Hey guys, I am new to the forums and have very little mehcanical knowledge when it comes to vehicle motors but I am working on building a truck for mud races (have friends that know how to do mechanical stuff but they are chev guys). The truck I currently have has a 1979 440 in it and I am looking to get some more power out of it without breaking the bank.

As far as I know, its not bored over size and has stock bottom end. It has Hedman headers (1 3/4 I believe) and Holley 750 double pumper carb. I already bought a set of 906 heads that are ported with 2.14 / 1.81 stainless valves, .525 springs and bronze guides and milled 0.080.
I was looking at an edelbrock performer intake and a cam. The cam can't be very lump or noticeable. Some friends I know have the Comp cams XE268H in their chevs and are getting away with it (stock class).

Ideally I would like to be as close to 500 HP / TQ as possible without having to bore and go oversize pistons. Any other tricks you guys could recommend? Or any idea what my current build would be close to after the cam and intake? Any advise would be appreciated! Thanks.

 

The thing you don't want to do is what you need to do, your 440 most likely has a 8 - 1 compression ratio and you need 9.5 to 9.75 - 1. New pistons wil fix that problem and save a few hundred grams per hole.

 

Call Hughes and talk to Tim. Ask him about their "Whiplash" Cams. They're fairly low lift with crazy overlap so cylinder pressure goes through the roof. Depending on what piston combo you have, you may even have to run race fuel. Tim is the guy though, and he can help. 500hp is pretty optimistic from anything with stock compression, unless you're forcing air into it. But 400hp shouldn't be too hard with a good cam, Intake, Carb, and Exhaust.

The only other thing you might be able to do is run the thinnest head gasket you can find (.012") which will raise compression if you arent already running one that thin.