440 engine question!?
 

i have a 1976 440 engine thats came out of an RV. i want to put it in a 71 RR. The engine has 60k on it runs fine. i know its low performance but i want to either rebuild it or just simply add perfomance to it. I am just wondering whats the best thing to do. i want to make it a six pack bird.

Rebuild it, a 1976 440 had a compression ratio of around 8.5:1, good for a motorhome but not-so-good for your roadrunner. Its not a bad engine its just detuned for emmissions.

When I bought my 1977 440 engine about 3 months ago I was looking at a motor home engine and was told that I must rebuild it as there was a certain way they were maintained or kept cool. Not sure which but in order to turn the "slug" into anything I would have to start with that. I am sorry I can't remember exactly but I didn't buy that engine, went for one out of a New Yorker with 38k and still doing a partial rebuild as you know things sit and stuff can happen, always good place to start so you know what you have and there are no other internal problems.

yea ill think ill rebuild it, i talked to some machine shop guys and they said they could bore it out and i can rebuild it. i also got a trans with it to. with the drive shaft. im also wondering if i should use it or not. but thanks alot for the 440 answer!

I put an rv 1976 440 in my 72 charger and I used the original driveshaft shortened a hair. Same car as yours underneath the skin... Take that compression ratio up alot though! The heads usually suck. I plan on some RPM heads with big valves soon

440 compression ratio advice please...
 

hey folks,,, could one of you out there in mopar land please give me some advice... Ive got a factory untouched 69 GTX engine, I want to bore it .030. WILL I LOOSE COMPRESSION? second question, if I do loose some compression, how can I get it back, maybe shave the heads and how many thousands?

bore job
 

no you will not loose any compression if you just "bore it". As long as you keep everything else the same {piston compression height, head gasket thickness, valve notch volume etc}. You may gain a miniscule amount actually.

Be careful with that GTX motor, those numbers matching engines are hard to find. :) :D :).

I wouldn't bore a motor unless it is needed and like moparguy stated, those motors are getting hard to find.

As far as I know, with the 440 Rv motor, they vary with what they came with. Many had extra mods for better cooling of the heads, Some had "leftover" 440 six pack rods with an externally balanced damper. The real score is the tranny, it had heavy duty internals and a planetary gear unit with more gears in it. [The 413 motorhome motor had special heads that look totally different].

That is true. Some of the 440 motorhome blocks would be great for a build.

Really?! The local yard is full of them. Thanks for the tip.

Don't just go out and start picking them up. There are some that are not worth the time. DO a little looking and see what is out there. If you can find one with a 413, go with it.

Fortunately, there is not alot of turnover out here. whats there, will stay there. Too broke to do other than look and plan right now.

I might have talked myself into going to find one by answering the question.

Oh this darn forum! ( makes me get too many crazy Ideas)

{...making a fine stew with goblins...}

I still like balloons:D

Easiest thing to do is add a K&N Air Filter.

Pump up the compression and don't over cam!
 

All a 440 (any year) needs to really scream is a compression ratio of 10.0 to 10.5. This can be achieved a number of ways without sacrificing driviability or having to burn racing fuel in a street car. I would invest in some good forged pistons such as Wiesco and maybe locate some 915 closed chamber heads. Couple this with a moderate cam without too much duration at .050 (238-244 will be good) and a carburetor that wll keep it fed well (800 or 850) and you will be really surprised.

best 440 engines
 

The best 440 engine years were between 1966 (the first year) and 1971. After that the compression dropped a lot. I picked up a 1966 running with 75,000 miles which was in the original car a 1966 chrysler imperial. Will be trying it out in my 1971 barracuda soon.

also, after 71 you may have to deal with the thin walls

I am running a 1975 440 in my roadrunner that was transplanted from a Chrysler New Yorker. It has a .030 over bore and I have been told that this is max overbore for any 440 past casting year 1975. I'm not sure if that is solid information but I do know that my '75 is fine with absolutely no cooling issues due to thin cylinder walls. I would not be afraid of any 440 up to .030 overbore and might even consider .040 , if ever needed, on my '75.

Actually the thin walls started in 76, every block 75 and older are thick block design. They don't recommend boring on blocks 76 and newer.

Actually, there is no "thin wall" ever...Just varying degress of core shift from block to block.

Motorhome had a version of the TF727 called the loadflite Different physically from the standard 727, SO you may be able to use the insides in a standard 727

:uzi::uzi::uzi:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "THIN WALLS" ON ANY RBB MOPAR ENGINE. I'm surprised :yikes: at such a statement for as much "experience, and knowledge" on this site. There is no such thing as thinwall blocks. They DO NOT

exist.http://www.440source.com/blockinfo.htm :slap::slap::slap::slap::frypan::frypan::frypan:

the later 440s, though they have a lower compression ratio, also have some great advantages that can be discovered by reading the page in the link I've provided above.

Best of luck!

If there is any question ? Have the block sonic checked. Motor home engines are more like 8 to 1 I would put a stroker kit in it with a forged crank.. 9.5 compression for street

I OWN a Sonic Tester....and I have tested many BB Mopars over the years.

I can't find any "significant" differences in wall thicknesses between early and late 440 Blocks....the late Blocks "might" even be slightly thicker on average ??....but they also seem slightly "softer" when Honing...maybe less Nickel in the Iron??
IMO, one thing is for sure.....ALL 440 Blocks will do just fine for most any build.

IMO also, the absolute BEST stock Block to use for a "Higher" H.P. effort...is the "213" Casting 400 lowdeck Block.

A friend of mine put a 440 motorhome engine in his '72 RR and it had some major thump, but i don't know what he was running for heads. i think it was just stock. that car MOVED, especially off the line.

yep, what i'd do is switch out the heads for a tad higher CR and slap it in. 440s are beast.

New to site. I paid over $6,000 to rebuild my 1973 Chrysler 400 (Imperial body), and then the body got trashed.

I would like to sell the engine or the complete vehicle for a fair price.
donbright@yahoo.com

Earlier pre 71 blocks are better ONLY because most of them have a forged crank.. Later blocks have a cast crank. ALL 400's had cast crank..

Can the motorhome 727 be used in a car application or do I need to get a different transmission?