How much should a tune up cost on a 440?

[RedShadow30]

I recently brought my Charger back from sitting several years, a little smoke, nothing too concerning. But I need to know how much a tune-up should run. Just Timing and carb adjustments. I dont have any mechanics I really trust around here that isint busy 24/7 and I need to know what I should be paying for one. Its a 440 with a mild cam and an edelbrock 1407. I hope this is the right forum for this question, and I dont trust myself to time it.

 

[YY1]

Buy a timing light (mine was $20 at a swap meet), and follow the advice on this board.

You'll save hundreds almost instantly, and thousands over time.

You'll also be wiser.....

 

[tpodwdog]

Tuning a 440 dont cost any more than tuning any v-8.....adjustments are easy...these are simple machines with a deadly bite! IF YA WANNA KNOW HOW TO....JUST ASK, THERES 10,000 PEOPLE HERE THAT WILL HELP YOU !

 

[Cranky]

What do you have? Electronic ignition or points? And I'm with YY1

 

[Polara Pat]

The mob has spoken. One of the charms about owning these old machines is knowing that you can tune and maintain them yourself. Mind you, if it's blowing blue on fire-up then you probably have worn out valve guides and that might be beyond your skill set.

 

[Cranky]

The mob has spoken. One of the charms about owning these old machines is knowing that you can tune and maintain them yourself. Mind you, if it's blowing blue on fire-up then you probably have worn out valve guides and that might be beyond your skill set.

Or the valve seals are shot.....

 

[YY1]

Yup, but might not be terminal. Fairly common issue and I've seen them drive just fine for a long time like that.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, that's what I was thinking.

- - - Updated - - -

There's lotsa cars and presumably car guys in the Jax area.

Several on this board.

if I were closer, I'd help ya out personally.

 

[44070dart]

Red , these sites really exist just for this kind of info ..even if your just an average backyard mechanic or wannabe the experience and knowledge available here would allow most people to do maintenance on their cars ..also the pleasure of doing these things yourself will give you the pride of keeping you hobby car running well with minimum expense ..tools that you'll need for most maintenance/repairs will not put you broke and will be paid for by the savings you will get from doing it yourself ..just ask ...I've done many repairs that I didn't have the expertises myself ...but was walked thru the process and it has worked out well ...jump in

 

[RustyRatRod]

I wish I was closer. I'm in middle Georgia. If you bought the beer I'd put the super tune on it for you.

 

[daredevil]

One hour labor for a mechanic.Anywhere from 65. to 150. depending on the mechanic. Add for plugs and wires, points and condenser. And if carb needs a kit from sitting. May go as high as 350. depending on condition.

 

[Cranky]

I wish the internet had been around back when I was learning how to work on cars! Man, you newbies have it made lol. One cool thing about living in the 60's is most shops would allow you into the shop to watch what was going on and so long as you stayed out of the way, they were cool about it but if you really wanted to learn, most would let you up close and would explain what they were doing. That's how I learned to do a tune up then a buddy showed me how to rebuild a carb. He more or less showed me how they work and there's still plenty of books out on them too. Dig in!

 

[RedShadow30]

Yall have convinced me to suck It up and go get a timing light and learn. Im just a little scared of blowing it up, Donno why, I just never seem to have the best luck with cars as much as I love them. Any tips for timing it?

And as far as adjusting the carb, I just had to rebuild it, Im hoping it just needs adjustment because it was bad, and I had never rebuild a carb before.

 

[MoparBill]

That 1407 is a good carb and easy to tune. Call Mancini Racing and get a tune kit for it- it'll have metering rods and lift up springs. Personally, I would take the carb off, disassemble and clean it thoroughly if it's been sitting a long time. You can likely find a video on Youtube that'll show you everything you need.

 

[tallhair]

the worst thing that will happen is it won't be right on your first attempt. just remember what you tried, explain it here, pictures help, and the mob will walk you through it or direct you to a source that will do the same...there are lot's of threads that can be referenced you are not the first guy to learn to tune a carb, or anything else. any specific problem can be addresses by the masses who have been there and had the same problem you will encounter on these cars, and again pictures of what your are looking at will definitively help.

also, as moparbill said there are sure to be youtube vids of carb rebuilds. I've recently used them to change the brake light in my 99 Durango (car specific vid found), rebuild all the parts in my front load dryer (dryer specific vid and blog how to found), and put a new screen in my laptop (specific model vid found), etc...it's pretty awesome with the intertubes age as Cranky said, and all the advice of the others so far in this post is spot on. BTW i would convert to mopar or other electronic ignition as soon as you feel comfortable.

 

[Bruzilla]

I would suggest you give the guys at G & D Muscle Cars a call at 904-272-1803. They're over here in Orange Park but they know every Mopar specialist in the Jacksonville area and can probably point you in the right direction. Sounds like you need a carb guy more than a tune-up guy, which was the problem I was having.

I've always tuned my engines by ear and ***.

 

[67Satty]

You can start by putting in new plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap and rotor.

Then, even if you don't have a timing light you can just adjust the timing by ear. Take the car for a drive to get everything warmed up. Take a half-inch wrench and loosen the distributor hold-down clamp a little, just enough so the distributor can be turned back and forth. Now turn it back and forth until the idle speeds and/or smooths out. Take a flat-bladed screw driver and adjust your idle back down as necessary. Turn off the engine and make sure there is no run-on. Tighten the distributor hold-down clamp and go for another test drive and make sure you don't have any pinging and see if the engine otherwise seems happy with your adjustments.

I have a timing light but the last time I advanced my timing and gained a little off my ET I didn't even use it. I went by ear and seat of the pants test drives. It might sound weird but the actual timing numbers are just a starting reference point to me and I think the engine and car will tell me what it likes from seat of the pants and ETs.

Anyway, jump in there will be people on this site who know way, way more than me to help you out if you need it. And it's pretty tough to hurt one of these things, I've done plenty of bonehead things working on my car and it's been pretty forgiving.

 

[Pops1967GTX]

Don't jump the gun on rushing on a tune up first. If the car has been sitting for years & starts ok,(stable at idle)
You are going to have some hidden problem popping up.... Make out a check list...Get organized. Read a few How to do articles....
A good start would be to check...
Electrical-clean & reattach all grounds, clean the fuse block & each connector terminal, & bulkhead connection... Check Dizzy cap ,points or ECU unit, again ground at firer wall. Ballast resistor. Electrical connection at coil.

Fuel- Check fuel filter for stuff. Blow out the lines with fluid & Air to get all the junk out. Use carb cleaner loosen the varnish in carb. If you find a lot of gunk coming from fuel tank . It must be cleaned.... A few articles.....





http://www.mopar1.us/engine2.html

http://tvmoparclub.com/files/tech/Mopar Timing.pdf

http://www.4secondsflat.com/Mission%20Ignition.html
http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Troubleshooting.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrh1d9ZxSJs&lr=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=rt...#v=onepage&q=ballast resistor testing&f=false

 

[RedShadow30]

Well i went out and got it as smooth as i could idling. If it idles low it stalls out pretty quick. It will drive fine, feels tourqy, but if you tap the peddle, it will stall. That a sign of a bad tune? or bad driving on my part? Lol. I ran out of money for now, but i am gonna get a tach and timing light and try it again. It starts every time no problem with the rebuilt carb.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Could be lots of stuff. Low ldle, not enough initial timing, carb malfunction....you name it.