my 440 is painted

Posted By: badblack68

my 440 is painted - 07/04/08 03:40 AM

I finally have a few pics of the almost fully assembled 440 that is going into my 1968 Charger. It is all painted and the rest of the bolt ons will be installed once the engine and trans are installed in the car. It is very low mileage 71 440 that was completely rebuilt. The block retains it`s original bore, and the crank and rod journals recieved a very slight polish, no cutting needed. It has a stock mopar 440 magnum resto cam, Mopar electronic distributor, high volume Melling oil pump, Mopar Performance windage tray with trick mods, 6 quart hemi oil pan, some other trick oiling mods done to the block, some nice port work on a set of virgin 906 heads, new springs and valves, along with a three angle valve job, heads cc`d and everything measured three times before assembly. The heads were cut to achieve a final compression ratio calculation of 9.3 to 1. I have an original restored (by Scott Smith) 1968 vintage 4 speed Carter avs carb, and an original 68 date coded iron intake and water pump housing. All the intake and exhaust ports are port/gasket matched. We were shooting for a great running near stock 440 that will run fine on pump gas. The engine is 99% completely dressed as a 1968 440 H.P. engine with the correct valve covers, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds, and water pump housing. I can`t wait for the the day we bring it to life. It`s going to feel good rowing through the completely rebuilt 18 spline 4 speed, and spinning the completely rebuilt 3:54 geared dana 60. Many thanks go to Bob and Cici at Outrageously Vintage for the engine rebuild, the absolute over the top cylinder head work. Cudo`s to Scott at Harms Automotive for the carb restoration. Thanks also go out to Bear Martel here locally for the help rebuilding the 1969 dana 60. Looks like I may just have a ride again sometime in 2009! My body man came over last week and we pulled off the windshield trim, and removed the windshield. One of my other Mopar buddies who is almost finished with his 68 Coronet R/T came over this past Tuesday and we removed my dash assembly and heater box assembly. I hope to have all these sub-assemblies finished by the time my car heads to the body shop so when it`s time to put it back together there aren`t any hold ups. Sorry for the long story but I`m finally starting to get a slight feeling of excitement. I haven`t have a ride to drive since selling my 1964 Sport Fury three years ago. I almost forgot to mention another good friend who is a Moparts member. He called to tell me that I am now a worse than he resto F A G. I almost fell off my chair laughing. Rick, you know who you are! You better take a look at yourself pal, your 68 HEMI GTX is way above my car! Yours is the real deal and mine is a clone, clown, tribute, re-creation, or whatever they call em these days. This is the LAST car I ever do this to. I`m not saying I`m done with the hobby, but next time I will search for the right car that is finished and ready to drive. No more chasing parts and taking 3 to 4 years to drive it!