440 help!

[383man]

I agree that its basics to go with aluminum heads when you consider the cost of them today its just not worth using the iron heads most of the time unless you run a class and you have to. I used 906's on my old 440 but I do all my own head work as my brother has a machine shop and I can use all the equipment which I did on the 906's I used. And all I had to pay for was the parts like the valves , retainers , springs and any othe minor parts. But I cant port heads anymore with my bad back and I still had close to $400 just in the parts when I did my 906's. And when I built my 493 I wanted better heads anyway and my porting was part of my hobby of cars as I am by no means a pro at head porting.
So by all means most in the hobby cant do their own head work because they dont have the acess to the equipment or dont know how since most are not auto techs. Bottom line is IQ52 is dead right. Ron

 

[wyrmrider]

My old 440 was a pump gas eng that was in my 63 until I put the 493 in. It was a stock bottom end with KB quench pad pistons and 906 heads I ported. It came in right at 10.0 comp and I got quench with the KB pistons but its alot of work using them. I ran the MP .557 cam and a Holley Street Dominator intake with an 850 DP. In my 63 with a 9.5 Dynamic converter and 4.30's with a 30" tall tire it ran a best of 11.49 @ 116 at 3700 lbs. It would usually run 11.60's to 11.70's on normal days. Just thought you might want to know about it. Good luck with yours. Ron

Great post
OP needs to factor in hard ex seats and new guides if he plans on putting many miles on his build
kb's are the way to go with iron heads
there is no easy fix