I bought a 72 Satelite a few years ago--128,000 miles, #'s matching 400 inch motor, but was a factory 2 barrel car. Previous owner had tried to make it like a 4bbl magnum motor by swapping on a 1970 factory iron 4bbl manifold, Holley carb , a "magnum" cam, dual 2.5" exhaust thru hi-po 72 exhaust manifolds. Still running factory non electronic ignition distributor. Stock heads. No receipts for work done.*****

It never seemed to run great, and he offered an extra parts carb w/ sale. [ Clue # 1 ?? ]-- Car ran well enough to drive it an hour home , and around town, but it felt like it was slightly surging when driving at a steady speed, and not too strong which i attributed to the 2.76 gears.*****

Since it was a non elect ignition car , i was going to go FBO conversion and had him curve a distributor for it. Ended up putting in a MSD dist / 6A digital box / coil+wires. I set intial timing where FBO had recommended , at 14 before, and left the slower MSD installed springs in the distributor. Car ran better and i thought surge mostly went away, till it came back.

Got rid of the Holley which didn't look the best/ mismatched colors / maybe had been rebuilt from diff carbs ? -- bought a new edelbrock performer thunder series, the larger size [750/800cfm?]. Base Tuned it to their instructions, getting about 15-16 inches vacuum. Car ran better. now you could feel the secondaries of the carb. Also had put in 3.55 rear gears , dumping the 2.76's.

Car ran pretty well for a few short trips, then acted like it hardly wanted to stay running at idle / carb very hot / heat induced vacuum lock ? ---when cooled down ran ok in driveway next day. Checked timing and reset it to 12 degrees initial to try to create less heat. But at idle timing is jumping from 11 to 13 degrees or 10-14' not staying on 12', rev it up and the timing doesn't drift. So figuring it needs a timing chain. ******

Ok, so Got a 1/2" fiber wood spacer and a thicker 3/8" gasket, and pulled the Chrysler iron 4bbl manifold to swap in a Weiand stealth style 8008 aluminum and a valley pan with heat crossover blockoffs. Thinking to get the carb cooler. Looking in to the valley i see previous owner replaced 1 of the pushrods and 6 of the rocker arms. The lifters look newer. The cam is a Delta regrind where the specs were very close to a factory magnum grind , i want to say 214-220 degrees, but i lost the cam box when we moved. ******

Ok - finally questions -
Why replace only a few rockers and 1 push rod ? Cost ?
No gaskets under the intake manifold just RTV sealant ? Why ?
Did the factory put washers under the head bolts ?
it has all grade 8 head bolts but they are from 3 different lots/stampings ? Is that normal or was the head likely pulled at some point? DOesn't seem to blue smoke out the exhaust, and the black over rich smoke went away when i ditched the holley.
I'm fairly certain i'm going to find a stretched timing chain. So without knowing the cam specs exactly, do i just get a quality new chain and install "straight up", and hope for the best ? ******

I had already put in a edelbrock fixed 6.5 psi mechanical fuel pump, new fuel lines + filter, and a hi volume oil pump last year. Also a brand new northern radiator, dual electric fans, electric water pump.

Its a hobby car, i dont need it for daily use, I'm pretty good at bolt-on stuff, simple swaps, own some torque wrenches/basic auto tools, but i don't have the tools to rebuild an engine. Will a compression test alone be usefull - do i need a leak-down kit ? Advice ?
Lets assume i can pull together $2000 this year, should i pull motor, and hope its enough $$ for a machine shop rebuild. Or wait another year or two when maybe i can afford maybe $5000 and strive for a properly built stroker engine. I do have another fast car so i can fulfill that itch when necessary.

Thanks for your thoughts.

** edit to add , has a nice exhaust leak at manifold to head pipes, where either muffler shop or previous owner used bolts with Nylock plastic insert nuts to attach the two. . Another reason to wonder whats going on in engine.

I would imagine they replaced one pushrod and just 6 of the rockers due to cost. I would not have done that myself but this should give you an idea of the mindset of the previous owner and trust nothing about the work on this motor.

As for the intake, it isn't abnormal to just use RTV to seal it up. I didn't use the intake gaskets on mine when I last put on my intake so no worries there as long as you don't have a vacuum leak.

I am not sure about washers under the head bolts but I want to say they did have them but I could be wrong here. If you are going to install the timing chain, you will find a mix of opinions here on whether to degree the cam or not. For a stock type timing chain replacement...just trying to freshen up the existing motor a bit, I wouldn't degree it unless you already had the kit/experience. However, if you are going to really tear it down and have it re-machined/stroked...not a bad idea to have it degreed to make sure everything is dead on. It is hit or miss if you get a sprocket that has the dot in the exact right place and for a performance build it could add one extra level of doubt so get it done.

I know I will get flamed for this but when I reassembled my 499 stroker motor I did the good old by-the-manual "line the dots up" method and have never had any timing issues that I can detect. If I had to do it again, I would have had it degreed now knowing more than I did then.

A compression test wouldn't be a bad idea to help validate the existing long block to make sure everything is in order. If you are going to have it machined, I wouldn't waste my time as it will be torn down and re-assembled.

There was a long-ish thread in this section regarding electric vs. clutch cooling fans and since you already have the electric fans, I might point out that you should upgrade your alternator to at least the 78 amp later factory unit (or even maybe 100 amp aftermarket) to make sure you can support the current draw from those fans. Running the fans that draw any amount of current on a factory 60 amp alternator is asking for trouble and will likely result in you discharging the battery way more than you want.

FWIW a stock rebuild would probably run you right around 2000$. Figure around $1000-$1200 for a good machining job of heads and short block re-assembly which I would have the machine shop do if you are unsure here. Figure the rest of the money for the rebuild kit parts.

Now (another controversial topic) the stroker will likely run you way more than $5000 (more like $10K+) when you factor in machine work, stroker kit, aftermarket or ported heads, headers, roller rockers, cam, oiling system, intake, carb etc to really have that engine realize it's potential. You won't want to put all that money into the short block and then bolt on the factory heads/manifolds/intake/etc and neuter that poor motor. This isn't to mention if your drivetrain is up to the task of handling the increased torque from the stroker motor.

I don't want to kill your dreams but I have been down this road and the stroker idea is great but adds up very quickly when you get into it.

Good luck in whatever path you choose!

Thanks for the reply. I did go with a 100 amp internal regulated TuffStuff Alternator, fused the fans seperatly , and use an good Odyssey brand battery. New temp sensor and it stays in the middle or less of factory gage sweep.

I put $ 5000 for the stroker cost, but like you say, i know its realistically more, potentially much more,2x, 3x , if a guy doesn't have the experience + tools, wants aluminum heads, plus the carb setup + exhaust, transmission to match.
I Have put a couple sets TTI headers + mandrel bent exh on mopars and it rings up at $1500+ each time. A Muscle motors crate motor looks great, but $8000 + exhaust, etc etc.

Maybe its best to go close to stock rebuild at local machine shop if i can get it done it at that $ 2000+ figure. I just don't want to be $ 4000-5000 into a stock rebuild and wishing i had doubled down for the stroker, seeing as i'm $ 1500 or so into this 'magnum' motor as is. But again, life , finances , and time may not conspire toward cubic inches.

And i did want to think that the previous owner cheaped out, basically on the partial replacement of parts while he was in there anyhow.

Idea of what to expect for compression readings for this 'smog' motor ?

Nice Charger !
I had a bone stock survivor '73 340 Rallye charger years ago, brought it to the local mopar drags day to run it, and a couple of guys in front of me were commenting " that 340 is way too small for that car " - well it ran mid 15's on an easy launch + conservative revs, which is about what i expected. But the funny part is the 4 guys disliking the car/motor combo , were all riding in a base model chevy cavalier.

If it does not smoke and passes a compression/leakdown test then I would swap a timing chain and a modern cam/lifter setup into it.
Have you ever put a motor together with rocker arms/pushrods from two different motors?I have.On stock stuff it does not bother me in the least.
Unless the compression test is horrible news I say cam/chain it and drive it.Just go conservative on the cam.
Try the quicker advance springs in the distributor it might like it.

Play at intergear connector slot ---with rotor removed so i could see the springs, at the backing plate outer holes,[ so pretty close to the outer edge of the distributor cap inner circumference ] . About 3-4 degrees movement or 1/8th inch before the 'wings' started putting tension on the springs.

Trying to look at the distributor to inter-gear connection itself, maybe 1/16th of an inch , i can't get my head in there, a flashlight, machinists rule, and turn the rotor and measure it, so thats a estimate.

Any suggestions for a timing chain ?? looks like most any performance one is a double roller and better ones have forged steel gears. Probably haven't bought one in 15 yrs. I don't see as i need much, if any, keyway adjustablility for what the motor is.

i'll pull front cover, time permitting tommorow, to look at chain itself.