78 motorhome 440. info needed

Got a line on one for reasonable $$$. Any caveats to lookout for on the eng? Not sure on the year, might be 80's. has thermoquad/ecu. Thank you for your time.

Typically they are low mileage and haven’t been rebuilt. Some had forged cranks. Many had HD rods. People will blow smoke about thin-walled cylinders, less ribbing, more or less nickel in he casting. Blow it all off. The only drawback is that it will be low compression. So they need a performance rebuild. No biggy. They are great rebuilders. Keep the block, crank and heads and toss the rest.

'78 was the last year.

They make great engines, even with low compression.

People poo poo the cast cranks, but they are good for at least 600 hp.

Get the transmisson too. Sometimes they have a brake on the tailshaft, but the internals have 4 pinion planetaries and the front cases are the same as found in cars.

Should have the 452 motorhome version head with the steam ports on the exhaust valves.
Toss the heavy rods and low compression pistons.
The later blocks aren't thin walled and actually have more ribbing than the earlier ones.

Yeah I get the whole thing & its as big as a bus, 71K miles he said. thanks guys!

Theres a decent chance the heads ar cracked.

I have this same thing from a 73. After you build up the motor, anything special you would want to do to the transmission?

the potential head cracks is bothersome. I was thinking of putting it in my 65D100 pickup for a daily driver. The guy is supposedly being kicked out of his storage (parents spacious acreage...) $350 ain't bad tho. If someone pulled the eng out for me they could have that trans. On second thought I may have to pass, as I just have way too many unfinished projexts as is but 440 grabbed my attention.

It is old enough that the seals and clutches need to be replaced. The rubber seals harden and quit working properly and the clutches start to flake off. A rebuild kit is under $150 from Transtar. Do a Trans-go shift kit to eliminate overlap while you are in there.

78 may be the last production year for big blocks, but they were used through the early 80's in motorhomes. I have a friend with an 81 motorhome and he told me it had a 440. I argued that it couldn't be because of the manufacture date of the unit, but sure enough, it is a factory 440 in a 1981. A Chrysler parts manager said that the motorhome companies bought truck chassis in bulk and had them sitting on their lots to build. Therefore many motorhomes were built in the 80's using older truck chassis and engines and titled them in whatever year the motorhome was built. So, if the op says he has an 80's motorhome with a 440, he has an 80's motorhome with a 440.

Yes, but the engine itself will be '78 or earlier casting.

This is true, but it is still listed as an 80's engine. I've sold auto parts up until I retired a few years ago. Can the op get parts by saying he has a 78 440? The answer is yes. Can he get parts by saying he has an 80 whatever motorhome with a 440? The answer is still yes and it will be listed as an 80 whatever 440 in that application and that is all I am trying to point out.