well, the time came for the 440 in my '71 to be rebuilt. the old 440 ran great when i got it (16th b-day present for myself), but during college, it was pretty neglected. the last year or so, i've been upgrading things making it more reliable and drivable, so it became my semi-daily driver again.
however, recently, i had oil coming out the driver's tailpipe - popped the valve cover off and had an intake vavle not opening - my immediate thought was round cam...nope - caved-in lifter!
so, the tear-down began shortly after. running the numbers on the block, it's my best guess it was a police motor, as it was a 76 HP 440 with a HP C-body oil pan. as the stripping continued the motor started looking worse - i'm surprised it ran as well as it did
my least favorite part of it all - plastic-coated cam sprocket - what were they thinking?! anyhow, the coating came off, running through the motor, in addition to crud and gasket sealer most-likely from whoever did the motor swap MANY years ago...which ended up in my pickup tube - about a handful of stuff i got out of it in a coffee can
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currently, the block is still at the machine shop - hopefully done soon, as i'm caught up with about everything i can be. engine bay was de-greased, power-washed, and painted with undercoating to take some abuse. technically, for my '71 the motor should be orange, but i like the blue and almost everyone does orange.
all of the pieces are painted and ready to be installed. here's a look at my HEI distributor - nothing fancy, but way better than the stock points were.
factory HP '69 intake with a 650 double pumper. i made this coil bracket, since the stock location does not work with the dual-inlet fuel line.
Parts have been coming in pretty steady
milodon windage tray
7 quart zinc-plated oil pan and pickup
Bulk shipment of items...$400 worth....total for the rebuild, including the machine work and new higher compression pistons in the mix will be around $1400-1500. not too shabby imo
