Best heads for a budget 440?

[Virg464]

I've done some searching and no clear answers yet. I have a '70 Charger, going to be a stick car. I picked up a 84k mile 440 6 pack short block for $1000. I can establish that.

I'm not sure what the best top end for it would be? I want to go with a 6 pack but I'm not sure. I tracked down a 6p intake with the carburetors, and air cleaner and all the linkages but the guy wants 1500 for the whole setup. It's worth the money for a 6p but I could also run a 4 bbl intake and a thermoquad which is easier to come across and cheaper, gets the job done. Just not sure what direction I want to go there.

What are the best heads? That aren't aluminum of course. I found a guy who has some max wedge heads that have been ported and some work done to them ready for a big cam but he wants right shy of $3000 for them.

I'm probably gonna run some long tube headers. Any recommendations there?

Any input is greatly appreciated! -Paul

There's a set of 452's listed on here right now, under mechanical parts.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

Fyi.. maxwedge stuff has really large ports and requires special intakes.

Six pack has a wow factor and the sound of the outboards is very addictive. Thermoquads are great carburetors, IF you get a good one. There is certainly more going on to tune a 3 carb set up.
The edelbrock six pack and mopar iron six pack intake are a pretty respectable performers. They make great torque and produce good hp.
Most iron heads are common and pretty cheap, After 68 all the bb car engines had the same valve size so even a 2 barrel engine will be fine. The hardened seats on 452s will save you money if you find a nice set. Typically there isn't much performance to be gained if heads are stock. Occasionally when we put a untouched iron head on the flow bench there will be one that performs a little better, but most castings are pretty rough and respond to porting. 915 are higher compression and the rarest and usually bring a little more money, they share the port shape of a 906.. 516s are mid sixties and I would avoid them.
If you can...I would try to pickup a set of iron heads that have had money spent on them. 915. 906, 346, 452 are all good choices.
Upgrades to look for include 2.14 intakes. 1.81 exhs, Hardened seats, bronze guides and surfacing and modern valve guide seals. A machine shop can spend your money quick on upgrades. Hiring port work is pricey.

 

[salteen_dude]

Fyi.. maxwedge stuff has really large ports and requires special intakes.

Six pack has a wow factor and the sound of the outboards is very addictive. Thermoquads are great carburetors, IF you get a good one. There is certainly more going on to tune a 3 carb set up.
The edelbrock six pack and mopar iron six pack intake are a pretty respectable performers. They make great torque and produce good hp.
Most iron heads are common and pretty cheap, After 68 all the bb car engines had the same valve size so even a 2 barrel engine will be fine. The hardened seats on 452s will save you money if you find a nice set. Typically there isn't much performance to be gained if heads are stock. Occasionally when we put a untouched iron head on the flow bench there will be one that performs a little better, but most castings are pretty rough and respond to porting. 915 are higher compression and the rarest and usually bring a little more money, they share the port shape of a 906.. 516s are mid sixties and I would avoid them.
If you can...I would try to pickup a set of iron heads that have had money spent on them. 915. 906, 346, 452 are all good choices.
Upgrades to look for include 2.14 intakes. 1.81 exhs, Hardened seats, bronze guides and surfacing. A machine shop can spend your money quick on upgrades. Hiring port work is pricey.

Do you think 500 hp would be easy to hit with the 906 heads, 6 pack, headers, cam and pistons? Ik the 6 pack made 375 stock. Long tube headers and true duel exhaust will be a big step up. I'm going 3" dual x pipe with cherry bomb salute mufflers. This was the setup my uncle had on his 440 coronet and it was heavenly.

 

[33 IMP]

Do you think 500 hp would be easy to hit with the 906 heads, 6 pack, headers, cam and pistons? Ik the 6 pack made 375 stock. Long tube headers and true duel exhaust will be a big step up. I'm going 3" dual x pipe with cherry bomb salute mufflers. This was the setup my uncle had on his 440 coronet and it was heavenly.

Depends on the cam and pistons. Generally, I would say no, especially with the motor home style pistons. 8 to 1cr, stock 906s,.500 lift hydraulic, 400 hp maybe.
10 to 1 pistons, 250° solid cam with .575 lift, decent aluminum heads, (they flow 30-40% better than 906s, that 60 to 80 hp right there) then yeah, maybe 500 crank hp.

 

[440 4 speed]

I read an article that mentioned 3” versus 21/2” and it suggested that you could lose performance due to back pressure I believe.
3” can be a pain on fitment depending upon the car.

 

[salteen_dude]

I read an article that mentioned 3” versus 21/2” and it suggested that you could lose performance due to back pressure I believe.
3” can be a pain on fitment depending upon the car.

It's a 70 charger. I was going to use TTI's kit including their headers.

Back pressure is a myth. But exhaust velocity isn't. And for such a large motor producing that much low end torque and hp I don't see how 3" is too big. Especially with an x pipe to increase the velocity.

If you go to big you lose exhaust velocity. Pressure is a myth, because pressure moves slower. It's just at a higher pressure. That's like breathing through a coffee straw. There's alot more backpressure but overall your breathing less.

 

[salteen_dude]

Depends on the cam and pistons. Generally, I would say no, especially with the motor home style pistons. 8 to 1cr, stock 906s,.500 lift hydraulic, 400 hp maybe.
10 to 1 pistons, 250° solid cam with .575 lift, decent aluminum heads, (they flow 30-40% better than 906s, that 60 to 80 hp right there) then yeah, maybe 500 crank hp.

It's a 6 pack short block so I'd say it's 10.1:1 which is the factory rating for 68. 68 used 906 heads as I've been reading. I'm going to deck the block a few thousands for resurface and maybe take .010 off the head maybe .020, to raise it to 10.5:1 and I'll be running ethanol free 93, my local station has it, and I've tested it before and it's 0.150% ethanol which is extremely low for something that pumps ethanol and ethanol free from the same handle. That's with a 1gal sample so I'm sure at that low percentage it's lower with, say, a 15 gal tank.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

Most six pack pistons are in the mid 9s for compression w a 906. 10:1 is a blueprint number. You can get there pretty easily with machining. 906s usually run 87-88cc . 346 and 452s 88-90cc. Everything varies...measure to know for sure.

500hp is attainable with your mentioned parts. Engine masters had a stock valves 440 six pack with a hydraulic roller cam and headers that neared 500hp. I think the heads had the bowls cleaned up w stock valves.
I don't see a problem running 3" exhaust. We are running some from summit with a x pipe and it fit quite well.

 

[Tony Tee]

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[MarPar]

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[Hammer136]

Im curious what kind of HP would you get with the refurbished 906 heads with a comp cam ball park??

 

[RemCharger]

Im curious what kind of HP would you get with the refurbished 906 heads with a comp cam ball park??

Much too ambiguous of a question to answer in 1 number. More of a range.. or " ballpark" would be between 350 and 550.

 

[bm02tj]

Cast iron heads in unleaded cars have flame hardened seats only and first valve job it is gone

 

[Cranky]

Are they the same flow as 906 heads? What motor did the 452's come on? And how much would a usable set normally run?

Do you think 500 hp would be easy to hit with the 906 heads, 6 pack, headers, cam and pistons? Ik the 6 pack made 375 stock. Long tube headers and true duel exhaust will be a big step up. I'm going 3" dual x pipe with cherry bomb salute mufflers. This was the setup my uncle had on his 440 coronet and it was heavenly.

452's were on 78-79 vehicles and came with induction hardened seats. I have a pair up in the rafters and well, if you are ever in my area, they're yours.

E

Cast iron heads in unleaded cars have flame hardened seats only and first valve job it is gone

Even a 'dusting' of the valve seat takes it off? The way it's been explained to me is that the heat treating process goes a bit deeper than superficial......

 

[Cranky]

And in closing....ran a pair of max ported 906's on a 10.60 car back in the early 80's. 660 lift roller cam, 'ash' can Jahn pistons that produced 11.2-1 comp, Weiand tunnel ram intake with a whopping 1500 cfm worth of Holleys on top. The car ran consistent 10.68 with a rich tune with a 4500 converter and would run 10.69 leaving at an idle. My way of adjusting ET. NO electronics on the car except for the ignition.....even had a cable drive tach. The car would run a mid 10.50 with a leaner tune but it changed too much when the weather changed.

 

[33 IMP]

And in closing....ran a pair of max ported 906's on a 10.60 car back in the early 80's. 660 lift roller cam, 'ash' can Jahn pistons that produced 11.2-1 comp, Weiand tunnel ram intake with a whopping 1500 cfm worth of Holleys on top. The car ran consistent 10.68 with a rich tune with a 4500 converter and would run 10.69 leaving at an idle. My way of adjusting ET. NO electronics on the car except for the ignition.....even had a cable drive tach. The car would run a mid 10.50 with a leaner tune but it changed too much when the weather changed.

....but nowadays, if you can't do your own porting work, or dont want to, getting a pair of 906s to that point will cost quite a bit more than a decent set of brand new aluminum heads.
I had a ported set of max heads freshened, all new valves and springs, and a valve job and new guides. Cost $900. Other than they were ported 286s, I would never spend that on iron heads, but freshening 906s to the same condition would cost the same money (almost. 1.88 exhausts are hard to find/not cheap).

 

[Cranky]

....but nowadays, if you can't do your own porting work, or dont want to, getting a pair of 906s to that point will cost quite a bit more than a decent set of brand new aluminum heads.
I had a ported set of max heads freshened, all new valves and springs, and a valve job and new guides. Cost $900. Other than they were ported 286s, I would never spend that on iron heads, but freshening 906s to the same condition would cost the same money (almost. 1.88 exhausts are hard to find/not cheap).

Was just saying what they can do. I bought a pair of the early Eddy heads when they first came out and compared them. The flow numbers were the same but the Eddy heads had a better combustion chamber plus angled plugs. Some say the angle plugs don't matter but I don't know. Anyways, I would never ever take a set of cast iron heads out like that again but back then, there wasn't much choice.

 

[BSB67]

A $500 set of factory heads might look good, but likely are junk. A good set of iron heads will be $2000. Then you should be asking why not aluminum.

 

[BSB67]

Much too ambiguous of a question to answer in 1 number. More of a range.. or " ballpark" would be between 350 and 550.

I promise that there are 440s out there with “refurbished” heads and a comp cam making less than 350 hp.

 

[Cranky]

I promise that there are 440s out there with “refurbished” heads and a comp cam making less than 350 hp.

I hope not.....