OriginalDart
Well-Known Member
A little background first. This car has been in my friends family for decades, on Wed by their aunt who had it garaged for about 20 years prior ro them aquiring it. It was first given to the second youngest son of 7 children who thought it was too big and hard to park. He sold it to his brother, the youngest son who loved it and was very proud of it....keep in mind I had been petitioning the family for the car since they brought it home! Long story short, the youngest brother was in a bit of a move triangle and was murdered by his "friend." The car sat in the family's driveway for over a year before it was offered to me by the family. Of course now having a bit of sentimental value to me I couldn't refuse. I drove the car daily for 3 years before money got tight and I had to find a better commute car...that little 273 loved to drink!!! Around this time last year the original brother to own it, still in great distress over the loss of his brother (they were attached at the hip) took his own life. Needless to say the car is now ever so much more special to me. To me a bit of their souls still live in that steel as I hope mine would when I'm gone.
So that brings us pretty much up to speed...the car has now been in my carport sitting for about a year and I finally have the means to start throwing money at it. The first few pictures are the car as is now...little beat up but mostly how I got it. With the addition of a new radiator and alternator..water pump and the amp meter bypass...and the big 8.75 rear it's still mostly stock.
My original plan was to find a complete running 440 I could swap in and drive in a weeks time. When I found one I liked my excitement got the best of me and I bought it without rotating it....and as you can imagine it bit me in the ***. I wanted to buy one running because i dont have a garage....I have a uncovered carport...it was going to be a task but i was going to rent a storage unit for a month and use that as storage for the motors while the swap took place. The motor had a seized cylinder...rusted pretty good. I was able to tear it down minus the rusted piston which I let the machine shop deal with. The motor itself I was told came from a 78 van...it had an interesting tail shaft I'm not familiar with but I planned on using a rebuilt 727 from a third party. The block was in exceptional condition aside from the rusted cylinder which was sleeved and bored to stock. It was also baked and put through an abrasive machine. I slapped some engine primer on it and 3 coats of hemi orange.
At first I wanted a super low budget build so I could finish quick and be driving asap....but...if I do want to eventually procharged this thing I need to build for that power now. Honestly I still haven't decided if I'm going to follow my first build sheet which would be about 5k cost and make about 537 horse.....or build it for lower compression (8:1) with the intent to procharg it in the future and make 800 horse power. Decision decisions.....I know that the entire car is going to have to get gone through....I know every other part of the car will twist like a pretzel under that power....but first things first...my goal is the engine. I'll be posting pics and progress updates as I go. Slow and steady. This is my first mopar build...I'm open for any and all advice on this engine...never built a big block before either. Anyone else built a high horsepower 440?
So that brings us pretty much up to speed...the car has now been in my carport sitting for about a year and I finally have the means to start throwing money at it. The first few pictures are the car as is now...little beat up but mostly how I got it. With the addition of a new radiator and alternator..water pump and the amp meter bypass...and the big 8.75 rear it's still mostly stock.
My original plan was to find a complete running 440 I could swap in and drive in a weeks time. When I found one I liked my excitement got the best of me and I bought it without rotating it....and as you can imagine it bit me in the ***. I wanted to buy one running because i dont have a garage....I have a uncovered carport...it was going to be a task but i was going to rent a storage unit for a month and use that as storage for the motors while the swap took place. The motor had a seized cylinder...rusted pretty good. I was able to tear it down minus the rusted piston which I let the machine shop deal with. The motor itself I was told came from a 78 van...it had an interesting tail shaft I'm not familiar with but I planned on using a rebuilt 727 from a third party. The block was in exceptional condition aside from the rusted cylinder which was sleeved and bored to stock. It was also baked and put through an abrasive machine. I slapped some engine primer on it and 3 coats of hemi orange.
At first I wanted a super low budget build so I could finish quick and be driving asap....but...if I do want to eventually procharged this thing I need to build for that power now. Honestly I still haven't decided if I'm going to follow my first build sheet which would be about 5k cost and make about 537 horse.....or build it for lower compression (8:1) with the intent to procharg it in the future and make 800 horse power. Decision decisions.....I know that the entire car is going to have to get gone through....I know every other part of the car will twist like a pretzel under that power....but first things first...my goal is the engine. I'll be posting pics and progress updates as I go. Slow and steady. This is my first mopar build...I'm open for any and all advice on this engine...never built a big block before either. Anyone else built a high horsepower 440?
