I've got a 72' 440 "rb' with a steel crank (out of a new yorker i believe)...VERY low miles I didn't even need to have it bored at the machine shop, the original rods and pistons show minimal wear....I want to go to a slightly ported set of 452 heads/pocket ported, one of the Lunati Voodoo cams and not sure about intake and carb but that will come when ready and testing everything...So i'm not sure if i can keep my stock pistons and rods or if i have to go aftermarket or if there is a cheeper way to avoid the $400+ for pistons and even more for rods?
THANKS

I was gonna suggest rering it & go until I read your sig the "high horsepower" part. How far in the hole are they? I'd say probably have to pony up for the pistons and rods are cheap now & can probably get a set for less than 200. Dont forget to balance.

You can use the stock pistons and rods and just hone and rering as long as you dont have too much taper. Use a small cam (Crower 32242)pocket ported heads, Eddy perf RPM and 800 Thunder series carb and a set of good headers and you will have all the power you will need.

"high horsepower" to me means as much as I can get out of my budget. thanks for the info. Will definetly write this down.

I'm doing a 73 440 and have to chage the pistons to bring up the compression. Not sure what a 72 has but a 73 is too low to get good power out of it. Good pistons at a reasonable price are out there, I run Keith Blacks.

If it were me, i would throw a set of rings and bearings in it. New cam, lifters and valve springs. New timing chain set.Reuse the rest of the stock valve gear. Maybe a quickie bowl port on the heads. Performer Rpm or any old cheap used intake available: Torker, Holley SD, TM7, etc. Good 9 1/2 or 10 inch converter, sticky tires. Go have fun with it and in the meantime save your money for the engine you really want to build. check this out: https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...e=2#Post4656289

But if I'm gonna go through the trouble to rebuild it I might as well do it right the first take and take my time.

I think if the engine has not been rebuilt before that the stock rods will work fine with lighter pistons. I would get a set of lighter Ross pistons which will bump the compression ratio up to where it will be effective as well.
Guys use careful camshaft selection to get the most out of the 7.5-1 engines but why bother. Get lighter pistons in the true 9.5 or 10-1 range and you're all set.
That way you have a good foundation for further tweaks down the road as well. If you build a 7.5-1 engine you will have limited options later on.

Sheldon

I suppose i might as well just go and buy a $200-$300 set of rods and pistons from someone. Can't hurt just to spend a lil extra up front and get the best out of the engine and prevent those minor tweaks later on.