Strange 1979 440, what's it out of?

Just picked up a 440, it's got 9T 440 E & 8-14 on the block stamping, cast date of 6-28-78, weird left side exhaust manifold and the std size spark plugs, not the small ones used in the motor home blocks. Any idea what this was used in?

It has a truck mount on it, so some kind of heavy duty truck?

those manifolds were used in vans and some chassis trucks from what I know. I own 3 of them and used in turbo set up - bought from 3 different people. Seems they only put them on 1 side for some reason.

On a side note, that maltese cross means something in that particular eng was undersize/oversized (it'd likely be in the archives if someone dont chime in).

I was told by a few people on this forum that the little "sight-glass" thingie on the timing chain cover was used on 440's that went into motor homes. The seller of the 440 block I bought said it was from a motor home, and my timing chain cover also had this feature.

Roger

I've only seen those valve covers on RV & van motors. In 30+ years, it may have been slightly molested. What are the casting numbers on the heads?

I think it is incorrect to label it as a '79 engine. The June casting date is about 2 months earlier than when the next model year was usually cast.

My guess, a B van, or a motor home/RV with the van nose.
An RV could easily have been a 79 model year, the chassis were sold in batches to the motor home builders and the model year would have been the assembly date of the finished RV. Depending on how many chassis were purchased, a big block Mopar RV could have had a build date as late as an 80 model year. That was not unusual in the RV business. Gene

I agree but to call it a 1979 engine despite a June casting date?

9 T 440 E
8 14


9 = 1979 model year
T = Trenton, MI engine plant
440 = 440 cu.in.
E = cast crankshaft
8 = August
14 = 14th of month (8/14/78)

truck or motor home...on the plus side its got extra ribs on the side and its most likly a good block to build

http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/motor/36.html

The heads are 452's, casting dates on them are 1-25-78

Those mounts and valve covers were used in Class B and C motor homes. Class A used a different mount.
The heads probably have steam ports on the exhaust valves. Motor home version of the 452. I have a set of those.
I agree that it is a 79 model year RV. 78 was the last year in cars and pickups but I have seen them in 79 and 80 model year RV's

I thought that even the 413 "industrial" was used for several years after the cars and trucks were feing fitted with the 426 wedge and even 440 engines.

6bbl definitely got it right

The 9 definitely means it was installed in a 1979 model year vehicle. The T means Trenton engine plant. The E means it came with a cast crank. The date is the date the engine was assembled. The last 440s were built in August of 1978 so this engine was one of the last 440s from the original molds. It took Chrysler another year to use up all of the 440s. I believe that there were some 1979 440 powered one ton pickups and vans.

Literature also says there were 413s being built into the late '70s. They were the heavier duty engines.
The Maltese cross means undersized bearing journals.

Here's a quote that is pretty right:

Decoding Engine Stampings and Casting Numbers


Decoding the Stampings on Engine Pads:
A .020 oversize cylinder bores
Diamond Oversize tappets
E Cast Crankshaft
HP High Performance
L or LC Low compression
Maltese Cross .001" undersize main bearing journals
Maltese Cross & an X .010" undersized crankshaft rod journals
O.S. .005" oversize valve stems
P Premium Fuel
R Regular Fuel
RX or MX All main and rod journals .010" undersized
S Special engine
WT or TW Water Test
X .010" undersize crankshaft


Decoding the Year Codes for B & RB Engines:
(Stamped on engine pad)
A 1965
B 1966
C 1967
D 1968
E 1969
F 1970
G 1971
H 1972
J 1973
P 1960
R 1961
S 1962
T 1963
V 1964
4T 1974
5T 1975
6T 1976
7T 1977
8T 1978
We have visual proof of a 9T as well, but that's all, folks!

Chrysler had a fire sale and declared they were going out of the bigblock business forever. They scrapped the molds and I remember seeing brand new 452 heads selling bare for $60 apiece. 400 shortblocks in crates were $400, and a cast 440 crank was something like $80. Of course, I didn't have any money at the time so they are only memories.

R.

If the "440" had a "T" after it, that meant the engine came in a truck.