Nitrous will get you there if that is all you want. I will go against the grain and say get the heads you need to support the number/power you want. They will still be there and not a bottleneck if you do a serious shortblock later.

Holley was filling bottles still. I meant more in the rush of trying to decide if you need to make another pass or waiting FOREVER for your turn depending on how many oil downs there are it would be harder to manage. I imagine, as I've never had a bottle.

I built the turbo setup for my fury in my house garage, I'm sure you could do it!

Why not buy some heads that will work on a 500" stroker, but put them on the current 440, and let it run what it runs. If it isn't enough for you, build another stroker shortblock while you spray the old one.

"I worry that it'll turn into a "might as well" situation, if I'm buying pistons and rods I may as well toss a stroker crank in there too."

If we can assume around a 60 CI increase for a cost of between $700 and $950 for a typical stroker crank, then a guy would just need
to decide if 60CI is really worth it for this application. It kind of seems like a bargain

"Dumb question, but if they're the weak link, can rod bolts be changed without getting the rods remachined, or is that asking for trouble?"

It's kind of a bad idea. I did that in the late '80s to the mule 440/still together in the Polara. The reason I got away with it was....back then, Mancini was selling
production/I believe SPS rod bolts in bulk, without the direct connection blister packaging. I ended up with exactly the same bolt as stock, but new.
I don't think I would attempt this today with an ARP 8740 etc without having the rods resized....and by then you're about halfway to some middle of the road
aftermarket rods.

Maybe I am showing a tendency to repeat past mistakes, but to me the easy/fun approach is enjoy it the way it is
for now and start working on the next combination. Then when the new big bad engine is done, if everything goes well you will end up with a spare 440 to either use, sell, part out, etc.

Maybe I missed it but did anyone ask about the current converter? That's the first thing I would change.....depending on what's in it.

There's gotta be 3-400 pounds that can come out without cutting it up? I do like the car/style too but, it's really gonna take some HP to move that weight AND the weight is hard on parts. After it's as light as you can practically make it, the next best question would be how to make 5-600 streetable HP in a stock block B/RB engine. That's probably easier than cutting the weight.

clearly the answer is a 200 shot. Build engine later lol.

my coronet is like 3900 its been 1150 in good air mild 440

You need to get some weight out of the car. As mentioned, if you can get Aluminum heads I'd go for it, add a newer cam design, call and have one custom ground for you car. What are you shifting at right now? You might have too much gear.

Have you tried tighter lash? I would start by going 18 and 22 and see if the car likes it. If it doesn't like it reset the intakes and see if it just needs more on the exhaust side. What is the cam in at? Very heavy car might want the cam advanced. I would definately look for some better aluminum heads, and try and set the motor up for the max compression you want to buy fuel for.
Look for ways to lighten the car. A disc brake conversion will drop 35 lb I believe, plus it should stop better.

Very good point about changing the front end and brake components to lighter stuff. What front spindle does a c body use in those years? IIRC the rotor is thicker than a b body.

I agree that building a better/bigger short block should be on the list. If you played your cards right and bought parts off season, took advantage of sales etc. you can screw together a 15-20k engine for 10-12k. That would be starting from scratch; new water pump housing etc. You could save a few thousand reusing some of the 440 parts if needed. Whatever you do it will need a decent fuel system so maybe think of starting there.

Experiment with lash settings
Converter - I would think there are some local members that could help you out there. Is that a J converter?
Fuel system
Nitrous Kit
New engine on the cheap (accomplished by way of 50% off sales, PB&J for lunch in 2022, and brewing your own beer)

That seems easy enough : D

Thanks everybody. Lots of confirmations of what I already figured but didn't want to admit, lol.

I don't think I'm going to touch the shortblock now, especially if changing rod bolts without getting the rods resized is a bad idea. I'll just keep this motor together as is and start planning a new build, but in the meantime put a small plate kit on it to get me to where I'd like it to run. Think I'm going the Jeremiah and MoparBilly route of just y-ing the fuel solenoid off the main feed and tossing a regulator on the nitrous supply side.

Will start collecting parts for a 50x" stroker, and it seems like the Trick Flows are the way to go for heads at the 600-700 hp power level. Once they're available I'll pick up a set. Beyond that it sounds like stock blocks are suspect anyway.

The converter in the car is a 9.5" Ultimate. It flashes to ~4500 from what I've seen. The rear tires on it are just under 30" tall, to me it doesn't seem over-geared. I'm well under 6k crossing the finish line and I'm shifting a little over 6k. It sorta feels like it noses over past 6k regardless of gear. I have a 1" open spacer I want to try and also was going to go up and down with jetting the next time I get it to the track.

I do not know where the cam was installed, but I am guessing it was already advanced a couple degrees. I can ask the old owner.

I haven't considered tightening up the lash at all- can definitely experiment with that. I figured I'd just put it where the cam card suggested and run it, but will try tighter for sure.

I have put Wilwoods on the front of it already, I did that before Roadkill Nights. I can try to maybe swap the booster and vacuum pump + reservoir out for a manual brake setup but will need to find a manual brake C body to get the parts from. It has 2 layers of carpet in it, will pull one of those out along with the HVAC box. It doesn't have tailpipes. I'll have to start looking for brackets and things that can be removed or have holes drilled into, but also not be obvious about it.

Thanks,
Nick

Unless I missed it, what kind of rear end do you have? If it's hooking with all that weight, plus you'll be adding HP, you're going to start finding the weakest links in your drivetrain. You said you have Wilwood brakes, but are they rated over 4000 lbs? I've seen other companies with limits on theirs.

It's an 8 3/4 with Moser axles, and I also upgraded to a 3.5" Dynotech driveshaft with 1350 u-joints over the summer. I suspect the ring and pinion might be the next to go, at which point it'll either get an aftermarket 9" or a Dana 60. It will definitely be the next weak link in the drivetrain. I know at this weight and HP it is marginal, especially on radials. For the brakes, Wilwood didn't have a weight specification and it's a kit designed for C bodies. I have a set of '73 C body disc spindles I could've used but I can't find caliper brackets.

The trans is a 727 with a Cheetah reverse manual valve body (no low band apply) that I shift on the column. I don't ever get off and back on the gas in 1st gear, and also know if I break the rearend I'll have to pull the trans to check the sprag.

About a .660 lift roller cam

FWIW, several 'mild' engines we've had in cars that we took to a bunch of T&T sessions always seemed to like spacers. I had just a magnum 383 in my Coronet at one point and I had 2" of spacer on top of a torker intake and that was faster and if I had had any more spacers and longer bolts I still think it wanted more. It's cheap to experiment with. I whittled 1.25 seconds off the ET on that combo doing little stuff like that - biggest thing I did to it was put the torker on vs the OEM HP intake.

It shocked me just how much difference there is b/t a stock style intake and a decent aftermarket one on even a mild motor. Years ago I was trying to sort out some fitment issues and swapped an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake for a MP M1 dual plane (an aluminum version of the factory HP intake). That motor was neutered after that swap! Completely done before 5k rpm. It was just a flattop 440 w/ 906s and a 509 cam.
Sorry...I know this doesn't help the OP. Just made me think of it when I read the previous post.

I just swapped a Holley SD in place of the DP4B on my 68 GTS and it made a noticable difference in the top end. Thanks to Mr. Porter for that recommendation; I didn't realize how short that and a torker were compared to the RPM. Plenum volume is king above 5k RPM from what I am learning.

As a word of caution with the spacers make sure that the one you place on using is big enough for the throttle blades on your carb to clear. I have seen a few bent butterflies from guys not checking and just hopping in and smashing the pedal to the floor.

You should post more picture of that thing for us. I didn't realize (or forgot) it had that tall of a tire on it.

Also, I'd start looking around for a rear end housing too Again, something you car slowly put together on a budget. With the superstock theme of the car it would be awesome to have a Dana with a chrome cover sticking out underneath.

Speaking of updates, we need some current pics on your car too mister!

It currently has a TM7 for an intake on it right now. It feels super strong from ~3500 to around 6k. I'm hoping adding some spacer will pick up the upper end some, it starts to feel flat above 6 and the cam should be good to 6500. Is there any danger in home porting the intake to give it more volume? I'm definitely not afraid of a die grinder and have lots of carbides, but also don't know where I should be grinding. lol

It definitely sits high in the rear but some of it is due to tire clearance. I might have to remake the wheelhouses to get it to sit lower without rubbing with the 295's on it, or maybe go down to a 275. I love how it looks now though. Agree, it would be sweet with a chrome cover on a Dana 60 out back!