If you own a machine shop or can get the machine work done at a reasonable cost, you can save some money using the stock crank and rods.
On our current 505 build we had a 77 440 with cast crank that needed to be turned, and was external balanced, so for us a stroker kit was an easy choice. Costs to consider with stock parts is turning/polishing crank and balancing the rotating assembly. For the stock rods, upgrade to ARP bolts and usually big end needs resizing. Add the cost of the piston press pin R&R. Block machine work should be the same, except need to clearance oil pickup boss slightly with the stroker kit. I consider the cost of the pistons to be about a wash for equal quality parts.
What you gain with the stroker kit is more CID, higher quality materials, stronger 7/16" rod screws, much lighter pistons, plus lighter full floating piston pins. Also, the stroker kit pistons use thinner piston rings, where most of the stock style replacement pistons use the stock thickness ring pack.

Yep, x2

I see four avenues.
#1 Build a stoke 10.1:1 440. The factory rating in 69' was 375hp/475tq. This will give you strong street performance with the driveabilty of a cruiser. Smooth, quiet, responsive and no maintenance. Add a few goodies like a intake and headers and you're over 400hp.

#2 stock displacement but racey. This moves the torque higher into the rpm range which results in more hp, but sacrifices responsiveness, smooth, quiet and driveability. Requires change in converter and possibly gears. Estinated $2-2.5k for good parts.

#3 Maximize displacement. Build the bottom end bigger, little to no changes up top. More torque, more responsive, smooth, quiet. 50 to 70 additional cubes will net an additional 100 ft lbs of torque give or take. And allows for additional cam duration and lift without sacrificing driveability. Estimated $2-3k in budget over stock parts.

#4 Build the top for additional air flow, stock bottom. Not as efficient as adding cubes, but will result in additional torque throughout the rpm range. Estimated $2k to $2.5k in budget over stock parts.

#5 Combination of #3 and #4. Stroker with better breathing top end. Greater torque throughout the rpm range. Great driveability, smooth, quiet, responsive and fast...very fast.

Molnar or 440source for the bottom. TF240 for the top. Edelbrock for the induction, Hughes for the valve train. Estimated additional additional $5-6K, plus machine work and assembly, in the budget.

Start with the budget. $3k?, $5k, $8k?

The "I beam vs. H beam" discussion is 100 years old, with no answer in site. In some engines an H beam is not possible because of clearance problems to the block, cam, etc.
IIRC Larry Widmer (assuming same volume of material and cross-sectional area) prefers H beam for boosted applications (high cylinder pressure) and I beam for NA (high RPM reciprocating load).
I'm using H beam in my (30 psi?) boosted engine because... my manufacturer of choice only makes H beam for my engine.
We're 50 years into aftermarket rods, and very little science appears in the catalogs, including "rated power".

For a happy street experience:
1. build the largest engine you can afford (stock block, stroker crank, quality rods)
2. quality aluminum heads
3. everything else is fluid depending on budget and time

Then if you go big everything needs to be changed like radiator, carb or EFI, exhaust. Theres no free rides, these budgets can and will double especially if your starting with just a body and a core 440.

This forum doesn't reflect it but there are still more guys building stock or mild 440s than strokers.

Some guys are good at spending other guys money and we all aren’t rich. Like I said above budget comes first, or at least it should. Personally I would love to have a 1000 horsepower NA small block but for me the maintenance of having a 9000 rpm engine is out of the question as would the costs of building it. It all comes down to horsepower costs money. How fast do you want to go.

The OP still hasn't responded to these basic questions. IMO, the thread is dead in the water until he gets around to answering them.

Sorry for the late reply.. as so many of you are giving great input..!

I just want to thank all of you, for helping me to make the decision?
Not an easy one, since there are so many combinations of doing this build!

Yes I do have the 440-block with steel crank! Ready to go!
But iam not going to rush this build... want to get as much info & details as I can since you all have built engines on your Mopars!

But I think keeping it simple.. will be the key..!
I will be happy if i can build a 450-500 hp for my budget!
With a budget of about $6-$8 if I go with 440-6pack

I think i dont want to sacrifice drivability, that mens I will be leaning towards a stock Stroker with aluminum heads, & good pistons & a forged crank!


still deciding ON:
440- six -pack set up..!
Or
440- 4-barrel set up with a good intake!

Any input on my ideas is greatly appreciated!
Sonny

Six Pack looks cooler, but could be more difficult to get the tune right than a common 4-BBL carb. If you don't have anything for the Six Pack now, then you'll spend far more for the parts, too.

I'd build as stout an engine as I could afford with a single 4 bbl, get the car up & running, enjoy some seat time, & make the Six Pack your next project.

I don't know if you are aware of offset grinding the stock Mopar rod crankshaft journals from the 2.375 size to BB Chevy rod journal 2.200 and increase the stroke from 3.7500 to 3.9100 or 3.900which allows you to run a lot better price BB Chevy H or I beam long rod like 7.100 length that is a lot lighter and it uses a lot light smaller .990 wrist pin. Many of the good piston companies make a shelf piston for this combination also
You could end up with a 464 to 471 C.I. motor depending on the final bore size and stroke length
Those motors flat rock, they don't make as much HP or torque as the longer stroke motors make but they do make what I consider a lot better than the stock stroke and heavy pistons and rods do
I need to warn you though that I like speed and power, a BUNCH

I think we'll have a better idea on if that will happen after the G20 summit.

If you don't want to sacrifice driveability then stroker is the way to go.

4.25 crank goes in with little to no clearancing for 508 cubes. The new Trick Flows seem to deliver the most bang for the buck out of the box.

Driveability is all about the camshaft and Dwayne Porter should be able to spec you out a cam that will more than meet your requirements while still using stock rocker gear and having idle quality approaching your grandmother's New Yorker (after she swapped in the 6pak cam, Granny was from Pasadena ya know!).

Kevin

Simple is the key as you say, for a 99% street car that will be a 4spd?, or even 727 I would build a>

9.5>10:1 440ci, TF240 heads, ($2200 but worth it), a mild hyd or HR spec'd cam as mentioned. An Eddy RPM intake or air-gap perhaps and a 950DP at least. You'll easily reach and surpass your 450>500hp target with a mild cam with those TF heads flowing 310cfm@ just .500"and have plenty of torque.

For those odd trips to the track with sticky tyres it could run mid 11's@122....Driveability is not just about cam choice if you like getting into the throttle on the street with a 512 motor.

Six Pack looks cooler, but could be more difficult to get the tune right than a common 4-BBL carb. If you don't have anything for the Six Pack now, then you'll spend far more for the parts, too.

This^^^

If the OP decides to stay with a 3.75 stroke build, there is a really old post of mine that someone copied & reposted here not that long ago that outlined some combinations I ran way before my car became far more strip than street. I don't have a link to it at the moment, though.

The man wants a 440 six pack, how can you fault that?

I have run two different 440 6-BBL setups on two different cars. My tuning knowledge had improved significantly in the years between the two cars. There's an experience factor that should be considered, especially the farther from stock the rest of the engine combination becomes.

Before tuning, the biggest problem I see is the expense of a six pack set up vs. a 4 bbl. This will be especially important if the $6-8,000 budget is trying to be kept on the low side. A new six pack setup will eat up a third of that money alone.