This is all going in a '68 Sweptline pickup (weight is between an a-body and a b-body).

The truck is street driven and makes runs to the home improvement stores but I enjoy giving nearly anyone who asks a run for their $$$.

Current setup.
440 auto
.040 pistons .100 in the hole (reuse and not changeable)
LY rods (pin fit)
Calculated compression is nearly 8.8:1 with .040 gasket.
Eddy heads (84cc)
Harland Sharp 1.5:1 rockers
Lunati 60303 Voodoo cam
Lunati lifters
Comp Cams pushrods
Cloyes double roller timing chain
Performer RPM intake
Holly 750 w/vacuum secondaries
Shorty headers (only set of long headers that will clear a '68 frame are over $600)
Dual 2" exhaust w/h-pipe and Cherry Bombs
MSD 6A ignition
Mopar adjustable dizzy
Highway friendly rear gear of 2.73:1 (nothing like getting mileage in the teens out of a 440).

The two questions I have are:
1) Should I go with the steel shim gasket to get compression up to about 9.1:1, and
2) What converter should I use?

It is a beater but it won 1st place in the Georgia Tech car show last year in the student beaters category ... so show some respect!!

Thanks in advance for your

So pretty!

I think the general consensus is that a steel shim head gasket shouldn't be used with an aluminum head. I've heard of people doing it with success but i don't think i would. Even if you do, i don't think you can get anywhere close to 9 to 1 with those pistons down .100. If you can afford it, you might consider changing the exhaust too. I know from personal experience that a 2 inch system will kill a lot of power on a 440. Converter with about 2500-3000 stall would probably work good.

The calculators suggest static would be nearly 9.1:1 with the steel shim. I'm kind of against it though and so is the machine shop owner where I do my work. Just afraid 8.8:1 will be very low.

With such low compression 2" exhaust really shouldn't be that restrictive. It is new. It was supposed to be 2.25". If I could stab someone in the face and get away with it I would. It is a long story. Coming out of the header collectors is 2.5" and it goes around the frame cross memeber that makes long headers so difficult in the '68 Swepty at 2.25" then goes down to 2". The 2.25" out of the collectors is all homemade by me and a friend.


I've already got the .040 head gasket and may just keep it. Now just a matter of converter. Not that thrilled with it, but depending on what I do with the timing I might be able to run 87. That makes me sad.

And there's not really any extra money left in this build. I blew my wad on the Harland Sharps.

the 440 i just built for my satellite is roughly 8.8:1 - i considered a steel shim to bump up the compression (iron heads), but decided against it since i already had 2 sets of fel-pros. and, if i really wanted to, i could always swap them out later. i have the XE268 cam, stock converter, 2.76 gears(i think, really doesn't rev high at highway speeds - no tach), 26.5" tires, 69 HP intake, 650 DP, hedman headers into 2.5" exhaust. i was getting 13 mpgs on the worn-out motor. haven't tested it now, but it runs pretty good and it feels pretty fast for a street/highway cruiser with power to spare at all speeds. i'm able burn the cheap 89 octane 15% ethanol we have here that's quite a bit cheaper than regular. rolling down the interstate at 75 or so is about like driving my mustang, only with a cadillac suspension

Is the picture recent? If its not assembled yet, take the block back to the machine shop and have the decks milled to get yourself to around 9.75:1. (???)

With the 440+ cubes and the mild cam I don't think you would notice much performance difference between 8.8:1 compression and 9.1:1 compression. Duration wise, the cam is almost the stock HP cam specs, but with more lift and a narrower LSA. I would go with a stock rebuilt converter. It should stall around 2,000 RPM and only cost about $100.

Picture is a few days old. Now the slugs are in it.

I really didn't want to mill the block because the decks were already flat. If I were going to mill anything it would be the heads to get those huge chambers down a bit to a more reasonable size.

I know the s-bend in the exhaust we made isn't all that great but this is the shoddy work it replaced. You can see the huge dent in the pipe that necks the 2" down to probably something closer to 1.5" And the pipe itself was jammed way up in the collector. All around junk.

May I ask you why you spent the dough on the harland sharps? I run the 60303 with stock rockers. Seeing as you have the adjustables, I think you'd be a little happier with the MP 528 cam.

To get out of the hole with those 2.76 gears, you're going to want as much converter as you can handle, without slipping massively at those low highway rpms you will be turning. I think you would want a 3k stall IMO.

Highway friendly rear gear of 2.73:1 (nothing like getting mileage in the teens out of a 440).

why bother? build a stock 318. things going to be a pig out of the hole no matter what you do. FWIW you can get "teens" out of a 440 even w/ 3.91's

I agree about the 2.73 rear gear that's what my car had in it when I got it and I couldn't enjoy it at all. I now have 3.55s in it now I get 13-15 on the highway 40 over 71 440 10.5-1 compression lunati vodoo cam edelbrock rpm heads weiand single plane high rise intake and holley 750 dp 727 reverse manual valve body 2800-3200 stall. Car is much more fun now I would have went 3.91 but on interstate drives I feel like I'd be pulling to many rpms as I turn 3300 or so at 70-75 now.

I would mill the heads to get the compression up to 9.5-1.Detonation will not be an issue with the alum heads.Your torque will thank you for the increase.
The performer intake may be a better choice with the hwy gears but would'nt buy one to swap.
You need a tight(efficient) converter to keep slippage to a minimum or you will be on it all the time.2000-2500 would be the most I would want with your gear.
2.5" exhaust would be ideal.What ever you do see if you can find someone to mandrel bend the tight spots to keep the restriction to a minimum.
Run a lot of initial advance and you should be good to go.
COOL truck

Talked to Paul Forte today at Turbo Action. He was extremely helpful and helped me pick out the right converter for my application and it gives me room to make some other modifications/changes in the future.

Thanks to those who provided helpful comments here as well.