Im just a dreamer : 440 vs 360 magnum

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ValerianMagnum

ValerianMagnum

the little car that could
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hi guys ! Since i am a dreamer and i admit it !!! Ahahahahah, i bought a 1978 440 from a motorhome , it as 40 000 miles, the engine is complete and i have a stock 360 magnum with the 380hp components, i have the roller cam from the 380hp crate and dual plane intake bla bla bla , i did the 380hp recipe with friends a couple of times and its always been great , my story is that i bought a big boat this winter : 4000 pounds 1968 fury 3 fast top with a 318 , since i would never put a big block in A bodie i was wondering if i was better off with the 440 and a a833 4 speed with 3.23s or the 380hp magnum and a 4 speed and gears in this yacht ....the 2 outputs are very very similar , but honestly i never ran a 440 and im sure that with headers and and a cam it can make some damage ! The 380hp crate is already a beast of its own and is quite surprising for such a simple combo...so 440 vs 360 magnum

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IMHO.......

For a 68 Fury, I think you'd be much happier with the 440. All that low end torque works well with a heavier car as compared to a "warmed up" smallblock.
 
If you are leaving the 440 "as pulled from the motorhome" ... the 360 with the performance components will be faster, if that's what you want. But I like the 440 in that "boat" if you are willing to do at least a little bit to it
 
That motorhome 440 has less than 8 to 1 compression as is.

Swapping in the 380 HP will take a few hours and away you go. That 440 will require some parts and time if you want it to really run like a 440 should.

While I am ususally a big block advocate I am going to say 380 HP small block in this situation.

Tom
 
440 and don't look back. an 8.1 440 can be built to outperform a 360 in a Fury every day and twice on Tuesday.
 
318willrun said:
If you are leaving the 440 "as pulled from the motorhome" ... the 360 with the performance components will be faster, if that's what you want. But I like the 440 in that "boat" if you are willing to do at least a little bit to it
Click to expand...
Dual plane, Holley 750, Whiplash cam and Headers would make for a decent 440 for very little money.
It would walk all over a 380 horse 360.
 
fishmens67 said:
Dual plane, Holley 750, Whiplash cam and Headers would make for a decent 440 for very little money.
It would walk all over a 380 horse 360.
Click to expand...
The 380hp 360 as around 410hp and 440 torque...i dont know hot much a motorhome 440with these mods will have , i just wish it could do better...
 
The small block weighs less, so that will also help out with some added performance. If you want the 440 to run really well you need to increase the compression and milling the heads isn't going to get enough to make it worth the trouble. Take it apart, deck the block .100" and put it back together is how I would do it on the cheap, or if you want to spend some money buy a set of pistons and bore it .030" over. Then you can get a 440 that will walk the dog over that 360.

Tom
 
Mild TNT 440, 87 octane, smooth ride nice tunes and float along the land yacht.
 
I wouldn't mill anything by any crazy amount, run it with a decent a cam you can always upgrade later. There's a low cr build of a 440 on this site that made good power it can be done. I forget which builder did it but the upgrades were dyno'd step by step , for every point of cr is like 3% hp.
 
Here's a built 540's where they do an NA test on 8.5:1 vs 10:1 = 649 hp vs 700 hp an 8% difference, there's also a slight cam and intake carb difference.

 
I have milled 440 heads 0.100", zero problems [ 0.120" actually ]. However, you would need to:
either mill the intake side of those heads OR mill the intake manifold to get alignment. Best to mill the heads for a couple of reasons. Head is easier to set up for milling, should cost less. If intake is milled, it is married to those heads or thick intake gaskets needed if used with std heads.
0.100" off the head needs 0.140" off the intake side.
Increasing CR increases HP everywhere, while other mods only increase a certain rpm range.
 
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