One thing to consider is that trans, 23 spline? If the tires hook... Reason Chrysler put Danas & 18 splines behind the "stock" 440s even with the skinny tires of that time. I like the idea of a 440 crank in the 383 block -426 cubes or the 4.15 crank complete stroker kits. Ask thumper about his

I have been 9.30's on a 23 spline box. You can't have the clutch beat the parts to death. The wrong clutch will destroy anything you put behind it.

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It may impact "seat of the pants" feel, but it may not actually change et at track much...

I find that gear selection is not near as important with an even decent built 440. Further, the lighter the car, the less impact on et.

Leave the gears and transmission alone.
Forget the 440.

Order a stroker kit. Get a good streetable cam. Save the pocket change for the machine work.

When the money and parts are available, yank the 383 and get the bottom end done. Put it back together and enjoy the ride.

When the money is available for Eddy heads you can swap them out in an afternoon. The same goes for the intake and carb.

Playing with the low deck motor gives you more room to access the plugs and install headers and also keep the weight off the nose of the car.

That's alot of options. I found a standard bore 440 block for $500 with the main caps and bolts.It has already been cleaned, shot peen'd and magnaflux' at the machine shop. I already have an Eddy rpm intake for a 440. I think I read somewhere that the heads from a 383/440 are interchangeable (temporary). Then I found a good deal on an eagle rotating assembly but it's only for a 446 for under 1500. Am I headed in the right direction piecing this bottom end together? I just don't know what size flat tappet cam to go with.

Sure, that will work. If you already have the rotating kit and heads and intake then you're on your way. Hard to go wrong with the Mopar Perf .528 solid flat tappet cam. It will have some lope at idle in a 446 but it won't be really rough. It will pull to 6000+ rpm once you put the Edelbrock (or Trick Flow) heads on there.

you should be able to get a complete 440 for $500.00, next don't get the 446 rotating assembly unless you know the block with clean up at whatever oversize the pistons in the kit are.

yes you can use the 383 heads on the 440. good on the intake.

Depending on what your budget is, I like the idea of stroking the 383, buying aluminum heads, water pump and intake. Lessens the weight on the nose a bit. You can build it with compression that will run on pump gas, choose a nice cam/carb combo and make plenty of HP for smoking the tires at the drop of hat. I think you will be totally thrilled. Those stroker motors are no slouch.

If you don't like that idea, plenty of 440 recommendations above. But, if you start hammering a stock 23 spline tranny and 8 3/4 with power launches, you will likely break something. If you don't hammer the crap out of it, then it will probably live and do just fine.

Doesn't sound bad at all, assuming it's quality stuff.

The heads interchange from 350/361/383/413/426W/444. Valves and chamber sizes varied in the early to mid 60s but after that there's really no difference in performance.

There are alot of smart people on here and many know alot about cams. But most of us are not pro's with cam selecting meaning we dont do it everyday like some pro's. Sure I can suggest a cam as I feel I know cams pretty good but myself I had a pro spec my last cam thats in my 63 Sport Fury. I wanted a cam to make good power and have a nice rump rump in the idle and Dwayne Porter speced me a cam that did that and he also made it keep my cyl pressure low enough to run fine on pump gas with the right valve timing specs. Dwayne is a pro and does cam selecting and specs everyday and he is very good at it. Many of us here are good with cams but most of us are not pro's as we dont do it for a living everyday like Dwayne Porter does. I would suggest you give Dwayne Porter a call (802-951-1955) and talk to him about your cam. It did not cost me any more going through him and I got a cam speced to my combo. I use a solid flat tappet and it works very good for my combo. It dont cost you anything to give him a call and talk to him. Ron