Mild 440

25 years ago I put together a 440 for my 70 Duster. Nothing spectacular, just a slightly warmed over stock 67 engine. I used factory style replacement pistons with 1.990 compression height to give me 9.3 to 1 compression, 452 heads with M.P. #933 valve springs, M.P. 280-.474 cam topped with a Weiand 8009 intake thru HP manifolds. 340 torque converter into an 8.75 with 3.91 gears. This was really fun to drive and it got me $1275.00 worth of tickets for doing a burnout in the little burg I lived in!(over zealous young cop) Fast forward to today. I find myself looking to build another similar engine for my 77 short-wide pickup. I have another 67 short block that was just rebuilt, with the same type piston, a fresh set of 452 heads that have Crane springs good for .560 lift and an Eddy RPM intake, headers this time and another 340 converter. The previous engine made 430hp. I know technology has advanced, so I'm looking for suggestions on an up to date cam profile. If you were putting this together for yourself, what cam would you pick. The truck weighs 3900lbs and has an 8.75 with 3.23 gears. It will be a fun cruiser, parts chaser and only see the track once or twice a year.

The Summit house brand cams (2) are cheap & get good reviews but wouldn't the most up to date/ideal.

Crower 271.

That’s a good one for sure.

I would look and use the Comp Cams 292H Magnum cam kit

if you liked the mopar 280/.474 then just get a 280mag comp cams.

I’m surprised no one mentioning the 67 pistons with a set of 452 heads !! ... that be looow compression!

About .090 in the hole. Wouldn't go too big on the cam in a 3900lb. truck.

At .030 over, heads milled to 84cc, steel shim gasket, pistons down the hole .090”........ 9.16:1

Good candidate for the 75cc e street heads.

I measured my pistons at .070 in the hole on all cylinders? I measured them twice to be sure I was getting an accurate measurement. Block decked possibly? I've seen them cut .010, but.020? I suppose anything is possible in a span of 50 years. No money in the budget for Eddy heads. I have several sets of factory heads at my disposal. 2 sets of 452's, a set of 346's and a set of 516's that have had bigger exhaust valves installed. I know that 516's don't flow as well as the others, but on an engine that won't see more than 5000 rpm, I'm wondering if they might not be a bad choice?

I looked at the idea of some '67 pistons (L2266 IIRC) for a project. I thought they would be around .080"+ in the hole with an uncut block.

The 516s with the 174 or 181 valves in it is a good choice ! Maybe even with a 10 or 20 cut to make sure the heads are nice and flat.

Lewtot184, that would make sense to me and would explain the measurement I got. Doc, the 516's are looking better for this build. I know I'm leaving power on the table using them, but I have to stay within the budget and that means using what I have. Makes me wish I hadn't traded away the 915's I had, but I wasn't thinking of building a big block at the time. I picked up Summit's 6400 and 6401 a while ago and have them sitting on the shelf. I've thought about giving one or the other of them a try. If I don't like how they perform I can always swap in another cam down the road.

I put a summit 6400 in a 9:1 compression 383 a couple of years ago and was surprised at how nice and quiet it ran along with good performance for a stocker 383. I like the 6401 in the 440 and if you have a decent one with good tappets and matching springs I would use it.

First thing I’d do before getting excited about the 516’s is cc a couple chambers.

I’ve seen unmolested ones measure in the 84cc range, so it’s not like they’re a guaranteed big boost in cr.
The closed chamber buys you nothing with quench on this build, so no benefit there.

Not sure how accurate Summit's compression calculator is, but this is what I've been using. Been playing with some numbers and with my pistons .070 in the hole and using .020 head gaskets, this is what I've come up with. Using 88cc's as the reference for the open chambered heads I get 9.22 compression. Using 84cc's for the closed chambered heads I get 9.52. Of course I will have to cc the chambers to know exactly what I have, but I thought this would give me a ballpark figure. If the cc's on the heads are less, then of course the number goes up obviously.

Do you remember what the manifold vacuum at idle and cranking compression was with the 6400? Thanks.

didn't check the cylinder pressure but idle was 15".