So i have bought a 66 coronet with a 440 it looks to be an ex drag car that someone was trying to make a street car. My question is i know nothing about the engine or whats been done and i would like to know if there is anyway for me to eyeball some stuff and see? I know for sure it has a holley 750cfm it has a torker 440 intake and i just put a new melling HP oil pump.

You could either take the sellers word,or disassemble and measure things.You can check the cam lift &duration with a degree wheel,visually look for part numbers(heads,cam,etc.)and compare them against what the seller stated.When it comes to stuff like pistons you'll have to dig deeper for the answers.If the guy seemed honest about the parts, and you can verify what he claimed, you could probably belive the rest on faith from there.

lucky me he did not know anything. Best i could say is that the cam is a purple shaft. I dont have the tools to go to far right now, though i will next month. I have been told just to let it be and race the car until something breaks then go ahead with the figuring out then.

drive it.check plugs.take it to the track

ill be taking it out to a local straight road soon, track will have to wait awhile. Moving to Korea for a couple years. Plus the car needs some safety items fixed, roll bar needs to be redone, seats have to be mounted right, torsion bar cross member needs to be replaced, need a harness, and i have to find a new mount for the wheelie bar. if only i knew how to weld

Check the timing, plugs, oil change. Then put some good fuel in it & beat on it a little checking for pinging. If it runs good, the timings close & it don't ping then you have a winner. Enjoy it.

Get it tuned up and let it rip... doesn't really matter the build, you'll find out once you pound on it. I'd set total timing at 36*, set the carb for best vacuum at idle, change the oil/filters, check the plugs and roll. Hammer it try shifting at 5800, then 6000 if it feels like it's still pulling try 6200... You can also add some timing until it pings or falls off.