Motorhome 440 engine question

So I have recently acquired a 77 Travco that I knew the engine block has been allowed to freeze and crack. So I am looking for a replacement and want to stay 440. So on the passenger side of the block mine has the casting 440-3 at the end of the casting number which I was pretty sure meant that it is motor home engine. I know there are some differences between that engine and a regular 440, casting thickness in places and cooling passages different. So this weekend I went and looked at two other 440 engines that are for sure out of motor homes that a guy had but they had on the passenger side 440-4 & 440-5 on them so I am a little confused. They were for sure motor home engines with the plate mounted at the back of the engine with the electronic ignition module mounted to it and the cruise control servo mount right beside it at the rear of the engine. So is that casting on the side not what I'm looking for as it being a 440-3 motor home engine? I want to get the right engine for the Travco, only want to be in this once. Didn't get either one of these engines because they were junk as far as I was concerned. Been laying out in the weather and were pretty well seized, I could get one of them to turn very slightly. Priced right but rough. So any help on the identifying this would be great.
Thanks
Larry

I'm pretty sure all that -3, -4 etc stuff means is how many times the mold/tooling has been freshened up. A 440 is pretty much a 440 no matter what it comes out of, motorhome to 6Pak.

Kevin

Same block as a 1977 car/truck block.

There are two different 440 motor home motors, the standard low compression 440 motor home the smaller Class a and class C chassis, the other one is known as the 440-3 which has extral cooling passages in the block and heads to route coolant around the exhaust valves from the block into the heads
I've use both blocks on bracket builds, I sonic test all my blocks before building, I didn't see any special thicknesses in either type block

440-3 is a 3rd casting.
There a two versions of the 1976-78 452 heads. Standard and the 452 motor home head with the steam ports at the exhaust valves. All the later blocks have larger cooling ports. I've had 1976-78 blocks from cars, trucks and motor homes and were all the same.

http://www.440source.com/blockinfo.htm

That info is incorrect about -numbers. Years ago I talked to a guy who worked in the foundry.

If a revision is made it gets a new casting number, you can see that in the evolution of the various block castings. All the dash number means is which tooling made the molds, for QA purposes if there is an issue with a casting they can track what tooling made the molds. Chrysler was in the business of casting many blocks so they had many sets of tooling to make the molds needed, therefore they needed a method to track what was used and where.

Nothing more, nothing less.

My experience with MH blocks and heads started long ago. A friend had a MH 440 that he bought from salvage yard. He sold the heads and used 906 heads for his Cuda. It ran hot from the start. He could not keep it off 230 degree or higher no matter what. We tried everything. He finally just machined another block and used his heads and all his other components and problem solved. He just threw the block back in the garage and saved it. I personally bought an NOS short block when Mopar closed out a lot of parts for cheap in the mid 80’s. I put 906 heads on it and installed it in a 72 truck for towing. It ran hot as well. 220 was common even with a new radiator. I eventually installed a 400 back in the truck and sold it. I still have that motor as well. Several years later, I learned about the MH blocks with the steam holes that had to use the special 452 heads with the holes to match. I was told water would not circulate good without the match. Now, I live in Texas where 100 plus days are common so it does not take much to get hot down here. I ended up with my buds MH 440 block. It had the extra steams holes in the deck. I sold it a couple of years ago. My block is built with a set of MH heads I finally found with 11.5 pistons. I never installed it in the race car I intended, so it still sitting in the shop. I’m not sure if all motor homes got those extra steam holes but these two do. I can check my casting number but I don’t think the dash number has anything to do with being a MH. They had them for a reason though. Look at a head gasket and you will see the holes I’m talking about.

That is the first I have heard of 2 versions of the 452s.

I had always thought that the heaviest duty commercial chassis 440s had heads with more water passages around the exhaust and spark plugs meaning that they were different castings. Otherwise all other 440s shared the same 452 heads. But you say that they were all the same heads even on the heaviest models, just that they had more holes drilled?

I do wish that we could still get the commercial chassis thermostats with the block-off plate on the bottom. It takes some experimenting to get the by-pass hole in the water pump just right. The thermostat with the block-off was a better approach to that.

I have a set of grimy 213 heads, anyone want pictures ?

The 452 heads with the steam ports were police application, the heads had steam ports on each side of the spark plug and took a smaller taper seat plug ,
These heads work fine on a reg block and if you drilled the steam holes in the block deck you get the extra cooling , most late gaskets had the steam holes

The true motor home big blocks were the 413 with the massive water pump and housing and the strange
big block heads that had the plugs up top like a small block with different exhaust ports

In the OP's example"440-3 at the end of the casting number", the dash number is called the Core Casting Index Number. This is not a "revision" but merely a number that denotes the number of core components that were changed in the casting core used to make the sand mold. The abrasive nature of sand wears out the components and, rather than scrap the whole core, they replaced individual components. The highest number I have ever heard reported was a -13.

The fact that the -3 is consistent with an engine series is merely coincidental.

I have a pair of the 452 steam heads that I pulled from a motorhome motor. I also have a pair of the 213 heads that were cast in 73 but used on later motors too
.

Here is the "high water pump" industrial motor and they are not the 213 heads.

Mopar has made several different C.I. motors that ended being made and used for heavy duty applications, 361-3, 413-3, 318-3, 360-3 and 440-3
I'm almost positive that they did not mark the blocks, heads water pumps, exhaust manifolds and intake with a marking on them saying they were -3 H.D. parts
I've seen all of those motors in bigger trucks, D500 and bigger cab over trucks and in class A and class C motor home chassis

That is a 413 industrial motor and they used a 943 head casting. Completely different than any other big block heads.

Yup.

First off thanks for all the replies guys . So I see what I was thinking as it being a 440-3 because of that casting number on the side of the block is completely wrong. Differences in the blocks some say no, some say yes, most say difference in heads and thermostat. I knew that the 413 industrial engine was a complete different animal. So I believe I am going to continue to look for a complete 440 engine out of a motor home, that way I know that is what I have and it will work. Not going to get hung up on that casting number on the side. Hopefully I'll find one that hasn't been laying out in the weather and seized this time.
Thanks

I have several sets of NOS 452 heads in both configurations,15/16 plug & 5/8 plug with steam/coolant passages,if your eng.has the 5/8 plugs you can add the corresponding steam/coolant holes to any 440 block with out them,so all you need is a good 440 block.

Yes Chrysler sold them off for $20 each clearing out the old stock in the parts depot