440 motor home motors vrs car 440

[CANIBUILD4U]

What is the difference in a 440 motor home motor and a car 440? Should I stay clear of them or do they take minor changes to get the performance? Keep in mind Im a newbee just learning and I want to get into a 44o for my Charger as cheap as I can and with the least work .

 

[72Satellite440]

I beleve the only 440 designs that were made are the 440 were pre 69 blocks some "HP" blocks got the extra reinforcment around the cyl walls. I did read that as long as the block is 69 --> newer then just make sure it hasnt been rebuilt too many times.

Got mine from a 69 newport-

 

[iraqivet01]

No difference according to 440 source.com.

 

[1ol74charger4me]

First there are some great pros and cons threads on dodgecharger.com about this. My experience was I bought a complete 1978 440 out of a winnebago after listening to it run for a couple of hours for $500. It was complete, all acc.,new starter,alt,electronic dist., cruise control, new 750 performer with elec. choke. I grabbed the rad. which scrapped for 40$, scrapped the manifolds and intake for a few more bucks which helped on cost. I swapped to a car oilpan and found out it had a factory bonus windage tray. That and buying a weight for the torque converter was about all I had to do before dropping a running engine in my car. What is neat is that the pulleys on that motor were somewhat bigger giving it a free underdrive pulley setup! The thing is, this is about the only source left for complete motors that can run as is. It may not be a hp motor but it can be. I found it to be a real good answer to being tired of pushing a charger. Be patient and only buy a motor you can hear run. Don't tell them you are putting it in a musclecar or the price goes up!

 

[CANIBUILD4U]

Thanks for the responses but I just found and bought a complete running 375 hp 440 out of a 68 newyorker . I passed on the motor home motors after talking to a local motorhead he said they just had torque and not much compression and horse power . Only 8 to 1 compression. Same blocks but crank and cam and maybe even the heads was different and they was only around 200 hp ...... I dont know everyone tells me something different lol

 

[72 Charger SE]

Thanks for the responses but I just found and bought a complete running 375 hp 440 out of a 68 newyorker . I passed on the motor home motors after talking to a local motorhead he said they just had torque and not much compression and horse power . Only 8 to 1 compression. Same blocks but crank and cam and maybe even the heads was different and they was only around 200 hp ...... I dont know everyone tells me something different lol

Well, considering what they were designed for, there should be no surprises about a motorhome engine. If you are planning on a rebuild, low compression pistons and small cam are going to be replaced anyway. Heads are likely 452 castings, which if memory serves, are similar to 906 castings only with hardened exhaust valve seats for unleaded fuel. I've got a 1978 motorhome 440 in my shop that I got with transmission attached by trading a wood stove that I bought for $150. It has the 452 heads.

As far as the block itself, from what I've read, the cylinder walls were the same as earlier models (contrary to reports from Mopar that they were thin wall castings.) The actual issue seems to be the later model blocks having more core shift in the casting process, making some cylinder walls have thin spots. If you plan to use one of these for high performance rebuilds, it is recommended that the block be sonic checked on all cylinders.

 

[1ol74charger4me]

Thanks for the responses but I just found and bought a complete running 375 hp 440 out of a 68 newyorker . I passed on the motor home motors after talking to a local motorhead he said they just had torque and not much compression and horse power . Only 8 to 1 compression. Same blocks but crank and cam and maybe even the heads was different and they was only around 200 hp ...... I dont know everyone tells me something different lol

Well I guess we can call you the top scorer on that deal! New yorkers and the big c bodies used to be a great source of big blocks but the demophiles have about bleed my area dry of those. You got LUCKY!!! Mine was a good deal for this area where every old fart with a leaky top rv is sellin it as big block mopar for muscle car or some similar headline.