New to me 440

[SludgeWizard]

Hey y’all, picked up a new 440 in New York this past Saturday. PO didn’t know a lot about it, said he pulled it for a 383 stroker he was building. Turns over great, has good compression and the cylinder walls seem pretty good. Can anyone with a better knowledge than I glean anything from the stamping? It certainly sounded like it’d had work done to it from the videos he’d sent me, perhaps a mild cam. Allegedly the car it came out of also had a D60 rear end so I imagine it has been worked.

 

[Davea Lux]

The top number is the casting date, looks to be 1-23-78 which makes it a late production 440. Mostly in police cruisers and trucks at that point. Check the pan rail on the passenger side, there should be a VIN number stamped there which would tell you what the engine came out of. Be sure to replace those soft plugs as they are at the point of failure. The lower number is a casting number for a 440, 3698830.

Dave

 

[SludgeWizard]

The top number is the casting date, looks to be 1-23-78 which makes it a late production 440. Mostly in police cruisers and trucks at that point. Check the pan rail on the passenger side, there should be a VIN number stamped there which would tell you what the engine came out of. Be sure to replace those soft plugs as they are at the point of failure. The lower number is a casting number for a 440, 3698830.

Dave

Got it, I’ll check the other side in a day or two. A lot of the freeze plugs look similarly bad, I’ll likely replace them all as cheap insurance! Thanks for the info!

 

[Vaanth]

The pictured block has a casting number of 3698830. 440swith casting number 3698830 were used in 1973 -1974 models. The casting date on the block is 1-23-73.

The engine is likely a 1973 model year build. More information about the build is stamped on the identification pad at the front top left of the engine block next the distributor, like the one shown in the following image:

In 1973, the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle, except trucks, in which the engine was originally installed is on the right lower side of the block above the oil pan rail, like that shown in the following image:

 

[SludgeWizard]

The pictured block has a casting number of 3698830. 440swith casting number 3698830 were used in 1973 -1974 models. The casting date on the block is 1-23-73.

The engine is likely a 1973 model year build. More information about the build is stamped on the identification pad at the front top left of the engine block next the distributor, like the one shown in the following image:
View attachment 745279

In 1973, the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle in which the engine was originally installed is on the right lower side of the block above the oil pan rail, like that shown in the following image:
View attachment 745280

That’s actually perfect, as it’s going in my 73 Fury to replace the current locked up 440