i am looking to swap my 383 out of my 69 charger with a 440 from a 75 motor home. has anyone done this or have any ideas or info on it? thanks

Original 383? It may be healthier than the 440 you're planning to swap in, unless you're planning to get the 440 built. If not, it would probably be a waste of time to do the job.

yea its the original 383. im not getting rid of it. but it just leaks and needs a rebuild to a degree and i just dont know if i want to do it right now. so i just figd i would pullit and drop a 440 in for the time being.

Again, if you're not planning to rebuild the 440, you're probably going to see a bit of a drop in performance. I don't have the exact figures, and it's kind of hard to do apples to apples because they went from gross to net HP between '68 and '75, but I'd have to guess the difference would be noticeable and for the worse. Now with a rebuild...

As far as the change goes. You will need to change the Oil Pan, use your 383 Engine mounts. If you car is not Electronic ignition you will need a points distributer or will need to add the electronic kit. Everything else should fit. If the 440 is externally balanced you will need to use the Motor Home torque Converter or add the weights on yours. I think that is all. Your exhaust should be fine.

Joe Sr

If your 383 is stock you WILL feel a difference with that 440. It don't matter which method that you use to calculate HP a low compression 440 is still 440 cubic inches. It will make more low end torque and that is what gets you moving! IMO!

I have two old Cadillacs, a '70 high-compression 472 and a '76 low-compression 500. These motors aren't even in the same performance universe. Don't ever underestimate how badly performance took a hit in the mid- to late-'70s. All things being equal (no rebuild) I would put money on the '68 383 versus the '75 440 all day long.

has anyone put a later model fuel injected engine into a 69 charger with any advice out there? i like some power but i want streetablitity. this car is not a race car. its a really nice driver. any ideas? thanks

Streetability and power? Build the 440. My understanding is, aside from aftermarket bolt-on fuel-injection, if you're talking about a 5.7 Hemi, that's extremely pricey to do. You can make an awful lot of power with an old fashioned carburetor. My argument against the 440 was strictly if you didn't have the budget to build an engine. If you've got enough to do a late-model swap, you've got more than enough to make that 440 pretty sweet.