Where to look 440 short block.
- Thread starter Turboomni
- Start date
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Be sure to measure everything before assembly. Friend of mine ised a 440 source kit checked it before hand (it was fine) ran mid to low 10s for 10 years, it has never been apart except maintenance and valve train problems.
Amazing
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
Yes, I was a idiot and should of bought the car turnkey from him.
To be clear it was only a 440 source bottom end the bullet roller cam and very worked Eddy victors is what made it run.
bajajoaquin
Senior Member
It wouldn’t be half as cool, though.
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
A tenth for every 100# is arule of thumb
moper
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He's got some good points, some conjecture dressed as fact, and some that I would disagree with. But all in all, a good start to understanding the processes.
67Monaco
Old Man with a Hat
Yer gunna make peoples heads explode.... You're my hero. Well, for this morning anyway...
bajajoaquin
Senior Member
I’ve never heard of such a thing. Do you have pictures of the boring tool? Are they available on the used market?
PontiacJim
Member
At the expense of sounding like an ***, it does not seem like you have a lot of knowledge on building up a 440? If you ask 100 people how to build it, you will get 100 answers - and that will definitely add confusion to your choices and build.
My recommendation to start is to purchase a few books that will provide the knowledge you can use to put into place the best plan in building an engine close to what you want to get the performance you are looking for. The biggest disappointment will be when you mismatch the expensive parts and machine work and hit the gas and have a slow turd under your foot - and not what you had hoped for.
Have an idea of a realistic budget based on what you want to spend for parts, machine work, and how much you can do or can't do to keep costs down. These engines nowadays are not inexpensive to build like the "old days."
You may find that you can spend less dollars on one area so you can invest it in another area of the engine.
You can go big on the cubes, but why if the intake side and exhaust side won't flow? Big cubes need to breathe. So the carb/intake/heads & ports/cam/exhaust manifolds or headers, and exhaust system all have to match - air in, air out.
You want to select an RPM range that your cam will work best in and provide good vacuum to operate the power brakes if you have them. NO cam works in all RPM ranges - its a trade off. You may give up low RPM's for mid-to-upper RPM's. You may want to give up upper RPM's for mid-to-lower RPM's. If most of your driving will be in the mid-to-lower RPM's, why would you give that up just to be able to occasionally make a blast to 6,000 RPM's? And if you build the engine and it only spins 5,000 RPM's, do you really need to spend extra dollars on forged rods, pistons, or even a roller cam?
When selecting a head or doing port work, keep in mind that an engine responds to port velocity. Add bigger flowing heads to feed the bigger cubes and you may find that it is slow to respond at lower RPM's and only picks up at higher RPM's - this is why you would want a higher stall converter or better gearing. Same goes with cam selection and why manufacturers have recommendations to compression ratio's, transmission & gear selection. If the ports are matched to be on the small side, then intake velocity speeds up and the engine's response to your foot is like "right now." This is how some smaller engines outperform larger engines - they are more responsive off the line and get to the finish line faster - all parts matched to perform as such. Again, all things have to be matched to include the rest of the driveline.
When you start going up in HP/TQ, the rest of your drivetrain/suspension/brakes may all need to be upgraded or you may be replacing parts or have a traction issues, or both. Very cool to have lots of power and smoke tires. Not so cool when transmissions slip, U-joints pop, rear axle traction unloads due to spring wind-up or breaks the rear end from the violent forces it was never intended to handle - there is a reason Mopar used the 9 1/4" rear end under the HP/TQ of the Hemi and in my opinion you are shooting for some similar numbers out of your 440 build. Yep, the 8 3/4" is tough, but even it has its limits and these are now getting close to 70 years old and housing many of the old parts. And then there is the transmission - which I won't bore you about.
So keep this all in mind in your build plans. You may have "X" dollars to spend on the engine, but what is your budget for the drivetrain, suspension, and brakes?
Again, I am sure I am going to get an ear full from all the professionals on this, but a good build really has to be thought out and through before you pull the trigger on a single part. I am not one who has deep pockets, so I want my best value for my buck and I want a build that puts a smile on my face when I control that gas pedal in the down position. Knowledge is power and reading all you can and learning the engine and your options will save you from having to consume a couple bottles of aspirin and antacid during your build.
My recommendation to start is to purchase a few books that will provide the knowledge you can use to put into place the best plan in building an engine close to what you want to get the performance you are looking for. The biggest disappointment will be when you mismatch the expensive parts and machine work and hit the gas and have a slow turd under your foot - and not what you had hoped for.
Have an idea of a realistic budget based on what you want to spend for parts, machine work, and how much you can do or can't do to keep costs down. These engines nowadays are not inexpensive to build like the "old days."
You may find that you can spend less dollars on one area so you can invest it in another area of the engine.
You can go big on the cubes, but why if the intake side and exhaust side won't flow? Big cubes need to breathe. So the carb/intake/heads & ports/cam/exhaust manifolds or headers, and exhaust system all have to match - air in, air out.
You want to select an RPM range that your cam will work best in and provide good vacuum to operate the power brakes if you have them. NO cam works in all RPM ranges - its a trade off. You may give up low RPM's for mid-to-upper RPM's. You may want to give up upper RPM's for mid-to-lower RPM's. If most of your driving will be in the mid-to-lower RPM's, why would you give that up just to be able to occasionally make a blast to 6,000 RPM's? And if you build the engine and it only spins 5,000 RPM's, do you really need to spend extra dollars on forged rods, pistons, or even a roller cam?
When selecting a head or doing port work, keep in mind that an engine responds to port velocity. Add bigger flowing heads to feed the bigger cubes and you may find that it is slow to respond at lower RPM's and only picks up at higher RPM's - this is why you would want a higher stall converter or better gearing. Same goes with cam selection and why manufacturers have recommendations to compression ratio's, transmission & gear selection. If the ports are matched to be on the small side, then intake velocity speeds up and the engine's response to your foot is like "right now." This is how some smaller engines outperform larger engines - they are more responsive off the line and get to the finish line faster - all parts matched to perform as such. Again, all things have to be matched to include the rest of the driveline.
When you start going up in HP/TQ, the rest of your drivetrain/suspension/brakes may all need to be upgraded or you may be replacing parts or have a traction issues, or both. Very cool to have lots of power and smoke tires. Not so cool when transmissions slip, U-joints pop, rear axle traction unloads due to spring wind-up or breaks the rear end from the violent forces it was never intended to handle - there is a reason Mopar used the 9 1/4" rear end under the HP/TQ of the Hemi and in my opinion you are shooting for some similar numbers out of your 440 build. Yep, the 8 3/4" is tough, but even it has its limits and these are now getting close to 70 years old and housing many of the old parts. And then there is the transmission - which I won't bore you about.
So keep this all in mind in your build plans. You may have "X" dollars to spend on the engine, but what is your budget for the drivetrain, suspension, and brakes?
Again, I am sure I am going to get an ear full from all the professionals on this, but a good build really has to be thought out and through before you pull the trigger on a single part. I am not one who has deep pockets, so I want my best value for my buck and I want a build that puts a smile on my face when I control that gas pedal in the down position. Knowledge is power and reading all you can and learning the engine and your options will save you from having to consume a couple bottles of aspirin and antacid during your build.
Cazman
Active Member
He has pretty good times and some history of runs. Looks like good matches to me. One thing about places like 440 Source is they have done much of the formula work for us. And there are a good selection of heads manufacturers out there too.
Just do some minimal research on “formulas”, order the parts, and go.
Just do some minimal research on “formulas”, order the parts, and go.
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
I should start looking for a 400 B block and build a stroker, put it in the Father in Law's 65 with some HP manifolds keep it low key
moper
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This is not meant as a cut - but there are much more accurate ways to bore a block now. The boring bars are effective, but they align on the existing bore, and the accuracy can be a crapshoot depending on the operator and the bar. My old shop used a bar for decades. Then they got a Rottler machining center that indexes off the cam and crank centerlines, and can put the bore center anywhere you need or want it, in addition to being extremely accurate in terms of indexing the existing bore center. That bar got sold.
It's similar to using a flint and steel to light a fire, vs a modern plasma lighter. They'll both start a fire, but the flint needs an expert and will take longer... The boring bar is ok for a standard service rebuild but IMO not for a modern performance build.
It's similar to using a flint and steel to light a fire, vs a modern plasma lighter. They'll both start a fire, but the flint needs an expert and will take longer... The boring bar is ok for a standard service rebuild but IMO not for a modern performance build.
I should start looking for a 400 B block and build a stroker, put it in the Father in Law's 65 with some HP manifolds keep it low key
This is an engine I know very little about. Is it a 440 bore with a 383 crank? I have heard they can rev better than a 440 but don't know for sure.
moper
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The 400 is a big bore B wedge block. So you can do combos from 400 to 540 in it. They have the largest stock bores of any big block, and the main webbing is the strongest in any wedge big block. So it's the best foundation for a big motor.
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