440 build questions

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jgriggs29

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Hi, I’m building my first motor for my 73 scamp I have a 77 440 that I was hoping to keep stock in the bottom end.
I have a 528 3 bolt crane cam that I wanted to use I have hydraulic lifters and some Harland sharp 1.5 ratio roller rockers now I’m just looking for the best set of heads. And an intake

I have a pair of stock 906 and 452’s but I was hoping to go aluminum. But cheaper the better. I found a pair of pro comps that are priced right but they have 2.25 intake and 1.875 exhaust. Will that be way too much for my build? What are some other options? I just want to get down the track at a decent speed for now.
 
jgriggs29 said:
Hi, I’m building my first motor for my 73 scamp I have a 77 440 that I was hoping to keep stock in the bottom end.
I have a 528 3 bolt crane cam that I wanted to use I have hydraulic lifters and some Harland sharp 1.5 ratio roller rockers now I’m just looking for the best set of heads. And an intake

I have a pair of stock 906 and 452’s but I was hoping to go aluminum. But cheaper the better. I found a pair of pro comps that are priced right but they have 2.25 intake and 1.875 exhaust. Will that be way too much for my build? What are some other options? I just want to get down the track at a decent speed for now.
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use the906 for the money. port and polish. only help of aluminum is weight. meaning front of any car. being a little lighter. for $ saving use what u got . and pistons cam is where to go. 906 r open chambered 915 r closed chambered. 10.5. true port those and use better gas. 915 r rare and better if u make them use new gass. more flow no. in and out.
 
Which 528? There are four of them.

"But cheaper the better" is always scary. Do you have a $ budget? If not we are chasing a humming bird with a tea bag tied to a stick.
 
528 you will not build. you want have the work done that's a work gaurranty (sp) I have a friend that had a 528 built and he works it out with edelbrock injection. he and I love it. c if u got low money get people or company to stand b hind what u spend......
 
Ah Charles.............I'm pretty sure he is talking about a 528 Crane Cam and not a 528 cubic inch engine.
 
I kept the bottom of my 400 stock with 452 heads. Whacked .030 off the block face and whatever the bible says about intake face. .020 steel shim gaskets. Cleaned up the ports a little and put a comp XE268H kit in it. It’s a little smaller cam than yours, and 40 ci smaller, but it seems to like the set up. If I were to go back, I would have added flat face valves. Not that I really feel the acorn sized voids steal all that much in terms of CC, but it adds up. My 440 on the other hand has trick flow 240s with HS 1:6 rollers and TF track max cam. Bottom end not stock, but regular stroke
 
My budget isn’t huge but I’m not planning on throwing an engine together with junkyard parts either I want to do it right. I was just hoping I could use the few aftermarket parts I have and apply them to what I have in my shop already. someday if I have 10k laying around I’ll do everything I need. But for now I want to put something together I can have fun with. I have 4.30 gears in the car and a 727 with a mild build and manual valve body. Without anything done in the bottom end is it even worth spending all the money on heads or will the 906’s do the trick?
 
906s will do the trick and the beauty is you can run cheap pump gas. Ring it and bearings, headers intake carb and converter and have fun. If you can find a set of the 67 and earlier closed chamber heads with the big valves even better.

For comparison, in my 55 I put a budget homebuilt 440. Stock 77 440 bottom end, the pistons had never been out of the bores. I changed rod bearings because they were showing copper, changed cam bearings because they were coming apart from years of sitting with the valve springs pressing down on the cam. I used a set of closed chamber iron heads with big valves added and mild port work, no hardened seats or anything, an old Engle HE 3844bl cam with .536, 238 duration intake and .540, 244 duration exhaust. A second hand street dominator intake and holley 750 vs, and a good 8" 5500 stall converter. 3.73 gears in a 4000 lb car, it ran 13.29 with that set up.

FB_IMG_1528287657820.jpg


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That 77 has no compression, buy a Hughes whiplash cam it will bring up the cyl pressure and make it run good for cheap, spend the $ on carb and intake, headers, and basic rebuild
 
brian6pac said:
That 77 has no compression, buy a Hughes whiplash cam it will bring up the cyl pressure and make it run good for cheap, spend the $ on carb and intake, headers, and basic rebuild
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Yes, shorter duration is better. It also is good to advance the cam a few degrees.
 
d55dave said:
906s will do the trick and the beauty is you can run cheap pump gas. Ring it and bearings, headers intake carb and converter and have fun. If you can find a set of the 67 and earlier closed chamber heads with the big valves even better.

For comparison, in my 55 I put a budget homebuilt 440. Stock 77 440 bottom end, the pistons had never been out of the bores. I changed rod bearings because they were showing copper, changed cam bearings because they were coming apart from years of sitting with the valve springs pressing down on the cam. I used a set of closed chamber iron heads with big valves added and mild port work, no hardened seats or anything, an old Engle HE 3844bl cam with .536, 238 duration intake and .540, 244 duration exhaust. A second hand street dominator intake and holley 750 vs, and a good 8" 5500 stall converter. 3.73 gears in a 4000 lb car, it ran 13.29 with that set up.

View attachment 1715223430

View attachment 1715223431
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kick a$$ looking car, but I wouldn`t be bragging about 13 anything .
 
famous bob said:
kick a$$ looking car, but I wouldn`t be bragging about 13 anything .
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LOL, you are right Bob. My point is that, on , dime, a low compression 440 can deliver respectable performance. Remember that this is probably a 7.5:1 worn out 440 in a heavy street car. There is probably $1500 in the engine. In the OPs A body this would be mid 12s.
 
One of my favorite cams of all time. Use either iron head, and you can run s basic performance valve spring- you don't need the dual springs and associated head machining. Have the heads redone if the budget allows. Or run Stealths with the valve job corrected and Id replace the retainers, locks, and springs. Will be fine and depending on your car and you, can run WAY into the 12s with the right parts and a heavy street car.
 
jgriggs29 said:
My budget isn’t huge but I’m not planning on throwing an engine together with junkyard parts either I want to do it right. I was just hoping I could use the few aftermarket parts I have and apply them to what I have in my shop already. someday if I have 10k laying around I’ll do everything I need. But for now I want to put something together I can have fun with. I have 4.30 gears in the car and a 727 with a mild build and manual valve body. Without anything done in the bottom end is it even worth spending all the money on heads or will the 906’s do the trick?
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Well you certainly CAN use the parts you have laying around. And aftermarket heads will surely increase the engines performance. The ProComp heads you were looking at, do they use the offset intake rockers? If so, are your Harland Sharp intake rockers offset for that head?

I figure the whole internet is tired of me re-posting these dyno results of low compression engines we have built........but to give you some encouragement, here we go again..........

In the first of these threads, an aftermarket head would at least run as good as the mildly ported 516 heads we used, and probably do even better.

Dyno testing a stock(?) 1972 440

The slug 400 on the dyno.
 
The procomps are probably a Victor copy, with those valve sizes. They won't work with your rockers, they need .650 or .800 offset. And like the Eddie Victors, they're complicated.

440 Source, Eddie RPM's or Sidewinder heads are probably the least expensive good options. The TF 240's are all the rage right now, for good reason, but are a decent $ increase. Your $, your call.

The iron heads are viable if they don't require more $ input. If they do, you're ahead saving that money to put toward the other options above. If you can find someone to buy the iron heads from you, for a 'rules' class or resto, even better. S/F....Ken M
 
Unless the 906 or 452 heads are ready to roll I'd go aluminum and have all the many advantages that they offer.
 
If you cannot port iron heads yourself, it makes no sense or 'cents' to run them in any kind of performance application, unless, the rules require them or you just gotta have them old iron heads. If you attempt to port iron heads I would start with 452 or 346 heads as they are easier to get over 290 cfm. If you are one hell of a head porter, you can go with the 906's as they can go well over 330 cfm but are harder for the beginner to get 290-300 than the 452 or 346. We've run the iron heads in competition because I've got the best head porter on the planet working in my shop. 'Cept he's said, "Nope Dad, I don't want to do it anymore!"
 
IQ52 said:
If you cannot port iron heads yourself, it makes no sense or 'cents' to run them in any kind of performance application, unless, the rules require them or you just gotta have them old iron heads. If you attempt to port iron heads I would start with 452 or 346 heads as they are easier to get over 290 cfm. If you are one hell of a head porter, you can go with the 906's as they can go well over 330 cfm but are harder for the beginner to get 290-300 than the 452 or 346. We've run the iron heads in competition because I've got the best head porter on the planet working in my shop. 'Cept he's said, "Nope Dad, I don't want to do it anymore!"
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If he dont want to port anymore feed him cheap chicken pot pies, if he wants to port give him Filet mingon 3 times a day.
 
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