well to give an update. even though the engine is says 73. the heads say 3769902 which are made in 74. the engine only has 30 thousand on and im pretty sure its hasnt been tampered with. all original. now for the good part. it came out a 78 model RV. i think mopar just took what they had left and lyin around and made it work for the application. no assembly lines on motor builds. atleast for the last couple of years of the big blocks.
my dad bought a 440 from a guy one time that was supposedly never rebuilt. it look like an old motor so it was beliveable. just greasy u kno. we pulled it apart and i noticed the piston were heavy. the cast crank had added materilal and was internally balanced. i brought the pistons to a machinest and he told me they were forged. NOW i have heard that certain applications came with forged slugs. but i find it hard to belive. if its true or not, the engine was standard bore and my machinest said all the parts looked like factory work. like its never been to a machine shop. (not sure how he tells.) but everythign was standard. what i found weird is the motor had no numbers. the id pad had 440 and thats it. nothin on the side. no casting #s. are you ready to cry. my dad got pissed one day because of all the junk we brought to the house and halled it off for junk iron.