Ok this is the issue I'm having. After speaking with a friend of my father who has his own 71' Roadrunner (and an original 440+6 superbird)he has helped shed new light for me.

I'm not sure if he kept his original 383 or not, but he now has a 440+6 in his roadrunner as well. As we went through what all I wanted to do with my 71' Roadrunner and what I had for parts to make a 550hp/550lb 440 for the roadrunner. This is what I have to work with:

-440 virgin RV block (30k miles)
-XE285HL comp cams cam (.545/.545 lift)
-750 Barry Grant carb
-Large dual plane intake
-mini starter

This is just what I have so far as performance parts. I know how this cam behaves as my father runs it in his 440 67' Dart GTS. It runs like a raped ape!

But I think the one thing that kinda made me feel out of place was his comment "Those days are over. No one races on the street anymore cause you will go to jail and these cars have become too valuable." His big point was keeping the car original as it will be more fun than going all out like I was planning. His biggest suggestion was going with a .474/.474 camshaft and leaving it at that and maybe a good set of heads.

So what do you guys think of all this? I've always felt like I was born in the wrong era or generation as I listen to all music from the 60's and 70's, love the cars, loved the thoughts of people in those days, and how they were somewhat simpler than what they are today. I don't know of too many kids who are 19 that share the same passion (at least not around me) that don't drive rice burners and have no moral values.

You need a lot more parts!
But to your point, and the advice you were given--you have to know when to use the power , and when to not. Thats not always easy. Buts its ALWAYS great knowing its there.
You live in TEXAS! Don't you have LOTS of low populated, wide open spaces?
Or a dragstrip?
Build what YOU want!

Ha yeah we do. Unfortunately somewhere along the line we fell in line with California law where if you are caught exhibiting any sort of speed or racing, they arrest you and crush the car. Nearest drag strip being about a 3 hour drive.

I'm much like you actually, except I'm 27. I am building a stroker motor Duster, mostly a street car. It'll be mostly a cruiser but it's like a gun, it's nice to have in case you need it. lol

Build your muscle car to be reliable and fun to drive. Then build a race car and have the best of both worlds. It's hard to do both with one car.

Build your car basically stock with the hipo cam. Then take your time to build your hotrod. It is real hard to use a monster motor for daily driver. You won't be happy.

Them monster motors are fun but not to just drive around. Big cam motors with lots of comp don't like putting around. Build it mild for daily use and build something else all out for saturday nights

Leave it alone and work on restoring the rest of the car.

There is ALWAYS something to fix/spend money on. ALWAYS.

go big or go home. do it the way you want it mo power to ya. Car shows are like watching grass grow

Some good advice here for sure.

My car makes about what you are shooting for, as simply as a 440 can.

That said, it is a pain to keep cool, and not fun for a cruise at all.

I do like to take it for short street drives, and open it up once in a while on the street, but never street race. Usually the guys who want to street race me have 15 second cars. so it's not really an issue.

I'm working on a 49 fargo truck, as my street rig. Closer to 350 hp, instead of 550, and much nicer to drive.

Build what you want, but remember that the fast track car, and the fun cruiser comb is a really tough build, best left to strokers.

With a supercharger you can have the best of both, mild cam for cruising and the power for when you need it!

If you want to build for 550hp/torq, go with a set of edelbrock rpm or 440source heads and a piston with a compression height of 2.060 or taller. That way with some milling you can get an honest 10.5 compression which with that cam and pump gas will do what you want. Then a set of headers and a good intake like a holley street dominator or edelbrock rpm. Carb you'll want to step up to an 850 since you'll be revving it over 6000rpm.

I say build the high-po street machine you want. Just stick with a carb that has a choke(tune the carb well, including the choke), recurve your distributor to setup your advance properly and run the right stall converter/gearing for your cam. That will help it be as driveable as possible.

My rule when I got this car was to keep the car as stock as possible (minus a cam) and keep my 1980 malibu the all out custom car. This way I can have a balance. Got the malibu as my first car, dad told me if I was going to learn how to drive and wreck my first car, it was going to be a chevy. Never happened but anyway, yeah from what I've heard from other older mopar guys is that the 4 speed is alot of fun (don't know why yet)and along with the stock AC it should be a lot of fun to drive. Hoping to get it restored within the next 3 years before my senior year of college.

I really appreciate the input guys. I do see the good in keeping the car original, to a point, while improving little things. IE the drum to disc brake conversion in the front and a slightly larger cam. The big improvement will be if I decide to go with 440source aluminum heads.

My dad is running a set of 516 heads that are full ported and rival the flow of the aluminums. He mentioned if he decides to go with aluminum heads, along with the 8:71 blower, he would sell me the 516's for cheap.

As for the racetrack, I know which one your talking about. It's a helluva drive from Boerne,tx all the way out there. And last time the guy was a [Edited by Moparts - Family Friendly Site - Keep it clean] cause he didn't like the burnouts in my malibu. It was either too much or too little for him.

This is the malibu and you can see the roadrunner covered in the background.

Being a young gun and my dad telling me not to "cut up" my car and keep it stock-ish...all i have to say it build the car how you want it done, you can always got back to stock later. And for the street racing, when i was younger my parents used to take me to them in the back of my moms barracuda, since then ive been hooked...if you race on the street dont be an idiot about it, go to an empty road with no side streets and plenty of room for shutdown if you need it.

Impound the car and crush it? Can that really be true? This sounds like some sort of urban legend. Even with the liberty oppressing administration, I can't believe that any jurisdiction has the power to destroy a citizens property. What recourse does the accused have in this instance? Does the case have to go to trial like a regular misdemeanor or do they treat it like drug forfeiture?

Pretty much like a drug forfeiture. It was recently passed a year or two ago. They basically rely on the officer's testimony and some sort of proof that the race occurred. It is in plane jane writing that they have the right to crush the car. I've seen a lot of these ricer guys lately lose their cars when found guilty. Luckily, this state does give wreckless endangerment tickets, so you can go as fast as you want and it will simply be a speeding ticket always.

While I did do some street racing in my younger days I never had anything REALLY fast and never hung out with "that" crowd. I have always been much more interested in having a reasonably fast car that handles and stops well AND can be driven long distances without concern (or 8mpg or less). My son's 440/4sp 67 Dart GT convertible is the perfect example of a FUN street car. The motor is a little tired now and needs some attention, but I have put over 600 miles on it in a weekend several times.

So yeah, I'm in agreement with what you were told.

Also, yes there have been publicized cases here in California of cars being impounded and crushed. I think I read some reports of some right here on Moparts.

I'm sure there is a huge difference (to the Police) between a car guy out in the middle of knowhere spinning his rear tires, and 2 young idiots with ricer's or VW's street racing, where they (or bystanders) can get hurt or killed. Crush your car? Doubtful. A good Lawyer would eat that one up, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. I am willing to bet that the powers that be would be buying you/building you a new car. California sucks in so many ways anyhow, if you aren't happy with Texas copying there stupid laws, write a few letters and remind your elected officials who voted for them. Laws like this are overkill, and responsible car nuts don't need them. And I, for one, am tired of being over-regulated! Build what you want, and run it hard when you can!

Here's my opinion, and I should say that I've modified rare cars, restored rare cars, modified "normal" cars, and been around race cars, historical cars, etc for decades:
Curious yellow 4-spd A/C Roadrunners are beyond rare, probably a single-digit amount were made. That means it's very valuable, and extremely cool in stock form. That body is also pretty heavy, and not even close to the best platform for the kind of performance you seem to be after.
Stick the big motor in something else - earlier B-body or '67-up A-body - and it'll be easier on drivetrain parts and you'll have the best of both cars/worlds. And you'll have one of the rarer & cooler Roadrunners on the planet.
Lumpy cams & A/C aren't very compatible anyway, and you'll find that the lumpy cam in your imagination won't be as driveable in real life stop-&-go driving. I learned long ago to make the hot rod the hot rod, and to maintain the rare stuff intact.

Actually, they are crushing cars, there was a news article from an LA newspaper where they were crushing your car while you watched. Probably the exception and not the rule, but that's pretty harsh!

Oh, as far as hopping up your car, just do it if you want to!

As some people get older their priorities change and many seem to loose the interest in what made these cars desirable: the raw power that puts you into the seat and pitches your machine sideways as you grab for second gear. That's why the muscle car even exists. They weren't always "investments".

Do what you want, you only get one shot at being young and dumb. Time doesn't wait for anyone!

When I was your age (I'm 30) I had already broken a lot parts, crashed a few cars, and had a lot of fun going really fast!!

What nobody who is actually from "back in the day" has mentioned:

How much money do you want to pizz away down an endless hole and will never, ever, see back?

messed up the post somehow

I'm not paying attention to how much money I'll be spending. I'll keep the receipts and what not, but don't ask me how much I've already pissed away on my malibu lol.

With the 383, after messing with comp cams camquest, I get the best power out of the PP280 .474/.474 camshaft. It gives me roughly 460hp/450lb. with decent heads.

I'm not the young and dumb type. I like building cars right the first time and not half a**ing a build.

As for making the owner watch as they crush your car, supposedly that is what they are doing down here. Luckily I know all the san antonio cops and all of them are hot rodders

Here are a few pics of the project in question. Some of the other small options are a dictaphone cassette recorder mounted on the 4 speed console (1 of 136 supposedly), 3.23 sure grip, manual drum brakes, power steering, bucket seats. The one thing I always question is why the original owner put a clock in the rally gauges when it has a 4 speed. I'm gonna switch it out though for a tach anyway.

I'm gonna end up getting a set of the 18 inch magnum wheels as this car came with the 14's, but the last owner didn't have them.

Advice- but not the kind you asked for. DITCH THE MALIBU!!!!

I 2nd that. Sell Malibu and put all money in the yellow bird.

There isn't anymore money really going into the malibu since it is pretty much a done project. The only thing going on with it is a gasket rebuild on the engine since I've been driving it for five years. My old man is still giving me sh** about it cause he said "Most kids don't keep their first cars". Kinda funny my first car is a 80 malibu, second is a 71' Roadrunner, and third is my 96' Dakota.

There really is no point to selling it cause it is personalized to my taste and I probably wouldn't even get half of my money back out of it if I sold it. Its like back in the 80's when Dodge Darts and Plymouth Scamps weren't selling for a hundred bucks. Nowadays, people look at my old man and say "I can't believe you cut into a power bulge GTS hood". His response "So what? Nobody gave a damn when I did it anyway."

I wouldn't get rid of your first car. I still have mine. 79 Camaro that I bought in 1986. Not many people can say they still have their 1st. Car.

Or thier first wife, or thier first dog etc..

My first car was a 73 duster. 340 car. I loved it, but I don't miss it one darn bit.

Life is about change

My first car was a 68 barracuda I bought in 1983 for $600 of hard earned paper route money. I still have it. It now runs high 12s and hauls my 3 girls to the icecream stand. Im glad I didnt change!

fish

Not my first car but my second one is still with me. 78 Trans Am bought in 82'. As per the OP, I would think seriously about modding the car too much. I modded my 69 Bee because there was no data plate or build sheet. Your car is a pretty rare car but it is yours to do as you please.

I pretty much screwed myself when I first got the car cause I knew exactly where the 440 was and paid 225$ for the complete long block out of a 78' winnebago. It wasn't until a few months later did I realize how rare and complete the car is. So now I have the option of doing a complete restoration with leaving the car she came, OR doing a 550hp/550lb. 440 build. I have all the parts to do either one.

But I think I'm going to just do a cam and head swap on the original 383, get the compression up, and go with the MP .474/.474 cam as comp cams suggested that cam would give me a 460hp/450lb combo. That will pretty much leave the car stock in a sense and I'll leave all my customizing thoughts towards the malibu.

If you really want some fun build the 440 and stuff it in a A-body at a later date. That wil be plenty enough to pucker you up. Save the runner as it is with some hipo upgrades and leave it a street driver.

Restore the car to stock, but build the drivetrain the way you want it. You can always stuff the original motor under your work bench in case some day you want it back.

You can build for power and still have something that's very driveable. I know with 10.5:1 compression 440, 440source stealth or edelbrock rpm heads, rpm intake and headers with a comp xe275hl cam you can make 500hp/550torq, proven several times by mopar mags and some members here. I've got a lunati voodoo cam in my 7.8:1 smogger 440 with 440source heads. That cam has slightly less duration to it than the comp 275, amd I mean slightly less at 4* less duration @050 on the intake and exhaust. And I'm running a whole lot less compression and on the street it drives about the same as it did when I had the stock lo-po 440 cam and stock heads in there. So with a bunch more compression and 4* more cam duration, throttle response on the street should be crisp if your carb and ignition advance are dialed in right.

With a modern cam design and decent flowing heads you can build a lot of power and still have something that runs great on the street. It's not like the old days where you're loafing around town with an outdated mopar 509 hydraulic cam.