen in a day. The 440 will be much more involved and will require more work.

The other thing to consider, at $3900 you should be able to pick up a mopar crate 360/390HP, this will be a significant increase in power over a stock 340 rebuild and would be very close to a stock rebuild of a 440.
 
a 340 with a stock rebuild for 3900 is too much. a crate motor or stroker
style would be more fun. yes a 440 is nice, BUT, theres a lot to be done to accomplish that, plus it won't handle as good...more often than not, a good running 340 will sting a 440 for a 1000 feet.
stick a 3.91 or 4.10 with the small block and you'll be happy in a weekend
 
dgc333 said:
Depends on what you want to do with the car. If you are looking for a well balanced driver then the 340 is the way to go. If your goal is maximum straight line acceleration and really don't care about handling an road manners the 440 is the way to go.

Also, the 340 swap will be a straight bolt in in place of the 318 and working quickly can likely happen in a day. The 440 will be much more involved and will require more work.

The other thing to consider, at $3900 you should be able to pick up a mopar crate 360/390HP, this will be a significant increase in power over a stock 340 rebuild and would be very close to a stock rebuild of a 440.
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Godamn that pisses me off. For $3900 you can pick up that crate? I went to the local dealership and their price from Mopar Performance was $7200. We get absolutely raped at the border. We've seriously debated having one delivered just south of the border and driving down to pick it up. Where would you recommend to order that 360/390hp from if I was to go that route?
 
I would buy a crate 360 engine...

Is the new crate 360's external balance like the old 360 or internal like the 318 & 340?
You will need a torque converter used for a 360 if so, they have a weight located on them if you were not aware!
 
I think the price has just gone up anyway on them. I havent looked myself, but I thought I read that somewhere. Call Troy at West Oaks Dodge. They do a huge amount from shipping crates from what he says.
 
I would have a good machine shop/builder build one for you,i would,nt trust a crate motor as far as i could throw one,having one built gives you the peace of mind of selecting the components and knowing exactely who built it,crate motors are built by who knows who,and from seeing /hearing some not built right most of the time...
 
340srule said:
I would have a good machine shop/builder build one for you,i would,nt trust a crate motor as far as i could throw one,having one built gives you the peace of mind of selecting the components and knowing exactely who built it,crate motors are built by who knows who,and from seeing /hearing some not built right most of the time...
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Thank you so much for posting. I originally wanted a crate, but then the price frustrated me enough to look for another route. I've got a 360 block and 727 tranny all lined up, and an engine builder, but after reading about the cheap crate I swayed my thinking again. But all in all, you're right. Having that piece of mind knowing exactly who built it is worth every penny.
 
If you have most of the hardware already, have the machine shop build it. You should be able to get by spending around 4k. If you go crate, get the one from Blueprint Engines. At least they have a 2yr/24,000 mi warranty.
 
mrbill00 said:
...stick a 3.91 or 4.10 with the small block and you'll be happy in a weekend
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Oh yeah. I haven't had the 3.91s I just put in to the track yet, but it winds out almost as fast as I can shift the gears. Starting to wonder if it'll even make it to the end of the 1/4mi. before running out of breath in 4th now.
 
bthieson said:
Godamn that pisses me off. For $3900 you can pick up that crate? I went to the local dealership and their price from Mopar Performance was $7200. We get absolutely raped at the border. We've seriously debated having one delivered just south of the border and driving down to pick it up. Where would you recommend to order that 360/390hp from if I was to go that route?
Click to expand...

Boy! the crate engines from Mopar have gone up. Seems $4500-$5000 is the going price now. Just a few years ago the 300HP one was about $3000 and the 380HP one was $3400. The BluePrint 408 stroker base engine for $3600 certainly looks good though.
 
340srule said:
I would have a good machine shop/builder build one for you,i would,nt trust a crate motor as far as i could throw one,having one built gives you the peace of mind of selecting the components and knowing exactely who built it,crate motors are built by who knows who,and from seeing /hearing some not built right most of the time...
Click to expand...
Thats the damn truth! Believe above post. All I hear is horror stories. I even tried a stroker V-Twin HP kit motor for one of my Harleys...total crap. Nothing but a problem from the 1st day. I'll be paying a bit more for my 340 than one of those 435 hp crates but its all better internals.
 
dgc333 said:
Boy! the crate engines from Mopar have gone up. Seems $4500-$5000 is the going price now. Just a few years ago the 300HP one was about $3000 and the 380HP one was $3400. The BluePrint 408 stroker base engine for $3600 certainly looks good though.
Click to expand...

I don't know if it was pure coincidence, but one of the Mopar magazines did that article about the actual horsepower of the 360/380hp block and said it did somewhere over 400hp. Right after that the price went up big time....coincidence?
 
1975dartswinger said:
Better yet, Blueprint Engines has a 408 for about that price. 375hp and 460 lb/ft of torque.
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I have a blueprintengine and it's going in this fall.:love4:

p1010002my408new.jpg


p1010004dynosheet.jpg
 
mrbill00 said:
a 340 with a stock rebuild for 3900 is too much. a crate motor or stroker
style would be more fun. yes a 440 is nice, BUT, theres a lot to be done to accomplish that, plus it won't handle as good...more often than not, a good running 340 will sting a 440 for a 1000 feet.
stick a 3.91 or 4.10 with the small block and you'll be happy in a weekend
Click to expand...
I 100% agree with mrbill about a good running 340 stinging a 440. My buddy has a mildly built 440 .030 with a .484 cam and my 340 is built pretty good .030 over, 509 pruple cam, air gap intake,3500 stall, shift kit, Ford 9" with 389 gear set and more and for the first 1200 feet all he is doing is smelling my exhaust then he finally catches me so my friend go with the 340 or even 360...
 
Yea, and not just 440's many a 396, 427 and 454's got embaressed by the lowly 340, but I must say there is nothing rules like a big block mopar!!!!!!!!! You should be able to find a good 340 for 2000.00 and bolt it in.:glasses8:
 
Get the 440 rebuilt and have an easy 12 second street car. If you use aluminum intake, water pump housing, and heads like the $800 440Source models, you're already lighter than a slant six, which weighs the same as a small block, by the way. Modern tires, stiffer torsions, sway bars, proper alignment, not FSM specs, and it'll handle great. Check out BigBlockDart.com
 
The thing is both the 340 or the 440 will run good in the A-body. We have a 400 in my sons Dart but I had the 400 shortblock so we used what we had. But if I built it from scratch I would go with a stroker of either the smallblock or bigblock. The smallblock stroker makes a very potent combo in the A-body. They are more cubes then the 400 my son runs and are a lighter eng with a longer stroke. To be honest the stock stroke 400 is not the best combo to build but we had it and it runs fine for what it is. So what I am saying is there is nothing wrong with the 340 in the A-body and they will run strong. I went with the 440 in my 63 as with the heavier B-body I like the longer stoke of the 440 for more torque. But if I had the cash I would have stroked it. Ron
 
canner78 said:
i don`t know what i sould do. i have a 1974 dart sport with a 318 in it. i want more power!!! i am currently looking at 2 engines. there is the 340 that is completely rebuilt (stock rebuild) for $3900 or a 440 and tranny for $500. the 440 runs but could probably use a rebuild. i don`t have the skills or time to rebuild the 440 my self so i would have to pay someone to do it for me. what would you do????
Click to expand...
 
I and I have your help if u have found a be cool. 440 can as a man handle that. liye to me or liye to urself.
 
all of this site. being sold. a body mopars has mopar lost any races.. I am 65 what uas a club done..
 
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