nothingbutdarts
Well-Known Member
It should be a nice torque monster.
The time has come... 440 freshen for B-body
- Thread starter MopaR&D
- Start date
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MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Cleaned the block a bit more today before I left to return home for the weekend, the other side had some nice "leaky freeze plug" corrosion that will take some elbow grease to get off. I also pulled a main cap off and while there was a noticeable scrape going the whole way around it wasn't worn down to the next layer. It looks like the parts in this engine weren't cleaned up very well after machining, it does have a forged crankshaft and there were burrs on the holes going through the rod journals that were big enough for me to pull off by hand. Not quite sure how that was considered acceptable back then I've heard about Chrysler quality control issues but even a non-car-person could look in there and see it wasn't assembled with much care. This engine will definitely get a new oil pump and I'm going to try to somehow clean up those burrs, not trying to disassemble the engine past the shortblock and I don't want to fill it up with iron powder from a grinder.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Small update here, since the last post I have degree'd in the new Howards cam which ended up right on the money. Also eyeballed how far the pistons are below the decks using the tiny ruler in my feeler gauges (didn't have a depth gauge at the time) and calculated the compression to be just over 8:1. Nothing to write home about but before the heads were surfaced and thinner head gaskets put on the compression was down in the 7's for sure. Plus we all know low-comp Mopar engines still romp hard especially after those low-comp builds done by IQ52.
So the heads are now on, also I hit the "crusty" side of the block with a wire wheel it took a while but I got most of the crust off. I just have to strip the rest of the paint and grease then hit it with some Krud Kutter (phosphoric acid) and it'll be ready for new paint. After I got the heads on (two hours just to clean the bores and deck surfaces not taking any chances) I couldn't help but put on the pretty parts, I'm in love with this black powdercoated intake.
Here are some pics of the car, basically an empty body shell at this point. I tried to wipe down the fender so you could see the color better under all that dust.
It will definitely be getting a full buff and wax once it's all together and we also need to touch up the engine bay, the guy doing the paint job certainly wasn't concerned about getting under the bumpers or engine accessories. Far from a platinum resto paint job but hey that's what $3500 for a rolling body gets you.
So the heads are now on, also I hit the "crusty" side of the block with a wire wheel it took a while but I got most of the crust off. I just have to strip the rest of the paint and grease then hit it with some Krud Kutter (phosphoric acid) and it'll be ready for new paint. After I got the heads on (two hours just to clean the bores and deck surfaces not taking any chances) I couldn't help but put on the pretty parts, I'm in love with this black powdercoated intake.
Here are some pics of the car, basically an empty body shell at this point. I tried to wipe down the fender so you could see the color better under all that dust.
It will definitely be getting a full buff and wax once it's all together and we also need to touch up the engine bay, the guy doing the paint job certainly wasn't concerned about getting under the bumpers or engine accessories. Far from a platinum resto paint job but hey that's what $3500 for a rolling body gets you.
wbk
Well-Known Member
915 heads would bring you up 1 point in compression
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Hey mopekid,
I'd knock out all the coreplugs in the block and replace em with marine grade brass core plugs, then you eont have any coolant leaking issues from rusty old ones. Cheap insurance.
Hope this helps
Btw tell your cousin i think that satellite body is "dead sexy"(thats how we say thats freakin cool in Abilene) and much better w a 440 than a slant sux.
Matt
I'd knock out all the coreplugs in the block and replace em with marine grade brass core plugs, then you eont have any coolant leaking issues from rusty old ones. Cheap insurance.
Hope this helps
Btw tell your cousin i think that satellite body is "dead sexy"(thats how we say thats freakin cool in Abilene) and much better w a 440 than a slant sux.
Matt
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Thanks Matt, core plugs are also on the to-do list forgot to mention as these ones are pretty bad... and I did get the brass ones, they sell steel also but I see no reason to use those unless you need to save five bucks. I get you on the "dead sexy" term I'm sure I used that to describe it once or twice haha. My cousin is doing all the cosmetic stuff... fixing rusty trunk and floor panels (hopefully we have a weld-off I really want to do the welding) and redoing the whole interior. I'm in charge of all the mechanical stuff... engine (duh), trans, rear end, suspension, and some wiring just from experience.
The slant is in good shape btw I'm not really sure what to do with it. Probably our only option is to get it running and sell it, I get a kick out of starting old non-running engines anyway. Makes for good YouTube footage at least.
Khalid
deman360
Well-Known Member
With that compression, can you spell supercharged?
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Hey Khalid,
You might could get some bucks for the slanty. Theres guys out there looking for em. Mopar made a lot of them. But they are getting older, less and less cars come into the junky with em out here anymore. They are starting to become an anomaly out here. Not that i would want one mind you LOL. I tried to sell the slanty, and 3 speed on here from my 67 cuda for $100 complete. It only had 61K on it. Nobody wanted it. I hauled it off for scrap.
Are you doing a schumacher conversion to the K frame?? Elephant ears??
How about a GM HEI module setup on a mopar electronic dizzy??
Id recommend the GM module mod for anybody. Lots of youtube vids on this. PM me i can send you pix of the clean mod i did on my 74 318 dizzy with a GM module.
Matt
You might could get some bucks for the slanty. Theres guys out there looking for em. Mopar made a lot of them. But they are getting older, less and less cars come into the junky with em out here anymore. They are starting to become an anomaly out here. Not that i would want one mind you LOL. I tried to sell the slanty, and 3 speed on here from my 67 cuda for $100 complete. It only had 61K on it. Nobody wanted it. I hauled it off for scrap.
Are you doing a schumacher conversion to the K frame?? Elephant ears??
How about a GM HEI module setup on a mopar electronic dizzy??
Id recommend the GM module mod for anybody. Lots of youtube vids on this. PM me i can send you pix of the clean mod i did on my 74 318 dizzy with a GM module.
Matt
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Thanks for the tips we'll throw it on "list by Craig" lol and see what happens. my cousin already has a Mallory HyFire ignition box (similar to MSD 6-AL), we're gonna use that with the stock electronic dizzy. We also bought a V8 k-frame it was cheaper than a conversion mount kit. I have heard a lot of good things about the GM HEI probably would have considered that if we didn't already have the Mallory box.
Deman360 supercharger actually sounds better than doing a full rebuild with Al heads etc. Throwing 10 lbs of boost up here would only be like 6 or 7 at sea level which is nothing.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
One of my friends uaed to live out in albuquerque new mexico. He had a 1987 dodge lancer 2.2 turbo 5 speed. Said it ran good at high altitudes. This would make sense as it compressed the air to below sea level atmospheric pressure.
I work in aviation for a living. Smaller piston powered aircraft with turbo superchargers on them use the turbos for pressurizarion in the cabin, and to get near sea level performance above 10,000 feet. Same concept, but different useage.
I am going w the GM setup only because its cheap, works, and if anything breaks on the road, most auto parts stores have these things in stock. Will still carry a spare module, and pickup though.
I work in aviation for a living. Smaller piston powered aircraft with turbo superchargers on them use the turbos for pressurizarion in the cabin, and to get near sea level performance above 10,000 feet. Same concept, but different useage.
I am going w the GM setup only because its cheap, works, and if anything breaks on the road, most auto parts stores have these things in stock. Will still carry a spare module, and pickup though.
Have seen good luck, with a few Hyfire boxes, with stock distributors.(parts guy, I was) Boost, can only help, in your elevation zone.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
I am running that same setup on my Duster (HyFire box with stock dizzy) and it's worked great for about seven years now. Those things make a fat spark, gotta make sure your plug wire ends are put on right or that **** will arc and numb up your whole arm if you happen to touch one while it's running.
So a "sorta" update here, I went to this amazingly badass humongous racing/performance parts warehouse only a few miles from me
D) and they can get a new harmonic damper for only $150. I was under the impression that SFI-approved dampers were a good idea on basically any hi-po engine but the guy behind the counter said they're really only necessary on super-high-winding engines (8000+ RPM); this 440 will probably only ever hit 5500 and only hang there for a split second at that. Also found out they carry Brad Penn oils for only $7 a quart which is the same I pay for Valvoline VR1 (for zinc) around here. I'll probably buy a case in the near future I'm sure it's at least a "cut above" the regular brands you get at Wally World etc.
MopaR&D
Nerd Member
Small update... dang it's already been almost a month but not much progress to report :???:
I had to convince my cousin a couple weeks ago NOT to tear back apart this 440 which is 80% finished simply so he could "get a feel" for building engines. He's the type of person who is always coming up with grand ideas that seem perfect in his mind but they end up being far from it LOL. I'm having trouble getting him to stick to a set plan on at least getting this car mechanically back together and then working on all the small cosmetic details which he obsesses over. Example: he recently spray-painted some engine bolts purple so they would accent the engine nicely and go with the color of the car. But they were the super-weak Grade 3 or whatever bolts and the paint scrapes off easily when you wrench on it... DUH stop wasting time dude! :violent1: He's just kind of throwing ideas all over the place and doesn't get how to prioritize work when building a car and he doesn't like taking my advice without a lot of arguing because in his mind he wants it to be "his" car.
So after that we're now (kinda) moving along again. Another issue, he doesn't understand the saying "you get what you pay for" and he keeps trying to buy the cheapest parts he can find on Ebay and such. Now we've been waiting weeks for the engine paint and harmonic damper to come in because he thought he was saving money by not using Summit Racing like we usually do; guess he's slowly learning the hard way. He ordered a distributor cap off Ebay and lo and behold, it's exactly the same as the cheap parts-store ones with the shitty aluminum contacts that blow out after a few months running a high-output ignition system like his Mallory HyFire. Could've asked me first but then I would have made him spend more money on a quality product! :banghead:
At this point the long block is assembled and primered on the outside as we wait for the paint to arrive. I lubed and installed the camshaft but not the lifters/valvetrain yet because I want to still rotate the engine to set the static ignition advance. Yesterday I went to the shop by myself (cousin is out of town for spring break) and mocked up the k-member to the engine and mounts. I also hacked out the 8 3/4" rear out of his '72 Polara which we pulled the engine from so that I can pull the entire exhaust system as one piece. That way I can assemble the engine/trans on the ground to start it and break in the cam and have full exhaust with mufflers to keep the noise down and check for internal noises from the engine. It should be happening here soon, just need to find where he put the dang torque converter bolts and the old radiator from the Polara so it can have a cooling system for the cam break-in. Luckily I'm keeping tabs of my labor hours and he's going to pay me for my time and work, if he wasn't I would have walked away a while ago to save my own sanity HA :evil3:
After the cam is broken in then I'll let him have a field day making the engine look pretty to his eccentric whims and I'll start working on the 727 to install a shift kit and take a peek at the internals. I'm also currently testing out the "new" Holley Ultra Street Avenger 770 on my own car and making sure it'll fire up the first time on his 440 and not become a gasoline geyser.
I had to convince my cousin a couple weeks ago NOT to tear back apart this 440 which is 80% finished simply so he could "get a feel" for building engines. He's the type of person who is always coming up with grand ideas that seem perfect in his mind but they end up being far from it LOL. I'm having trouble getting him to stick to a set plan on at least getting this car mechanically back together and then working on all the small cosmetic details which he obsesses over. Example: he recently spray-painted some engine bolts purple so they would accent the engine nicely and go with the color of the car. But they were the super-weak Grade 3 or whatever bolts and the paint scrapes off easily when you wrench on it... DUH stop wasting time dude! :violent1: He's just kind of throwing ideas all over the place and doesn't get how to prioritize work when building a car and he doesn't like taking my advice without a lot of arguing because in his mind he wants it to be "his" car.
So after that we're now (kinda) moving along again. Another issue, he doesn't understand the saying "you get what you pay for" and he keeps trying to buy the cheapest parts he can find on Ebay and such. Now we've been waiting weeks for the engine paint and harmonic damper to come in because he thought he was saving money by not using Summit Racing like we usually do; guess he's slowly learning the hard way. He ordered a distributor cap off Ebay and lo and behold, it's exactly the same as the cheap parts-store ones with the shitty aluminum contacts that blow out after a few months running a high-output ignition system like his Mallory HyFire. Could've asked me first but then I would have made him spend more money on a quality product! :banghead:
At this point the long block is assembled and primered on the outside as we wait for the paint to arrive. I lubed and installed the camshaft but not the lifters/valvetrain yet because I want to still rotate the engine to set the static ignition advance. Yesterday I went to the shop by myself (cousin is out of town for spring break) and mocked up the k-member to the engine and mounts. I also hacked out the 8 3/4" rear out of his '72 Polara which we pulled the engine from so that I can pull the entire exhaust system as one piece. That way I can assemble the engine/trans on the ground to start it and break in the cam and have full exhaust with mufflers to keep the noise down and check for internal noises from the engine. It should be happening here soon, just need to find where he put the dang torque converter bolts and the old radiator from the Polara so it can have a cooling system for the cam break-in. Luckily I'm keeping tabs of my labor hours and he's going to pay me for my time and work, if he wasn't I would have walked away a while ago to save my own sanity HA :evil3:
After the cam is broken in then I'll let him have a field day making the engine look pretty to his eccentric whims and I'll start working on the 727 to install a shift kit and take a peek at the internals. I'm also currently testing out the "new" Holley Ultra Street Avenger 770 on my own car and making sure it'll fire up the first time on his 440 and not become a gasoline geyser.
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