I’m building 2 440s- what should I build?

[Tom Petty Lives]

To the original question. I was forced to make a similar choice now too many months ago. No, I did not have two 440’s, I only had one. But I chose to bore 55 over, stroke and add a correct date coded Six Pack (All three carbs dated first 15 days of 1969) the Car’s build date was late November ‘69. The carbs where sent out for professional cleaning and correct coatings. The 26” radiator was sent out for a new recoring at Ferndale Radiator which is a old school shop in Michigan that has stayed in business for multiple generations. Everything under the hood was restored including the heat box. Removed a rusted out driver side cross member, Raul, torque box and driver floor pan. A rust free cross member was found in Arizona and we welded in a new driver side rail, torque box and floor pan. The remaining flooring was good but decided to drop in a new tank. All the fuel lines and brake lines where replaced. The factory front disc brakes where redone and new rear drum brakes installed. Then finished it all off with a TTI exhaust. I didn’t want the hassle of headers so I chose to send out the original HP Manifolds for extrude honing for better flow and kept the original heads with new valves where reseated instead of changing the stock appearance with aluminum aftermarket heads. I chose to replace the original Dana 60 4.10 with a 3.54 gear and had Brewer rebuild the transmission and changing the 4th gear to .73 overdrive gear in order to make the car more drivable on the highway.
I started with this four barrel stock 440:

Then went through some additional steps. Including rust repair behind the hood hinges and a full engine bay repaint. Had a expert restore the Ramcharger hood air intake after noticing a previous idiot used a hot glue gun and wood screws then topped it off with a coat hanger wire to operate the hinges opening.
Finally, the front and rear bumpers for a re-chromed at Tri-City chrome plating in Elizabethton Tennessee. And I most give a shout out to Jon at Roseville Mopar parts with Golling Chrysler, my new best friend. And Roman Sobilo at Afterhours Restoration for all his advise, skilled and fast work.

Here are some photos of work just completed.

 

[Moparfiend]

Putin could afford to build 2 440s AND start a major war all at the same time.
Hope that clears that up!

Just burley have you seen the cost of **** today lol

 

[Tom Petty Lives]

More photos:

 

[Tom Petty Lives]

As for Mr. Putin, I would love to see him standing at the end of a 1/4 mile strip, as this piece of American Mopar Steel flattens him into a greasy spot and making the World a safer and better place for all people to live in peace and the pursuit of American muscle!

Yes, I could have made it faster, but I love the way it looked from the factory, but with just a little more Giddyup! I made mine, my way. Now go make yours, your way! That’s called freedom. As a disabled Iraq war veteran, I shed my blood and body for rights of everyone to do what they want as long as it’s legal and it doesn’t impact on the rights of others or hurts anything one.
And yes, all my bills are paid off except my mortgage which is well within my ability to pay it monthly. Which includes six cars, the college education of all three of my kids, and life insurance on both my wife and myself. All of which is all paid for. At 54 and 58, we are all set financially, short of complete failure of the US Govt.

But spending 21 months bed ridden and medical issues that should have ended my life, my wife and children have taught me that life ends all too easy. And it’s far to easy to find yourself busy living a life without truly enjoying all that life gives us. Not only did they help me walk again, but they gave me passion to love what I have left of life and the simple pleasures of family, friends and a fast car!

 

[Joe’sMoparMess]

A curiosity question....

In these days of uncertain economic times, due in part to inflation, rising energy prices, pending Ukrainian situation......WHY would consider spending large sums of money on something of questionable value? Wouldn't it be prudent to wait until the overall world situation improves? Making a mortgage payment (assume that you have one) makes more sense than building a "stroker six pack" engine with forced induction system (for what purose).....perhaps now is the time to reconsider....... Just my opinion of course.....
BOB RENTON

To the original question. I was forced to make a similar choice now too many months ago. No, I did not have two 440’s, I only had one. But I chose to stroke and add a date coded correct six pack after having all three cleaned and spit polished. Then added a TTI exhaust. I didn’t want the hassle of headers so I had the original HP Manifolds sent of for extrude honing and kept the original heads instead of aluminum aftermarket. I started with this View attachment 1248440 Then went through the steps. Including rust repair behind the hood hinges and a full engine bay repair. Had a expert restore the Ramcharger hood air intake after noticing a previous idiot used a hot glue gun and wood screws then topped it off with a coat hanger wire to operate the hinges opening.
View attachment 1248453 View attachment 1248454 View attachment 1248455 View attachment 1248456 View attachment 1248458 Here is some photos: View attachment 1248457 View attachment 1248462 View attachment 1248463 View attachment 1248464

View attachment 1248488 View attachment 1248487As for Mr. Putin, I would love to see him standing at the end of a 1/4 mile strip, as this piece of American Mopar Steel flattens him into a greasy spot and making the World a safer and better place for all people to live in peace and the pursuit of American muscle!

Yes, I could have made it faster, but I love the way it looked from the factory, but with just a little more Giddyup! I made mine, my way. Now go make yours, your way! That’s called freedom. As a disabled Iraq war veteran, I shed my blood and body for rights of everyone to do what they want as long as it’s legal and it doesn’t impact on the rights of others or hurts anything one.
And yes, all my bills are paid off except my mortgage which is well within my ability to pay it monthly. Which includes six cars, the college education of all three of my kids, and life insurance on both my wife and myself. All of which is all paid for. At 54 and 58, we are all set financially, short of complete failure of the US Govt.

But spending 21 months bed ridden and medical issues that should have ended my life, my wife and children have taught me that life ends all too easy. And it’s far to easy to find yourself busy living a life without truly enjoying all that life gives us. Not only did they help me walk again, but they gave me passion to love what I have left of life and the simple pleasures of family, friends and a fast car!

One for me

Thank you, you win for the most comprehensive answer. I love all the pics, do you have any of the complete car?

I think we would all love to see Putin either standing on the road in front of us or in the cross hairs of a scope.

Glad to hear you pulled out from your injuries. Something like that will give you great perspective on what matters. If you are like my brothers who are military you hate these words but if I don’t say it then I feel like I ignored a big part of your post…. Thank you for your service and sacrifice for our country and our freedom!!!

Love the car/love the story, thank you for sharing!

 

[Tom Petty Lives]

Thank you, you win for the most comprehensive answer. I love all the pics, do you have any of the complete car?

If you are like my brothers who are military you hate these words but if I don’t say it then I feel like I ignored a big part of your post…. Thank you for your service and sacrifice for our country and our freedom!!!

Love the car/love the story, thank you for sharing!

I am like your brothers, I’m no hero, the hero’s are in Arlington and thousands of small towns across the country. And the families of hero’s that live with the price every day, minutes and hours at a time. I just did my job.
Here are photos from a indoor winter show a couple weeks ago.

 

[Joe’sMoparMess]

I am like your brothers, I’m no hero, the hero’s are in Arlington and thousands of small towns across the country. And the families of hero’s that live with the price every day, minutes and hours at a time. I just did my job.
Here are photos from a indoor winter show a couple weeks ago. View attachment 1248971View attachment 1248972View attachment 1248973View attachment 1248974View attachment 1248975View attachment 1248976View attachment 1248977View attachment 1248978View attachment 1248979View attachment 1248980

What a beautiful car! How long did it take to build it?

 

[Tom Petty Lives]

What a beautiful car! How long did it take to build it?

It took a lot longer than I had hoped. Lol! Different pieces were done before others but I purchased the car thinking it was a great driver quality car. But looking closer I found flaws. Then after addressing those issues, the repairs only made other areas look bad or stand out. Like so many member could agree upon, once you start it’s hard to find a place to end. The problem is I love the car but it’s a 1970 Coronet, one of the most love/hated mopars ever. So I must watch my investment verses value. I don’t mind losing some investment, but I don’t want to lose my shirt. Even after finishing all this work days before this show. The car looked amazing, yet it didn’t take a top 25 award, which stung since I don’t believe there was 25 better cars than mine. There were some good cars there but not 25 more than mine. The show even chose 5 cars to be professional photographed and have the photos turned into free posters for the public. The graphics company informed me that the poster of my car was grabbed up so much that it was the only poster they had to print multiple runs of. I received a lot of interest with questions and compliments, but I must have overheard or been told to my face that the car was the ugliest Mopar ever.
So take that for what it is, no matter what you own or chose to do with your Mopar, you will always hear some other Mopar “expert” tell you what you did wrong. So do what makes you happy and set your own bounties. Even on here, I have been told far too many times, that if I’m concerned about money spent verses value that I shouldn’t be into collector cars. You can’t win in the court of public opinion. So do what makes you happy.

…but to answer your original question,

it took 16 months during the pandemic.

And I’m still deciding if I will replace the vinyl interior because there is a crack and a wear hole in bottom back driver seat. I’m told that I can’t just replace the driver seat cover cause it will stand out more that the damage cause the original seats probably faded over time and a new seat would appear a darker black. So to do it right, I would need to replace all of the seat covers costing a couple thousand. And it has the original top, which has drawn up and pulled away from the back glass after the previous owner stored with the top down. If I replace it, it’s going to be $2-3k. But when I drive or show it, the top is always down. So do I watch my cost or do what’s right for the car? Would a new top and interior help sell the car if that time comes or would it be better to save the $4-5k and leave it for the next guy? You will always second guess yourself on all issues. Similar to what you face with your engines. So I believe no one should answer those questions for you. All I can say is consider all your questions and choices at one time into a overall picture you have for the car while it’s in your life. What you can afford and what makes you happy and where is the balance between those two things is probably the most important considerations. As a disabled veteran it’s very hard for me to put gas at bumper level behind the license plate. I usually end up going down to my knees and being careful not to overfill the tank and have gas shoot my face. I have seen other peoples builds where they Have installed a 70 charger fuel cap On the top of a B body quarter panel. I personally like the look and if it’s not a numbers matching car I don’t see the problem with doing that. I actually had to go to two shops before I would find a Mopar expert that was willing to do it for me. Then he informed me how much money it would cost to take a donor charger fuel door opening and grafted on top of my quarter panel and replace the fuel cell and filler neck as well as the fuel door. After considering body working, painting, parts and the potential hit to the originality value if I were ever to sell it was too high of a Financial hit to do that work at this time. In my heart do I think it would look cool and Add some much needed bling to all that flat real estate Comprising of both quarter panels and trunk, yes. I have seen it done and I like it. It would also make my life easier. But in the end I had to weigh my desires with the financial cost that would probably add up to between $5-9k. And I couldn’t justify the cost because at this point and what I have invested I know I would never recoup any of that money. And the number of times I have to put gas in it wasn’t worth the financial cost. But the picture in my head still nags at me, so who knows!

 

[Joe’sMoparMess]

Have you heard of Talking Mopars Podcast? I think you would be a great guest for Chris. I’ll be with Chris in a couple weeks at Muscle Cars At the Strip.

 

[Backrd.Junkyard]

What year of 440 do you have that you're wanting to do the max build on and what are you going to put it into?
I know it's not one of the options listed here, but if I were in the same position to build an engine from scratch with near unlimited resources, I would do a boosted Third Gen Flex-Fuel build. I still love old school big block builds and would have never said those words five years ago. But I've been fortunate enough to get in on helping out with building a no prep grudge match third gen 426 Dakota and doing the math on it has been quite an eye opener. Not a budget build at all, but a whole different kind of fast.

 

[Lowhound]

It took a lot longer than I had hoped. Lol! Different pieces were done before others but I purchased the car thinking it was a great driver quality car. But looking closer I found flaws. Then after addressing those issues, the repairs only made other areas look bad or stand out. Like so many member could agree upon, once you start it’s hard to find a place to end. The problem is I love the car but it’s a 1970 Coronet, one of the most love/hated mopars ever. So I must watch my investment verses value. I don’t mind losing some investment, but I don’t want to lose my shirt. Even after finishing all this work days before this show. The car looked amazing, yet it didn’t take a top 25 award, which stung since I don’t believe there was 25 better cars than mine. There were some good cars there but not 25 more than mine. The show even chose 5 cars to be professional photographed and have the photos turned into free posters for the public. The graphics company informed me that the poster of my car was grabbed up so much that it was the only poster they had to print multiple runs of. I received a lot of interest with questions and compliments, but I must have overheard or been told to my face that the car was the ugliest Mopar ever.
So take that for what it is, no matter what you own or chose to do with your Mopar, you will always hear some other Mopar “expert” tell you what you did wrong. So do what makes you happy and set your own bounties. Even on here, I have been told far too many times, that if I’m concerned about money spent verses value that I shouldn’t be into collector cars. You can’t win in the court of public opinion. So do what makes you happy.

…but to answer your original question,

it took 16 months during the pandemic.

And I’m still deciding if I will replace the vinyl interior because there is a crack and a wear hole in bottom back driver seat. I’m told that I can’t just replace the driver seat cover cause it will stand out more that the damage cause the original seats probably faded over time and a new seat would appear a darker black. So to do it right, I would need to replace all of the seat covers costing a couple thousand. And it has the original top, which has drawn up and pulled away from the back glass after the previous owner stored with the top down. If I replace it, it’s going to be $2-3k. But when I drive or show it, the top is always down. So do I watch my cost or do what’s right for the car? Would a new top and interior help sell the car if that time comes or would it be better to save the $4-5k and leave it for the next guy? You will always second guess yourself on all issues. Similar to what you face with your engines. So I believe no one should answer those questions for you. All I can say is consider all your questions and choices at one time into a overall picture you have for the car while it’s in your life. What you can afford and what makes you happy and where is the balance between those two things is probably the most important considerations. As a disabled veteran it’s very hard for me to put gas at bumper level behind the license plate. I usually end up going down to my knees and being careful not to overfill the tank and have gas shoot my face. I have seen other peoples builds where they Have installed a 70 charger fuel cap On the top of a B body quarter panel. I personally like the look and if it’s not a numbers matching car I don’t see the problem with doing that. I actually had to go to two shops before I would find a Mopar expert that was willing to do it for me. Then he informed me how much money it would cost to take a donor charger fuel door opening and grafted on top of my quarter panel and replace the fuel cell and filler neck as well as the fuel door. After considering body working, painting, parts and the potential hit to the originality value if I were ever to sell it was too high of a Financial hit to do that work at this time. In my heart do I think it would look cool and Add some much needed bling to all that flat real estate Comprising of both quarter panels and trunk, yes. I have seen it done and I like it. It would also make my life easier. But in the end I had to weigh my desires with the financial cost that would probably add up to between $5-9k. And I couldn’t justify the cost because at this point and what I have invested I know I would never recoup any of that money. And the number of times I have to put gas in it wasn’t worth the financial cost. But the picture in my head still nags at me, so who knows!View attachment 1250057 View attachment 1250058 View attachment 1250059

If you are no longer planning on useing the Charger fuel sheetmetal peice then would you sell it? Ive been wanting to put a Charger gas cap on my 70 Superbee.