A shadetree installs a fresh set of 906's on the ol' 440

[moparedtn]

In this, the next chapter of my infamous "mystery motor" 440 that I inherited when I bought my GTX years ago, I attempt to do a head swap as cheaply as possible - mostly because I don't have funds to do this engine over properly.

As a reminder, the "subject" consists of a 440 of dubious history; I have in the past determined the block to be a '75 low compression deal but stuffed with the reciprocating part of the cars' original 440 from 1968 - forged crank & rods. It has some manner of flat-top pistons in it that don't come anywhere near the deck.
No ring grooves to speak of in the cylinders and they're pretty smooth, so the previous (now deceased) owners' claim of a "rebuild" may sort of be true. Kind of. A little.

It wiped a Mopar puprpleshaft cam rather quickly once I got it running a couple years ago (I blamed it on synthetic oil in a "new" motor), so I swapped in a Comp Cams and lifters of mild design - a couple steps up from stock, that's about it.
It ran ok for a while, then went south on me again about a month ago. I found an intake vacuum leak around #8 and when I removed the intake, I found a bent pushrod on #8 intake and a sticking valve... on what was discovered to be 516 heads ('65 361 & 383 applications). Made sense, as previous owner had a '65 convertible back in the day.

Ok, on to what I've done since then:
I procured a nice set of 906 heads from a good friend out in Indiana. He had his man at the machine shop get them all dressed up for installation, decking them enough to clean them up, hot tanking them, replacing some valves that needed it, installing new valve seals, etc.
My buddy literally gave me these heads for the price of the machine shop work + shipping.
Man, I love that guy.
I fetched a set of FelPro PermaTorque head gaskets, A MoparPerformance intake gasket set and MrGasket header gaskets. I also sent off for a new set of Comp Cams pushrods (stock length, a gamble). The rest I am cleaning up the best I can and re-using.

Today was the beginning of the work. Using ScotchBrite 320 pads, I set about cleaning the gasket surface of the block (worked really nice!).
Todays' progress pics:

The block cleaned up nice, I thought...top pic is a "before" pic, bottom the "after".

906's looking really good. They put a new set of valvesprings on them for me too!
Great guys...

Got 'em all painted up and put the intake gaskets on them. All the bolt holes have been chased and they're ready to go on the block.

Stock intake is all cleaned up. I put the intake gaskets on there, too. It's ready to go!
Oh, I fetched a new set of Edelbrock intake bolts for it, since mine were all hodgepodge junk.

Passenger side on, bolts all torqued. I went ahead and got the header on there and installed at this point, since I knew climbing under the car would take a lot out of me.

 

[moparedtn]

Drivers' side on, torqued down and header installed.
I was right - this header fought like a dog and wore me out.

At the end of today, I got the rockers/shafts/etc. all cleaned up and installed the passenger side ones.
Good news! After torqueing them down, I was still able to spin some of the pushrods. What a relief. Looks like stock length ones are going to work.
Buttoned up the passenger side valve cover and called it a day (it was over 90F here today, so I was pretty flushed by then).
More tomorrow, but so far, so good...

 

[kiwigtx]

Looks good so far.

 

[moparjohnny]

View attachment 360136
Drivers' side on, torqued down and header installed.
I was right - this header fought like a dog and wore me out.

View attachment 360137
At the end of today, I got the rockers/shafts/etc. all cleaned up and installed the passenger side ones.
Good news! After torqueing them down, I was still able to spin some of the pushrods. What a relief. Looks like stock length ones are going to work.
Buttoned up the passenger side valve cover and called it a day (it was over 90F here today, so I was pretty flushed by then).
More tomorrow, but so far, so good...

great job,finish the job.fire it up and let us listen.

 

[moparedtn]

Looks good so far.

Thanks. Yeah, everything is working out nicely so far (knock wood).
I still hate Hedmans, though.

By the way, if anyone sees anything they think might be an issue on what I'm doing and so forth, feel free to pipe up.

 

[IQ52]

What did all the little pieces of scotchbrite pad fall into as they broke off while you were cleaning the block?

 

[moparedtn]

What did all the little pieces of scotchbrite pad fall into as they broke off while you were cleaning the block?

The lifter valley was stuffed full of towels for just such a thing, even though there were no "little pieces" falling off - it was all fine grit, dust really.
Pad held together very well.
Compressed air blew it out of everything afterwards.

 

[PRND21]

Previous owner might have used the 516 heads on that 75 block to gain some compression. 906s should flow better.

 

[moparedtn]

Previous owner might have used the 516 heads on that 75 block to gain some compression. 906s should flow better.

Oh yeah, a lot bigger ports and exhaust valves for starters.
Maybe, but it appears the more I dig into this motor that it's really just a mixed bag of whatever he had left from other projects.

 

[SgtLee511]

nice pics

 

[clazar]

Looks good !!!

Chuck

 

[conv67bdere]

Good news! After torqueing them down, I was still able to spin some of the pushrods. What a relief. Looks like stock length ones are going to work.
Buttoned up the passenger side valve cover and called it a day (it was over 90F here today, so I was pretty flushed by then).
More tomorrow, but so far, so good...

Looking really GOOD ! ! ! I know what you mean about the heat - I'm in NC and we have the same heat you're getting - and I'm out welding in the garage ( what am I thinking ) . . . Drink lots of water and keep yourself hydrated so we will be able to see the end product ! !

 

[moparedtn]

Looking really GOOD ! ! ! I know what you mean about the heat - I'm in NC and we have the same heat you're getting - and I'm out welding in the garage ( what am I thinking ) . . . Drink lots of water and keep yourself hydrated so we will be able to see the end product ! !

Well thanks!
Yes, water is crucial, given what's trying to do me in these days.

Ah yes, Concord, home of NASCAR. Been to CMS many a time.
Love the "old town" section of town.
Charlotte, OTOH, well....

I appreciate the encouragement, I really do. Trying to do this for under $500, believe it or not. I think I may just make it.

 

[moparedtn]

Looks good !!!

Chuck

Thanks Chuck. I'm trying, man....

 

[moparedtn]

DAY TWO UPDATE:
Well, it's all done. Sort of...

Picking up from yesterday, I got the drivers' side assembled and ready for valve cover.

I spent quite a bit of time on the original rockers/shafts. I know this is an area of concern (especially oiling) on these engines, so I cleaned hell out of them using wire brush on drill, lots of Brakekleen and even a Dremel (on the oil grooves).
They turned out nice I think.

Valve covers on and bathtub in place, using my friend Bills' billet end rails. This is the third engine those have been installed on and they still polish up beautifully.

Everything was going really well.
Then the nightmare that is getting the stock intake on ensued...
First trial fit (using the Mopar Performance gasket kit, which includes "paper" gaskets for both sides of the bathtub) I discovered that there appeared to be too much gasket in the sandwich - could only get one side bolts started at a time.
Grrrr.
Ok, off came the intake and I removed the paper gaskets from it that I had so carefully glued in place yesterday, in an effort to try and make it fit.
Ran sealant on the bathtub only around the ports and tried again....
Grrrr Part Deux.
What occurred next was a full HOUR of cussing and beating and thrashing and gnashing of teeth as I tried to get first the fancy Edelbrock intake bolts to start - and then relenting to whatever grade 5 or better bolts I could find in my shop.
It was quite apparent that whatever combination of machining to the block and the heads done in the past was just enough to drive me nuts.
Didn't matter. Once I set my mind to something...
End result was it got done.

Onward!

All done. I even got the wiring right the first time.

Next came the moment of truth....


You're now reading the musings of one worn the hell out, but happy, old man.
Vacuum is around 15Hg and she idles real nice at 750RPM. I checked mixture and such and wound up leaving the carb exactly as set.
Since I didn't remove the distributor, the timing was already there, too.

Did I mention I'm PLEASED??

Full disclosure: I cheaped out and didn't buy new valve cover gaskets, which manifested itself in a leak on the passenger side. I saw the break in that gasket and tried to make it all better with some extra sealant.
Failed.
I also managed to misplace the wing nut and washer for the air cleaner.
Hell, if that's all the carnage, I can live with it.
Thanks for reading, y'all!

 

[PRND21]

Looks good, I hope it runs as good as it looks. Is that a braided line for your oil pressure gauge? Do you know where it came from?

 

[moparedtn]

Looks good, I hope it runs as good as it looks. Is that a braided line for your oil pressure gauge? Do you know where it came from?

Thanks!
Yes, that's a braided line for the oil pressure. It's a Russell that I fetched from Summit. Dang thing cost almost as much as the gauge, but I wasn't about to use the plastic tubing (or even copper) inside the car.

 

[mopar 3 B]

Make any trips yet? The final test.

 

[moparedtn]

Make any trips yet? The final test.

Not yet. I want to fetch a set of valve cover gaskets and get them on there first.
Looking forward to it.

 

[PRND21]

Thanks!
Yes, that's a braided line for the oil pressure. It's a Russell that I fetched from Summit. Dang thing cost almost as much as the gauge, but I wasn't about to use the plastic tubing (or even copper) inside the car.

That's a good idea. I've never seen one before. I never did like the plastic or copper line.