Yes it can be done with a 440 but of course if you throw a stroker crank in and build the combo to it you can do it easier. I am very pleased so far with my combo but I do think it has more in it if I ever get around to some serious tuning at the track. I wanted my 63 to be a 10 second pump gas driver as that was what I built this last eng to do. All I wanted was to be able to drive to the track and crank out 10's running on pump gas thru the full exh and then drive home and not have to do any changes at the track. So I built a 493 using a 440 with a 4.15 crank. And I did not use alot of high dollar parts but just a few. Nothing is cheap any more.
I built a 440 shortblock using the 440Source stroker kit with the 4.15 crank that comes out to 493 cubes at .030 over. I used ARP main studs and billet steel main caps. The pistons are the 440Source dished pistons so I have 10.6 comp with the Indy EZ heads which I used. Pistons are .007 down in the hole so with the EZ closed chamber heads it has .046 quench using the Felpro .039 head gasket. Its just a basic shortblock with 24cc dished pistons. I went with the Indy EZ heads because you can still use all the stock type valve gear and headers. Dont have to use any offset rockers or special headers that the heads need with raised exh ports need. I bought my EZ heads from "Dwayne Porter" who is one of if not the best Mopar head porter there is. Also he is fair with his prices and he is a heck of a nice guy. He did some mild porting on my EZ heads and as I weighed out my options I realized the EZ heads are only a few hundred dollars more then the Eddy heads which are a few hundred more then the 440Source Stealth heads. And the EZ heads have more potential if I want to step it up in the future. My cam is a solid flat tappet speced also by Dwayne Porter for my pump gas eng. It is 264 & 270 @ .050 with .588 asnd .592 lift and is ground on a 110 LSA. I have it in on a 106 centerline. I also use Hughes 1.6 rockers that puts my lift at .632 and .628. Up top I used an Indy dual plane intake with a basic Holley 850 DP. I use a Mallory dist with the MP orange ecu. On the exh I bought the TTI 2" headers and the full 3" exh system out to the rear bumper with the X-pipe and the mufflers are Dyno-Max Ultra-Flows. This is in my 3700lb 63 Plymouth that with a Dynamic 9.5 converter and 4.30 gears with 30 x 9 tires has run 10.70's so far driving it to the track and racing thru the full exh on 92 pump gas. I can run 38 total timing all in by 1800 rpm with no ping or spark knock at all. The converter will flash about 4200 but drives like a normal converter.
Its not a simple task but its also not as hard as some make it sound. Just sit down and think out what you want and write down the combo you want and then work on it within your budget. I dont use a 1050 Dominator carb or a single plane intake or a Barry Grant fuel pump. Also I dont use MSD ign or a fuel cell........my point is you dont have to run the most exspensive high dollar parts to run like you want but you need to run the parts that will work so you can build it smartly within your budget. My 63 is a 99% street car driver that I usually drive to the track unless I race very far from home and need to make sure I have a way home if I break. If you click the link below it has alot of info about my 63 and at the bottom of the page is info on the 493 build. I wanted a car that had the wild solid cam rump rump sound that I grew to love from the 60's but idled nice enough to be a daily driver and make good power on pump gas thru the pipes. And I wanted to do it on just the eng as I dont like using power adders and I wanted it to stay a mild enough simple build. You can do what you want as you need to sit down and figure out what you plan to build within your budget. Good luck and just ask what ever you need to know here as Moparts is full of great smart people. Ron

http://www.1962to1965mopar.ornocar.com/mmo82008.html