440 motor

[jobberone]

Have 1970 RB 440 motor matching dates in my 1970 Superbee. I left it as is when I put a mild build on the engine prior to dropping it in when freshening the paint and mechanics. Car has very little hours on it since the rebuild of the motor.

I'm thinking of increasing my HP some not wild as it would be a driver.

What's the thoughts on going to aftermarket heads with headers and taking the mild hyd cam out and putting a roller in with moderate lift. I'm going to EFI added with either MSD or FAST maybe the Fitech. Car has a mild-mod build 727 all fresh and I balanced the driveshaft and put new universals in.

NOT looking for a hot rod but a little more punch. Car hasn't been dynoed as it is but its a high 13 sec car as is maybe a little more than the stock 440 of its day. 300 to at most 350 crank HP I'd say. A good modern 5.7 395 HP would beat it IMO.

BTW, I talked to the builder today about going with a 6.4 modern hemi and drivetrain. Not going to go that way right now though unless I do the work myself.

Your suggestions for heads, headers, EFI and cam?? Or would you just drive it and enjoy it as is? Other than no PS it drives well and cranks right up every time as is. Decent looking Plum Crazy car.

 

[1967coronet440]

What's your budget? I would do trickflow 240's if budget allows, if you want cheaper look at the ede rpm's or stealth from 440 source. comp xtreme energy 286 cam, Doug's or TTI headers fitech meanstreet efi and have a blast. Should be around 550hp give or take. My 2 cents

 

[Mike67]

I have more questions than exact answers...Not really sure what more you looking for.
Are you wanting to beat a SRT Charger? What is your real goal and budget? How deep into the build do you want to go?
You could probably do with little as a simple cam swap.
What compression, cam, intake, gears carb, converter & ignition do you have now?
There are a lot of smart people here that have run the gamut from mild to wild and each has their own recipes.
Just give a little more info and sit back and watch the suggestions flow!!!
Here a pretty good article for a simple build...
http://www.hotrod.com/articles/535hp-440-engine/

 

[jobberone]

Right now pretty stock. Dual plane manifold 750 Holley. No MSD box aftermarket coil stock distributor. Stock heads mini-mild hyd cam. CR roughly 9.5. Stock exh manifolds and exhaust.

No budget except everyone has some kind of budget. I'll spend more than a little and less than a lot. Thinking of changing heart of engine or heads/cam, adding some headers maybe and EFI.

No HP goals just fun car to drive. It's ok now but I think my Nissan Maxima would give it grief. I'd say 500+HP or 400-450 RWHP would be a blast thru that mildly built 727.

 

[Mike67]

I think MSD efi is only rated to 525 hp and no more than 250 duration. I would go w a FiTech or Terminator.
I have the RPMs but if I could do it over I would go with the TF 240s like 1967 stated. Those have 78cc chambers so depending on which heads you have now it could raise your cr a little too.
Headers, RPM type dual plane intake and a cam to match where you want your power I don't think you would have any problems doing what you want.

 

[mentor70]

the OE 440 heads are deff a choke point on a good 440.

you need heads that flow 300+ cfm and 550 to 600 lift. and a good cam that can pack those big cylinders.

trick flows are the best bet. but i did CNC ported 440source steath heads just before the Trick flows cam out. they are flowing 305 CFM and 600 lift.

you could do a mild soild lift cam as well and get similar results to rollers with a lot less money

 

[jobberone]

the OE 440 heads are deff a choke point on a good 440.

you need heads that flow 300+ cfm and 550 to 600 lift. and a good cam that can pack those big cylinders.

trick flows are the best bet. but i did CNC ported 440source steath heads just before the Trick flows cam out. they are flowing 305 CFM and 600 lift.

you could do a mild soild lift cam as well and get similar results to rollers with a lot less money

I will change to a hyd roller. I don't want vacuum problems although I've never put a decent sized roller in an older engine even a big block so I don't know. I also won't go solid lifters as I don't want to address the need to service them.

The big heads and the right cam are the heart but I don't want too much as this is a driver. I don't want idle problems. Big block Mopars sound killer with big cams but too rough for me and the idle needs to go up too much. I'm going to look at the 280s and up without spending a fortune as I'm looking for bang for the buck. May even go smaller as it just needs to scoot not roar. I'll talk with Comp Cams tomorrow even though no heads yet.

 

[sputnik 440]

First off, I have not built an entire engine before. I know this though, if you are going to run a HP 440 with 550-600 hp on the street as a driver, make sure you match the cam with the rear end and where you want your power range. If you don't, you may never be satisfied with what you have done and you will spend a lot of time and/or $ "tuning". I bought the comp cam package of cam, lifters, roller rockers, pushrods, springs and retainers in a kit from them. Initially they want me to go with 23-223 which is what they recommended for street use. I run a 8 3/4 373 rear end and wanted more mid range (1800-6000) performance. They agreed the 23-224 (.488 .491 would work the best. This cam works great in the city and gives terrific power even in 4th gear at 60 mph. (I don't like following anyone). '67 Satellite Setup -- '67 - HP440, 850 dp holley, Dominator intake, MSD ign, 915 ported heads, 2" hooker headers, 3" exh, 4 speed, 373 rear end. I think if it was me, I'd go with a 750 cfm Holley for driving in town. The 440 will sound nice, you'll love it. These aren't recommendations, only experience. Good luck

 

[mentor70]

Had Hughes CNC port my Stealth heads to just over 300 cfm. Dont worry about going too far on a 440. The heads are waaayy to small to begin with.