Going to build a 440 - any thoughts?

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Mopar to ya

Mopar to ya

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I am not doing this in my A body, it is going in my Ramcharger. If you have ever been of fortrucksonly or ramchargercentral, you will understand why I am posting here. I'd like more than ten people to see this. I picked up a 77 440 last night from a great Mopar guy. I want to build it a bit. Well, I want to build it a lot, but the budget won't allow that. I need the best bang for the littlest buck. Any ideas? I am thinking aluminum heads, cam, possibly pistons. I'd love to hear some ideas for a low budget street driven build. It will be a very occasional driver. I just want it to be quick, not the fastest car on the block.
 
Well those are kinda heavy so camshaft choice will be critical for good bottom end performance, IMO. I have a friend who has the Comp 275 Dual Energy in his 383 rat truck. It sounds really good and pulls like gangbusters.
 
ok

a stock 440 is not gonna be slow
it will be very street friendly
will sip a bit of gas. (dont pass him the whiskey bottle lol.)

best bang for budget out of the chute is new bearings (rod crank cam) new oil pump new rings / block hot tanked / bores checked new pistons if needed.

then you have a relaible street motor that will do great. you can just run truck manifolds if you want.

next steps if budget warrants: if pistons are needed get a set of KB's that bring the compression up to 9.5:1 and have the block decked.

then next step would be invest in heads. aluminums would be nice. and some headers. gonna make it loud give more power lighten up the front end. you could use ported stock heads also. contact brian at imm or IQ52 they might hook you up...

main thing: get someone local to help you put it together, make buddies with the machine shop everything needs to be balanced,checked,clearanced,cleaned,etc. there is a lot that goes into it
 
RustyRatRod said:
Well those are kinda heavy so camshaft choice will be critical for good bottom end performance, IMO. I have a friend who has the Comp 275 Dual Energy in his 383 rat truck. It sounds really good and pulls like gangbusters.
Click to expand...

listen to this man ^^^^
 
I'd go as far with the short block as money will allow. 77 is a cast crank so I'd save the money from the aluminum heads and buy a stroker kit. modest cam with a stroker combo and stock heads will yield a toque monster and will move that heavy vehicle around.
 
roccodart440 said:
I'd go as far with the short block as money will allow. 77 is a cast crank so I'd save the money from the aluminum heads and buy a stroker kit. modest cam with a stroker combo and stock heads will yield a toque monster and will move that heavy vehicle around.
Click to expand...

I would love to stroke it. $2000 - $2500 for a stroker kit is out of my range right now. I need to get an intake, headers, probably aluminum heads and a cam. That along with the machine work will take a large chunk of change.
 
Mopar to ya said:
I would love to stroke it. $2000 - $2500 for a stroker kit is out of my range right now. I need to get an intake, headers, probably aluminum heads and a cam. That along with the machine work will take a large chunk of change.
Click to expand...
aluminum heads are pushing 1500-2g's. You can always add heads easy later. Can't change that short block though. CHeck out 44 source, they have a good prices.

Cheap cam that makes 500 HP with the right combo and has great low end and a nice mild idle is the 284/528/112 solid MPP. I've used it twice
 
RustyRatRod said:
Well those are kinda heavy so camshaft choice will be critical for good bottom end performance, IMO. I have a friend who has the Comp 275 Dual Energy in his 383 rat truck. It sounds really good and pulls like gangbusters.
Click to expand...

This^^^… The Comp DEH series are damn nice,no one pays attention to them. As a general rule,not a fan of Comp cams equipment.
 
If the budget is a problem I'd stay simple. Rebuild the lower end, blueprint and internally balance it, stick some hyper pistons into it to get real compression. Then you can decide on the heads. Any aluminum will run you $2K plus to get on and running. You can get a really good set of iron done for performance that will be close to the OOTB performance of the lower price point aluminums for about 60% of the cost. So I'd do that. You can always upgrade later if you want. You should be able to end up with a very serious pump gas torque monster 440 for under $5K. I also agree with keeping the cam on the smaller side - something solid flat tappet, and around 225-230° @ .050. It's not hard to get 500 ft of torque from a properly built mild 440. That extra 50-80 pound feet and lower rpm of a stroker will cost you another 50% of the budget. return on investment isn't there IMO.
 
The 280-480 hydraulic cam in the 440 is probably close to what the 275 dual energy is in a 383. You have tons of torque and still pull hard to 6000. If you want a little more you can always increase the rocker ratio.
 
Budget? Rebuild what you got! Plenty of power when tuned right. Just do it
as a stump puller and not an rpm screamer. That's what they were designed
for. A low compression 440 set up fot 45-5000 rpm is a pretty nice running
motor.
 
I am rebuilding what I've got. I'm staying stock low end with new rings and bearings. I'm going to do a light porting on the heads myself. I have a guy I've known for 20 years that owns a cylinder head shop and he advised aluminum heads because if he was to build my heads it would cost far more. He says it would be $900 just to port and polish plus another $500 to build them. I'll port them myself because the budget is very small. It will get a new cam and lifters, an intake, a carb and headers. I am not looking for a pro street Ramcharger, I'm just looking for a bit quicker than most. I've got all the bearings and rings ordered as well as every gasket. I can start putting it back together next week I hope.

View attachment 440 on stand.jpg

View attachment 440 cam shot.jpg

View attachment 440 rockers.jpg

View attachment 440 oil pick up.jpg

View attachment 440 oil pan sludge.jpg

View attachment 440 piston.jpg

View attachment 440 rod bearing.jpg

View attachment 440 cylinder.jpg

View attachment 440 piston set.jpg
 
Why would you order rings and bearings before the machine work is done?
You need to build a strong bottom end first.
No need to buy aluminum heads, if you machine just put a fresh valve job in the parts you have.
Spend your money now for good pistons, balance, crank turning etc.
I rebuilt a stock 440 years ago in a 76 power wagon extra cab 3/4 ton truck.
Used thermo quad and stock iron manifolds, and intake.
The truck never lacked once for power and would tow anything you hooked to it.
 
budg·et
ˈbəjət/
adjective
1.
inexpensive.
"a budget guitar"
synonyms: cheap, inexpensive, economy, affordable, low-cost, low-price, cut-rate, discount, bargain, downmarket
"a budget hotel"

There will be no machine work. I will dingleball the cylinders and ream the ridges. I can port the heads lightly myself. Everything else looks good. The object is to get this on the road for as little money as humanly possible. I can build it the way I want to a few years from now after I am working again and have a full time job. This is a toy, a 2WD Ramcharger. I can pull a motor out of this in two hours or less. I just want to get it running and have a little extra oomph to it. Anything I do will be an improvement over the dog of a 318 that is in it now.
 
So why ask for thoughts?....lol. You've already got your plan and are doing it.
 
I asked for thoughts 9 days ago on how to do this cheap. Machining a block and crank is not cheap. In the end, I decided in order to keep things moving and stay in an unemployed man's budget, this is what I will have to do. There is no unusual wear on the bearings. I'll plastigage everything to make sure I am in tolerance. I still need an intake and headers if anyone has any cheap.
 
I had a 440 with 6pack rods stock crank a purple shaft .509 mild cam i think it was, trw pistons 906 iron heads fully ported long tubes, team g intake,proform 950 carb stock ignition in a 69 gtx running 12.20s all day long, full weight and interior at the track 3600stall with 4:56's that son ma ***** used to launch!! Had the motor for 10+ years never skipped a beat, then I sold it. Just my 2¢ doesn't take much to get a 440 goin. Good luck with your build.
 
And it's a truck , you're not building a race car, build a sound bottom end maybe a good piston, a nice cam, ported iron heads of you can find them a good street intake, carb and a new converter to match. You will be happy.
 
Mopar to ya said:
I asked for thoughts 9 days ago on how to do this cheap. Machining a block and crank is not cheap. In the end, I decided in order to keep things moving and stay in an unemployed man's budget, this is what I will have to do. There is no unusual wear on the bearings. I'll plastigage everything to make sure I am in tolerance. I still need an intake and headers if anyone has any cheap.
Click to expand...

OK let start again, no budget. Aluminum heads, threw me off.
This is as cheap as I will put a motor together.

At least hot tank the block, oil pump pick up, heads, new cam bearings, that is a $150.
Have the crank checked, it is only like $100 to turn and it will effect the life of the motor.
Oil pressure will keep it alive.

You may be able to re-use the old oil pump, just check it carefully for clearances.

Plastigage will not show you an out of round crank your bearings show brass, and Babbitt, the crank most likely needs turned.

Valve job on the heads just seating the valves and knurling the guides will cost $300. (this is a really cheap way). There is nothing wrong with iron manifolds on a truck, they make good torque. Run the stock 4bbl and manifold.
 
Looking at the pictures you posted - it does have odd wear on the rod bearing. That's not "normal wear" IMO. Normal wear would be some copper showing, but evely accross the bearing surface. Maybe it's the camera but that bearing looks beat with material imbedded. What do the mains, and the cap parting sufaces on the caps look like? Also - the pistons have a lot of scoring. Frankly it looks like it was run really dirty. If it was running - I would have left it alone, stuck a cam, timing set, valve seals, and springs in it. Maybe an oil pump if the pressure was low, and run it. "Krylon rebuild" as we used to say.
 
Regardless of path followed, will be a mean truck. Did you see in the "Performance Issues" section
"'72 440 dyno test"? I read it today. If you haven't already seen it (I think it was from 2009) check it
out. You will like it.
 
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