I have the chance to buy a H440 HP. stamp reads
H440 A 2 25 HP 12 23 71
Would this be a 71 or 72? I have read that 71 still had 370 hp but the 72 dropped to 280. does anybody have any thoughts on this motor. and is there anyway to tell the HP rating on this one? can anybody decode the stamp?
thanks

 

72

 

Some of the difference is that they changed the way they measured it..

 

They measured the hp with all accys and at the trans output shaft,so it dont matter. Buy the engine.

 

Actually, the net hp was measured at the flywheel, but yes, it included the accessories.

The reality is that the pre-72 gross standards were really fictitious and meant very little. The good news is that Chrysler had the least "imaginary" hp on their big blocks. But on the other hand, there was a big loss in hp when the compression ratios dropped. If anything else equal, may be more than 50 hp loss. In the Jensen Interceptor road tests that I have, the pre-72 high compression ratio 383 was faster at all performance numbers than the low compression ratio 440, and that was by a significant margin.

 

its a rebuildable core, don't pay more for the hp stamp.